I was playing around figuring out my actual cost on making a sugar cookie using the NFSC recipe with antonia74 royal icing. My cost was lower than I was thinking as I'm just buying 5 lb bags of flour at Walmart and the like...

So I'm curious if others who buy on small scale have figured out their average price/cookie? I realize pricing will depend on the cookie size. The price I did was on a medium sized cookie (2"?). Rolled 1/4-1/2" thick. I feel like I did something wrong figuring my price and I want to see what others have come up with

I am on the low end of the scale. My decorated cookies begin at $12 per dozen and go up, depending on design and level of complexity. My gourmet cookies sell for $9 and $10 a dozen.

Oh I wasn't speaking of what you price them at - more your actual cost per cookie (like how much does it actually cost you to make the cookie).

I don't have an exact amount but cookies are pretty cheap to make so your figure probably isn't off. If you're trying to figure what you should charge you need to scrap these calculations, decorated cookies are a high labor cost item so you would charge way more than you spend on ingredients.

mbelgard is right .... cookies are labor intensive. The cost of the ingredients is nothing .... the cost is in the labor. Here's a thread where the labor cost (time) is broken down:

http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopicp-4450573-.html#4450573

Just for reference: My "cost" for ingredients to make a dozen snickerdoodles (drop cookies - not decorated) is $0.17/dozen. This does not factor electricity and time. I sell them for $4.50/dozen.

Labor. The cost is in the labor.

Debi will you PM me your recipe for the SnickerDoodles please???

Oh yes I completely understand that its all about labor with cookies!! I made just over 3 dozen for my cousin's bachelorette party (my food contribution for the event) and got a real dose of how much labor they are. I figured as much though!

I was just coming up with like $.08 (max) cost per cookie and wondering if that was a miscalculation somehow but sounds like its probalby not. The cookies I did I would not have charged less than $1-1.50 each for sure!! So fun to make though - well at least in small qty I'm guessing 200 cookies would make me not want to do cookies for a LONG time!

Thanks for the input!

I'm wanting to do cookies for my wedding reception as well as the cake.. so that everyone has a cookie or two to take home type thing.... how long do they last? I mean how long in advance can I prepare them and how would I store them until they were ready for the big day lol

Ok so I should bake and decorate them in advance and make sure they are packaged in an air tight container and I can freeze them? How far in advance? Is like a few months too far in advance lol.. Like I'm thinking MAX 2 months lol mainly because I'll be making my own wedding cake too as well as all the food lol....

I wouldn't go more than a 3-4 months, I've frozen plain cookies that long with no side effects.

lmao I don't know Debi... I'm a little frazzled now and all I'm doing is PLANNING! it lmao. I may have to invite you over to help me

we have caculated and I can get about 30 cookies from one batch of NFSC, obviously depending on the size of the cutter. It costs me roughly $.30 per cookie in material, etc. That does not factor in the cost of the cutter or the electricity. Don't fall on the floor but I charge $1.25 per cookie. So I am making almost a $1 profit and I am happy with that. In the area I am in, I couldn't ask for me. And I think having the lower price brings in more orders. I love doing them more than cakes. I make about 10-12 batches of NFSC at a time and freeze them and take them out as needed. I do have one cutter that is larger than the rest and I charge $2 for those cookies. Did that help any?

I make the dough, then put them in large freezer zip loc bags. When I have an order, I take the bag out of the freezer, allow it to thaw, roll out on my granite counter top with wax paper on top so it doesn't stick to my rolling pin (I included that it was a granite counter top because for some reason, the dough never sticks to my granite - may stick to formica but comes off my granite like butter ) then place the cut out cookies on a cutting board and place in the freezer to get firm. Then place in oven, cook, take out of oven and allow to cool for a few minutes on the cookie sheet then cool on wire rack. If they are not cookies I need right away, I place the baked cookies in ziploc bags and put bake in the freezer and take out as needed.

Did that help any?

Yup helped alot! Wendy! Thanks. Now can I borrow your granite counter top? lol

Debi... will you be my wedding planner? lmfao

NO!!!!!!!! ! Come as my wedding guest lmfao let that be your gift to us helping with the cake and the foodage