decorate your own valentine cookie kits

February 8, 2015 // 16 Comments »

Send delicious boxes of love with these Decorate Your Own Valentine Cookie Kits

Send extra special boxes of love this Valentine’s Day with these delightfully delicious Decorate Your Own Valentine Cookie Kits.

Raise your hand if you remember decorating sugar cookies at elementary school Valentine’s parties. Arguably one of my favorite scholastic activities as a wee one, my creations always included cookies piled a mile high with globs of colored frosting and spoonfuls of bright sprinkles and festive candies. This Valentine’s Day I wanted to recreate this memory for some of my favorite kids at heart by sending them Decorate Your Own Valentine Cookie Kits. Fresh baked cookies were packaged with assorted frostings and sprinkles to be piled on, judgement free, in the comfort of their own homes.

Send delicious boxes of love with these Decorate Your Own Valentine Cookie Kits

I used my very favorite sugar cookie recipe as the star of this project. Found many years ago from Drop in and Decorate, this recipe has been lovingly paired with royal icing, fluffy frosting and sparkling sugar over the years. It is the perfect canvas for decorating with Valentine themed frostings and sprinkles and sturdy enough to survive shipping.

For uniform cookies, we roll our dough between two sheets of wax paper using our beloved Joseph Joseph adjustable rolling pin set at 1/4-inch. Once an even disk is formed, peel away the top layer of wax paper, gently place it back, flip over, and remove the bottom (now top) layer. This loosens the paper on both sides and allows you to easily transfer the dough to baking sheets after cutting into desired shapes. We stuck with a simple heart shape to hold up to the shipping process, but you could use any shape you have on hand.

Send delicious boxes of love with these Decorate Your Own Valentine Cookie Kits

To facilitate ultimate creativity, I paired the cookies with an assortment of frostings and sprinkles. As tempting as it was to whip up my favorite batch of homemade frosting, I knew that I would be shipping these cookie kits and wanted something shelf stable. Canned frosting to the rescue! Using a small cookie scoop, I filled 2-ounce disposable cups with vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate frostings. My inner child had a ton of fun picking out Valentine themed sprinkles to divide between the cups.

I used Avery 1.625-inch diameter labels to label the lids of each container to add a finishing touch and to identify the contents. These were simple to create using graphics and fonts from the Avery design center online.

Send delicious boxes of love with these Decorate Your Own Valentine Cookie Kits

A dozen cookies were carefully placed in a cellophane treat bag and sealed shut with a strip of festive washi tape. The bag of cookies was nestled in crinkle shred inside heart confectionery boxes that I found at World Market. I went with the extra layer of padding and packaging because these cookie kits were going to be shipped. You can absolutely modify the packaging of these kits if simply handing out locally or to utilize the products available in your area.

Send delicious boxes of love with these Decorate Your Own Valentine Cookie Kits

I found some sturdy boxes by the Duck Brand to build my cookie kits in. I lined each box with a sheet of festive tissue paper and filled the bottom with red and pink crinkle shred. A box of cookies, four containers of frosting and four containers of sprinkles were nestled into each box and padded with additional crinkle shred. The ends of the tissue paper were folded over the top and box lids tucked shut. For added protection, these boxes were placed inside USPS Medium Flat Rate Shipping Boxes and padded with additional tissue paper.

My special big kid Valentines should all be receiving their packages this afternoon. We hope they enjoy decorating Valentine’s Cookies with their loved ones this year just as much as I enjoyed the activity as a kid. Looking for a unique way to spread love this Valentine’s Day? Look no further than our Decorate Your Own Valentine Cookie Kits!

Send delicious boxes of love with these Decorate Your Own Valentine Cookie Kits

CUT OUT SUGAR COOKIES
 
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Yields: approximately 48 three-inch cookies
INGREDIENTS
  • 3¼ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1¼ cups (2½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 tablespoon milk
  • 2½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
PREPARATION
  1. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
  2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
  3. Add egg, milk, and vanilla extract and beat until smooth. Gradually mix in flour mixture until fully incorporated and a soft dough is formed.
  4. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to a few days.
  5. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
  6. Break off manageable pieces of dough and roll between two sheets of wax paper to ¼-inch thick. Peel back top layer of wax paper, gently replace, and flip over. Remove bottom layer of wax paper (now top) and cut dough into desired shapes.
  7. Transfer cut outs to prepared baking sheets and bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 8-9 minutes until edges are lightly browned.
  8. Cool on sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack to cool completely before packaging or decorating.

GADGETS
Small Cookie Scoop
Joseph Joseph Rolling Pin
Heart Cookie Cutter

PACKAGING
2 oz Souffle Cups picked up at Target
Heart Confectionery Boxes found at World Market
9.5×6.5×3.25 Duck Brand Self Locking Boxes found at Office Max
Avery Print-to-the-Edge Round Labels, Glossy, 1.625-inch Diameter found at Office Max
Crinkle Shred
Tissue Paper

Send delicious boxes of love with these Decorate Your Own Valentine Cookie Kits

by Kimberly Ann // cookies, give, valentine's day, winter
16 Comments »