Get out the sprinkles, it’s time for the cookie party
It started several years ago when we realized we seldom got to see our friends and their kids, what with sports, activities and all. The solution: a holiday cookie party, when the kids got to decorate and create with abandon while the adults got to catch up. It has become an annual event that the kids ask their parents about weeks ahead: When’s the cookie party?
If you’re hoping to grab the attention of a kid (or her parents) in the holiday crush, a cookie party’s your ticket. Here’s what to do.
The keys to success: Be organized and have something to engage the kids at all times. Also: It’s all about the kids; theirs is the joy of sprinkling way too much green sanding sugar all over the gingerbread men. So let them do it the way they want. The basics The kids cut out cookies. While those cookies bake, kids decorate cookies you baked in advance.
When those are done, the just-baked cookies are ready to decorate. Do ahead
Bake cutout cookies in a variety of shapes, five or six per kid. Leave them undecorated; store in airtight containers. Can be made well ahead and frozen.
The day before, roll out one piece of cookie dough per child, about the size of a cookie sheet, on waxed paper. Stack to stay flat; wrap in plastic wrap; refrigerate.
Cut sheets of parchment paper to fit your cookie sheets.
Cover the table(s) with butcher paper (try uline.com) or plastic tablecloths, something to withstand the royal icing.
Put a variety of cutters down the middle of the table so kids can choose what they like.
Put decorations in spice jars with shaker lids or in small bowls. Tuck them away until the kids are done with the cookie-cutting.
Put out lots of small, food-safe paintbrushes. You will need a few per color of icing so that no one has to wait for the red while Erin paints Santa’s big belly. Day of
Make royal icing about two hours before the party. Divide the icing into small, sealable plastic containers. Dye with food coloring or paste, making two of each color you will offer. Make sure you have plenty of white icing too. Cover with plastic wrap down to the surface. Chill.
Heat the oven to cookie-baking temperature. Kids arrive
Transfer each sheet of dough to parchment. (The waxed paper will be wet and tear easily.) Place one in front of each child; let them go to town with cutters. Write each kid’s name in pencil on the parchment paper.
Slide the parchment onto cookie sheets; bake, in batches. Put platters of the prebaked cookies on the table for kids to decorate.
After cookies that the kids cut out are baked, the kids decorate those. Remember
Don’t worry about the mess. Icing will be everywhere, caked on brushes, smeared on the shaker jars. Sprinkles too. It all cleans up easily.