I would like to start making cookie bouquets. Is anyone willing to share their knowledge on pricing, ideas,where to get supplies, recipes etc...? I am starting from scratch. I live in a very rural little town that is not close enough to a large town to take any classes. Any help anyone would be willing to share will be very much apreciated.

I don't have much knowledge but I do refer to this set of instructions quite often.
I'll be checking back to see what others have to say
Tara

http://www.kitchengifts.com/makingcookiebouquets.html

The No Fail Sugar Cookie recipe on this site is good with royal icing. I add almond extract to the cookie dough and so far no one has complained. I roll them 1/4 " to 3/8" thick and I push the sucker stick into the back covering it with a little snake of dough to keep it in place. Then bake as usual. Others will have more ideas and help--that is where I have found most of what I learned! I use baskets and containers I find at Walmart and Dollar General and fill them with a chunk of foam, tissue paper or paper shred. I use goody bags from Hobby Lobby and use ribbon to tie them shut. If you use royal icing it needs to dry about a day to not smear it before putting them in bags. I charge the amount for the container and stuff in it, and it depends on how decorated the cookie is to charge for those (usually $2 each for simple ones) The only advise is use butter for your cookies--they taste so much better!

birdgirl when you the stick in do you use cookie sticks? and you put them in the back so does this mean the front of the cookie is the baked side? and what icing do you use? sorry so many questions but i am very curious about cookie bouquets too.

After I cut the cookie out I flip it over and press the stick in. Then I flip it back over so the seam is on the pan. Then I use royal icing--usually Antonia 74's royal icing to frost them. Once and a while I use buttercream. Antonia's recipe is on this site.

thanks bunches birdgirl

I took a cookie bouquet class at my local Michael's store, and our instructor taught us to put the cookie stick in before baking. But I discovered by mistake (when I forgot to put the sticks in one batch), that it's much easier to slide the sticks into the cookies right when they come out of the oven.

Our instructor also told us to roll the cookies 3/8" thick, and the easiest way to do this is by using two dowels - one on either side of your dough. That allows you to roll the rolling pin along the dowels and your cookies are the perfect thickness all over.

HTH. Good luck!

For your bouquets you can find great containers at The Dollar Tree if there is one near you. Or any dollar store, Big Lots, etc will have great containers. In 2006 I added the following bouquets to my menu:

6 bouquet
8 bouquet
9 bouquet
12 bouquet

But in 2007 I changed it to:

6 bouquet
9 bouquet
12 bouquet
18 bouquet
24 bouquet

I also use foam to put inside the container then fill it with paper shreds or tissue paper. Then place my cookies on sticks in the foam and wrap the entire basket in a clear or decorated basket bag or cellophane wrap with a bow. I think the presentation looks better when the entire basket is wrapped. You can view some of them in my photos.

I found that the holder needs to be fairly heavy to hold the weight of the cookies. I found clay pots at Walmart for $.50 and paint them based on the occasion. You could also try the thrift stores for mugs, etc.

I use foam tucked down inside the holder and a piece of tissue paper. I use sandwich bags to wrap the cookie, and cut the fold top to give me more plastic to work with. Baggies are softer plastic than the goodie bags and easier to wrap around the stick and tie with curling ribbon.

I use bamboo skewer sticks - less expensive than the candy sticks. I don't like really thick cookies, so I roll about 1/4 to 3/8 inch thick and insert the skewer. I use two sticks to roll between to be sure the thickness is consistent. If part of the stick is showing in the back, I use a thin log of dough to patch the back, carefully roll it smooth, and be sure to place that side down on the baking sheet. Although if you are decorating the entire top, it wouldn't matter.

Once the cookies come out of the oven, I let them cool a bit before trying to move them. I use Toba Garretts icing and let dry, then use cake icing or royal to do the accents and let dry.

So far I have only done bouquets with six cookies, and for christmas did a combination cocoa cone and 4 cookies. Sorry didn't sell them, they were gifts or donated so I can't help with prices.

After my holiday cookie success, I want to venture into cookie bouquets for Valentine's day. Have already found great coffee mugs for $1 each at Michaels (and waiting for the dollar stores to stock up). Michael's also has foam shaped for mugs, but at $1.49 for two, is a bit expensive as far as I am concerned (so on the lookout for inexpensive foam). I think some handmade chocolates (candy melts) in the shape of hearts and roses might make them a little nicer. Figuring on three 4" decorated cookies, a couple of candies, how much would you charge for something like this?

i buy my foam at walmart its cheaper and the same brand they sell at micheals

I have prices on my web site go to
(Cookie Bouquet). ( Gallery )if you want to view some bouquets. www.cakesondemand.com

Sharon, love your website and the wonderful cookie bouquets. Thank you so very much for the information, and inspiration!

deb

Must agree with everyone here! You can find tons of unique containers at the dollar/discount stores! I find that Joann Fabrics is cheaper on foam bricks than anyone, including WalMart! I also agree with AgentCakeBaker about a cello bag/bow over the entire creation making a better presentation, however, I individually wrap mine. It always used to gross me out when people at work would get deliveries from "that cookie bouquet company", open the cellophane wrapper, then all day long people are touching/handling the cookies! Yuck! So, I always individually wrap them for that reason, and to preserve freshness for the cookies that aren't being eaten right away! That's just a personal choice though!

I am starting to get all my supplies ready to do some Valentines Bouquets. I plan on making some small , medium and large ones. I have a gift shop that wants some small ones for like teachers gifts. I have several other business' that order a variety of things from me, so I will do some samples for them and then I will take orders for specialty ones, like personalization. I have not worked all my pricing out yet, but if you check the cookie bouquet shops you will see that they are not cheap. Just make sure you figure all your costs, and then include your time. I wrap all the cookies also, and then wrap the basket or pot or cup. I prefer for them to stay fresh.

Cambo,

That is a great point to make, about individually wrapping the cookies to prevent people fingering them.

It is bad enough when they stick their fingers in the icing on akes we bake.

Theresa

Hey everyone

Thanks for the grreat tips. I'm heading to the dollar tree today to get containers. I can't wait to get started. I'm going to practice for Valentines Day. My son goes to a small private school and there are only 8 teachers there so I thought I woul so each of them one. I think it would be good practice and do a little advertising also.

Thanks again for all your help.

Gayl

i wanted to share my bargains! I love finding neat containers and i was at Walmart checking out the holiday clearance and found TONS of tin buckets! Green, silver, blue and red.... they ended up being .32/each. i picked up a whole bunch and thought cookie bouquets will be lovely in these, as well as using them for goody bags for birthday parties!
I do love the $$ store for stuff like that too.... i dont usually shop walmart but after all holidays i look for the Wilton clearance stuff.... "Christmas Red' gel paste, sprinkles, tins, etc......

Can anyone tell me what size clear plastic bag you use to enclose the coffee cup cookie bouquts? I want to buy a few bags but none of the sizes seem appropriate for coffee cup bouquets.

deb

Well here it is, my proto-type for the Valentine season. Still on the fence about including the little LOVE cookie. The largest cookie is 4", the smaller ones are 3". Now to figure a good price for 5-6 cookies. Also still need to find the right sized cellophane bags to enclose the whole thing in. These are NFSC, with some cherry flavoring added, royal icing, and the roses are made from candymelts. What do you think?

deb

Very pretty we don't use bags just rolls of
cellophane and tie it with a bow. We also add some tissue in the back of the arrangements to cover up the cookies from behind that aren't decorated and to add color then wrap in cellophane.
I love the way you did the roses.

Sharon that is a good idea, and probably easier to find rolls of colored cellophane. I have decided to include the "love" cookie (decorated a bit better though) and offering this for $18 to my co-workers. Think this is too high a price being I am not a "professional"? I was thinking of offering it for $15, but with all the decorating, the profit margin seemed too small.

deb

I think $18-20 would be an excellent price for that bouquet of cookies! I charge $18 for my 3-cookie bouquets, but the cookies are each 5", so that price for 5-6 cookies is awesome! I would pay it! I price how you do....paying attn to profit margin, not by whether or not I'm a professional! Believe me girl....you ARE a professional! Great job!

Thank you Cambo - your words are good for my ego!
Anyone who asked, I told them $18 - some seemed ok with it, some had to think about it. Let's see when it comes time to order.

I get coffee cups at Dollar General, Dollar Tree, Family Dollar. For $1 or even 2 for a dollar

I think $18 is good. : ) Pretty bouquet!

I just wanted to add to everyone not to UNDERCHARGE. Those darn cookies are a PITA, (I can't be the only ones who think so can I? LOL)

I love your cookies with the candy roses attached. How did you attach the candy roses? I would love to try this.

It was so easy, when I finished flooding the royal on the cookie,while it was still damp, just pressed the candy rose on it.......once the royal dries the candy just stays there.

deb

Thanks for the tip. I can't wait to get in the kitchen today.