Tips for Perfect Cookie Pops with The Bearfoot Baker

October 14, 2012 | 27 Comments »

Today I’m pretty excited because one of my bloggy {and real life} best buddies is here visiting.  I adore everything about Lisa, her positive attitude, Southern roots, giving spirit, and most of all, her common sense.  As a girl that can complicate the simplest of tasks, it’s always good to have a friend like Lisa.

I generally try to avoid cookie pops for a variety of reasons, but every once in a while, I have to make them. One of my biggest pet peeves is when grease from the cookie stains the sticks. A few months ago I noticed this happening to a rather important set of cookie pops I’d been working on and  I called Lisa in a panic.  In her calm and collected way, she suggested that cover the mess by slipping pretty paper straws around the dirty stick.  The idea was so amazingly simple I’d have never thought of it myself.

As a matter of fact, Lisa is good with cookie pops in general, so I asked her here today to share a bit of her wisdom.  I hope you enjoy her tips as much as I do!

When I first began making cookie bouquets, I was a little intimidated.  I worried about the cookies staying on the stick and often questioned if they were sturdy enough for shipping.  With a little practice, I figured it out and so can you.  Don’t let a little old cookie pop scare you.

I recently went on vacation and did a little experiment. I took 12 cookies on sticks that were laying flat and not wrapped very well. I placed them in a box with bubble wrap on the bottom in stacks of four.  If I were mailing the cookies I would wrap them better, of course, this was just a test of how sturdy they’d be. They not only made a 10 hour car trip from Tennessee to Florida but, they made it back to Tennessee without breaking. I was so happy that I wanted to share it with you.

In this case, I covered my cookie sticks with straws, so before I began I needed to find straws that would fit around the stick I chose. Sticks come in a lot of different sizes. Not only are some longer but, some are skinny and some are thick. You need a stick that is strong enough to hold the cookie and also fit into the straw. As you can see, the sticks on the right are a little small for the straws.  If possible try to buy a size stick that fits snugly into the straws and trim them to the proper length.  If you can only find thinner sticks, that’s okay, I’ll tell you how to fix that in a bit.

Now that you have picked a stick  you need to make it “stick” to your cookie.

  1. Cut your cookie shape and flip it over.
  2. Position your stick where you want it.
  3. Secure the stick by using a small amount of dough as glue.
  4. Smooth it with your fingers so there is not a lot of dough on the stick.
  5. Flip it back over and bake it.
  6. Once you bake your cookie it will have a little bump where you added the stick. Click here to see how to flatten it

Once the cookie is on the stick, you’re set.  However, sometimes the cookie sticks can absorb oil from the cookie or if you’re a messy decorator like me, you might get icing on the stick.  That’s where the paper straws come into play.

Supplies:
Cookies
Cookie Sticks
Paper Straws

  1. To add the straws, slide the straw onto the stick. If you have the right size stick, it will stay securely in place.
  2. If you use a skinny stick squeeze a little icing into the top of the straw to act as glue. Slide the straw onto the stick and just before it reaches the cookie add a little dot of icing icing. Be careful to only use a bit so you don’t have a lot of icing oozing out the top.
  3. Trim the straws to size using a sharp pair of scissors.  If you’re making a bouquet, be sure to trim them to various heights so that all of the cookies are showing

Isn’t it amazing how much a paper straw can dress up a simple cookie pop?

Thanks for letting me share my cookie pop tips with you. I hope this answers any question you might have about cookies on sticks.
Cookie bouquets work great for birthdays and Christmas, especially if you’d like to give someone the gift of cookies without having to make dozens.  As a matter of fact, a fall-themed bouquet would make the perfect hostess gift at your next Thanksgiving feast!

 

For more tips on making perfect cookie pops, be sure to check out these helpful posts:
 Thanks Callye for letting me hang out with you all today! It has been a lot of fun! If you would like to see how I made these bat and moon cookies, please hop on over to my blog, The Barefoot Baker.  I absolutely love new friends!
Cookie Pops, Cookies, Guest Tutorials, Halloween Cookies, Holiday Cookies, Tips, Tutorials
27 Comments »