What do you give when someone far away has a birthday, an anniversary, or a new baby? If you want to ship a gift, you usually have to go and shop for the gift, wrap it, and then look for a suitable box to ship it in. By the time you write the label out and get to the UPS store or post office, you’re exhausted! There’s a better way to send a gift with a few simple clicks of your computer mouse.

We sell these tasty cookie gift baskets online! They’re made to order and then ship right to the recipients' door so you never have to run around town getting in and out of the car.

Cookie flowers have been popular for some time now. These decorative cookies are really more like pops as they come on long stems. They resemble a cookie rose. But they can be decorated with any kind of theme imaginable.

Cookie companies have really turned this into an art. The frosting and colorings that are being used now are so vivid, you’d swear that the cookies are real and not just representations of flowers.

Go for a theme that matches your gift-giving holiday. Cookies for Mother’s Day can mean red rose cookie blooms. New baby? How about a basket filled with long-stemmed baby bottle cookies or ducks or even baby faces? The icing artists who make these cookies are so skilled that the frosting really pops to life.

There are cookie bloom baskets for every holiday, no matter how obscure. Nurse’s Day? We have nurse cookies! Send over a basket to your favorite hospital staff complete with nurse’s hats, thermometers, and stethoscopes done in sugar. How about Groundhog’s Day? You can get a representation of that little fuzzy shadow-seeker, too! There’s really no limit to what you can order in the cookie realm these days.

You can also create your own cookie blooms. It’s really easy. Just choose a sugar cookie recipe and a cookie cutter that’s big enough to accommodate icing detail. Small, intricate cookies don’t work well for cookie blooms. You want a big and bold shape like a giant star or sunflower or teddy bear outline.

The only real trick is to get long stemmed lollipop sticks at the craft store and insert them before you bake the cookies. Many a disappointed home baker has tried to get the sticks in after baking and it’s just impossible. You’ll end up with crumbled cookies. And don’t try to move the cookies off the sheet pan before they’re completely cool or you’ll end up pulling the whole stick out.

Decorate with royal icing and icing tints or food coloring powders. The powders are found wherever cake making supplies are sold. And that’s how commercial bakers get the colors so vivid—a tip from the pros.

Stand your cookies up in a floral foam block or a cube of Styrofoam, then place in a basket that has been lined with fabric or a linen napkin. Make sure to hide the foam so it looks like the cookies are standing on their own. This is one thinking of you gift you’ll want to carry over to a friend’s house instead of trying to mail.

Ingredients

• 1  lemon
• 3 cup(s) all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon(s) baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon(s) salt
• 1 1/4 cup(s) sugar
• 1 cup(s) butter (no substitutions), softened
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon(s) vanilla extract
• Optional frosting and sprinkles

Directions

1. From the lemon, grate 1 tblsp peel and then squeeze 1 tblsp juice. Set aside.

2. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt, then set aside. In large bowl beat sugar and butter on low speed until blended. Increase speed to medium-high then beat 3 minutes or until light and creamy, frequently scraping bowl with spatula. Reduce speed to low; beat in egg, vanilla, and lemon peel and juice until mixed. Beat in flour mixture, just until mixed, occasionally scraping bowl. Divide dough into 4 equal pieces; flatten each into a disk shape then wrap each in plastic wrap and refrigerate 1 hour or overnight, until firm enough to roll. (Or place dough in freezer 30 minutes.)

3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. On lightly floured surface, with floured rolling pin, roll 1 disk of dough to 1/4-inch thickness. With floured 2 1/2- to 4-inch favorite springtime cookie cutters, cut dough into as many cookies as possible; wrap and refrigerate trimmings to reroll later. Place cookies, about 1 inch apart, on ungreased large cookie sheet.

4. Bake cookies 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned. With wide metal spatula, transfer cookies to wire racks to cool, about 10 minutes. Repeat with remaining dough and trimmings.

5. When cookies are cool, if you like, decorate with frosting and sprinkles.

You can top them with a variety of candies - jelly beans, Robin's Eggs, foil covered chocolates or even an Easter Chick Peep!

• Wax paper
• 1 2/3 to 2 cups (11- to 12-ounce package) Butterscotch or Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels
• 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
• 10 ounces chow mein noodles
• 30 - 60 pieces of egg shaped candies

1. Line trays with wax paper.
2. Microwave chips in large, uncovered, microwave-safe bowl on MEDIUM-HIGH (70%) power for 1 minute; STIR. If necessary, microwave at additional 10- to 15-second intervals, stirring just until morsels are melted.
3. Stir in peanut butter until well blended.
4. Add chow mein noodles to mixture; toss until coated. Scoop about about 2 rounded tablespoons (about the size of an ice cream scoop) and drop onto prepared trays then immediately shape into nests. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Before serving, place one or two candies in each nest. Store prepared nests in covered container.