A Cookie Decorating Table

I have yet to meet a child who doesn't enjoy slathering a freshly baked sugar cookie with coloured icing, topping it all with various sprinkles and candies and then sitting down to eat the fruits of their labour. Doesn't that sound like fun?  As I mentioned last week, I'm making 400-500 cookies today and tomorrow for children to do exactly that and I can't wait to see how it all works out.

If you haven't organized or managed a cookie decorating table before, I encourage you to give it a try. It's a great activity for a birthday party, playdate, rainy day activity, fundraiser, or community event. Below are some of my tips for preparing for and running this type of activity:

~ Determine how many children you will be expecting at your event.  Allow for 1-2 cookies per child if you're hosting a fundraiser or community event and 6-8 cookies per child if you're decorating cookies as a birthday party/playdate activity. 

~ Once you've determined how many cookies you will need to have, make your dough.  All sugar cookie dough freezes well and can be made up to three months in advance.  I find it easier to remove the dough from the freezer, thaw it in the refrigerator overnight and bake the cookies the following day, then to make and bake the dough in the same day.

~ Cookies can be baked 2-3 days prior to the event.  They will keep fresh if stored in an air-tight container.  Alternatively, you can make the cookies a few weeks in advance and store them in the freezer in a lidded container, lined with wax paper.

~ To keep the mess contained I recommend using squeeze bottles for the icing.  If you use Royal Icing for the cookies, these work best.  Piping bags can be too finicky for smaller hands.  I also find the squeeze bottles to be more hygienic as children won't be able to have direct contact with the icing.  No messy little fingers finding their way into the bowls of icing.

~ Keep sprinkles, coloured sugars and candies in small bowls with spoons.  Encourage all of the children to use the spoons to lift the decorations out of their bowls and scatter over the cookies.

~ Keep baby wipes close by.  They work great to remove icing and candies from little hands and work surfaces.

~ Royal icing takes time to dry.  Give each child a sheet of wax paper and ask them to write their name on it.  When they have finished decorating their cookies, they can place them on the labeled sheet and come back to them when they are dry.  If you're working a fundraiser or community event encourage the kids to move on to another activity and to come back to pick up their cookie once it's had the chance to dry.

I will let you know how my own decorating table works out this weekend and if you have done something similar I'd love to hear your stories (good and bad!) about how it all worked out.

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Some housekeeping for today:  If you're in the West Toronto area, The Mixing Bowl is going to be running a half day cooking camp for kids in August.  We will also be starting after-school classes, held in a neighbourhood church, in September.  Stay tuned for more details or email me at mixingbowlkids@gmail.com for more information.

Comments

[lori]

Sounds wonderful! What are you fundraising for?
I would love to do this for my girls school!
A few questions.......What would you ask for money wise or is it a donation ? What is the best icing recipe to use to decorate sugar cookies? Best stores for decorating supplies?? Thanks,
Do not live in your area but have friends that do, love to hear about August summer camp!
Cheers to many cookies!!
Lori

[Carolyne]

I loved doing this as a kid! I can't wait until my baby is old enough to make and eat cookies with me!

[Monkey Lobster]

hey, i didn't know you were in toronto? my family is there.

[Jan Scott]

Hi Lori,

It's a school fundraiser that all of this mad baking is for. I think you should do it for your daughters school! I'm donating the cookies and decorations through my business, but instead of asking for money you could ask parents to volunteer to bake and donate, say 5 dozen cookies each. If everyone uses the same recipe and cookie cutter, the cookies will all look the same so there will be some consistency. As for an icing recipe I can email you one if you like, and I like to buy decorating supplies at McCall's (in Etobicoke) or the Bulk Barn has a great selection as well. Don't hesitate to let me know if you have any other questions.

[Jan Scott]

I'm located in the West End of the city....Do you travel here often?

[Jan Scott]

I'm not sure how old your baby is, but I posted a carrot cookie recipe on here a few weeks ago that I made for my nephew who just turned one. It's great and while he can't help make them he enjoys eating them.

[Lori]

Would love the icing recipe if you would not mind.

Thanks for all your ideas on the possibility of doing this at my daughter's school.
Would also love to hear plans for your summer camp in August!

Have a great day!

[Monkey Lobster]

a few times a year. my dad lives in harbour front. do you readhttp://http://sweetthingdesigns.typepad.com/ she lives on the island.

suna

To: sunaturgay@hotmail.com

[Jan Scott]

Hi Lori,
Sorry for the delay in getting this off to you...you can probably imagine
how hectic the weekend was with all of those cookies being decorated.

Here is the recipe for the royal icing:

4 cups of icing sugar
3 tbsp. meringue powder
10 tbsp. water

~ Put all of the ingredients into a bowl and mix (with a stand mixer for 5
minutes and a hand mixer for 10 minutes) until the icing is white and
glossy. Add some colour with a gel paste and mix again until you achieve
the colour you are looking for.

I used squeeze bottles for the children to apply to icing and it worked
great....not messy and definitely more hygienic.

As for the summer camp, I'm in the process of putting together the brochure
now, but it's going to be a Multicultural cooking camp - Each day foods will
be made from different countries (Mexico, Italy, India etc).

Have a great day!

[Treemama]

so i get to be the ultimate scrooge.

we do this once a year. and they have an amazing fantastic time.

and as much as i love to bake with the girls, no one eats them. they are too sweet for everyone and they are about cookied out.

and i end up throwing them away, which is something i really hate.

but we still do it anyway! it is great fun for them.