Simple Cookie Display

When they say to "bring a plate to share," well, often that's my job. Don't worry, I enjoy it. This time I was particularly excited, because I planned on making those really cute mini tarts made of cookie dough, filled with sweet stuff that you see on Pinterest. Well, let's just say that it didn't turn out like I thought it would. But I managed to make the best of the situation and create a diverse display of treats.

First of all, I bought this cupcake display at Target for $5. Adorable, right? I knew that I had to use it for whatever I was making for the garage warming/birthday party that I was going to. So I bought cookie dough and icing and cool whip and candy and fruit so I could make some colorful cookie-tarts. There are two ways to get the shape of the cup: you can shape it like a bowl inside mini muffin pans, or you can flip the pan upside down, and drape the cookie dough over top of the muffin pan. I decided to use the second method, and here's what it looked like before I put it in the oven...

Perfect. So I put it in the oven, but when it came out, the entire surface area was covered with cookie. I should have known it would grow a ton. I didn't actually get a picture of that mess, but I did manage to get half a dozen half-decent chocolate chip cups out. The sugar was practically useless. But that wasn't enough, I knew. So I improvised...

 That's what the cups looked like. I piped in some chocolate buttercream, then topped each one off with a spring-colored M&M. The round brown things that you see are a combination of crushed chocolate chip cookie crumbs and chocolate buttercream. I molded them into balls, which I stuck in the fridge to let solidify. They were crunchy and chocolate-y and delicious.

I still had a dozen sugar cookies left, so I stuck them in the oven (I used one of those packages that has the cookies already sized), and then topped them with my cool whip and berries.

I also created a sugar version of the chocolate balls - a combo of sugar cookie crumbs and vanilla buttercream. These were definitely better shaped because I used a tablespoon. They tasted like Rice Crispy Treats, but crunchier and sweeter.


So that was my improvised cookie display. I'll admit that it was super fun, and I'd definitely like to do something like it again. It was also really easy, so I totally recommend that you try it out. Hope you enjoy!


Cookie Display


Ingredients

Cookie Cups:

• Chocolate chip cookie dough
• Chocolate buttercream
• M&M's (a.k.a. the best candy ;)

Chocolate Cookie Balls:

• Chocolate chip cookie crumbs
• Chocolate buttercream

Sugar Cookie Balls:

• Sugar cookie crumbs
• Vanilla buttercream

Vanilla Fruit Cookies:

• Sugar cookies
• Cool whip
• Raspberries and blueberries

Directions

Cookie Cups:

1. Using a muffin pan, create mini cookie cups out of chocolate chip cookie dough
2. Follow cookie dough directions for baking
3. Cut out the cup shapes
4. Fill with chocolate buttercream and top with M&M's

Chocolate Cookie Balls

1. Crush leftover chocolate cookie crumbs 
2. Combine crumbs with chocolate buttercream
3. Form into round shape and let solidify in fridge

Sugar Cookie Balls:

1. Crush sugar cookies into crumbs
2. Combine crumbs with vanilla buttercream
3. Form into round shape and let solidify in fridge

Vanilla Fruit Cookies:

1. Follow specific baking directions for packaged sugar cookies, or make your own from scratch
2. Top cooled cookies with cool whip and berries