Create: Holiday Cookie Board

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There’s only a few days till Christmas. More than anything I’m most excited about baking all the cookies this holiday season! The best part of baking all the cookies is then displaying it all on a cookie board!

This was a project I was dying to do! It’s a bit last minute, but with proper planning it can be done in a day’s time!

It took me two evenings to put together this board, and a couple of hours to decorate and photograph.

It was so much fun to put together! The hardest part for me was picking which cookies would go in and what to leave out!

This is the ultimate centrepiece for any holiday gathering you’re hosting or attending! Who doesn’t love sweets this time of year?

How to plan your cookie board?

Here are a few tips and tricks I picked up along the way as I set up to do this project.

Not just cookies

It doesn’t have to exclusively be cookies on the board. You can also include candy or chocolates to add visual appeal. I added candy bark and candy canes to add some visual interest

Vary shapes and sizes

Choose cookies in a variety of shapes and sizes. Pick cookies that are larger, smaller, circle, and some rectangle cookies as well!

Don’t just do it yourself

Don’t feel like you have to bake everything on your own.

This cookie board can be easily assembled with cookies from your favorite bakery, or even the grocery store. Or Bake some, buy some!

Choose versatile cookie dough

If you choose to bake everything yourself, there are ways to make this project less daunting.

I made two batches of my sugar cookie dough, and made three different cookies out of them to make life easier! More details are in this post!

How to set up your cookie board:

There are so many ways to set up your cookie board, and really you can’t go wrong!

I am a bit of a perfectionist, so I chose to draw out my cookie board on a piece of paper before I actually put it together. But at the end putting it together I still changed my mind on where I thought the cookies fit best!

Here are the tips I found helpful in making my own cookie board:

Section your board

Create containers or compartments to section off the cookies. I used cupcake liners to section off the cookies, so they stay in place.

You can also use small, shallow bowls, or baking trays or ramekins!

Choose the centerpiece

Pick the cookie that is going to be your centrepiece, the one you really want to show off! This can be your favorite, the largest, or the one that is most intricately decorated.

I chose the snowman macarons, because those are my favorite!

Think Symmetry

Symmetry helps create visual interest.

Create mirror images on your board to add visual interest. Pick 2 spots for each of your cookies on the board.

On my cookie board, the peppermint macarons, and the confetti cookies are in the top and bottom of the board, rather than all just gathered in only one spot.

Show the cookie’s best side

Some cookies shine when they are laying flat, like decorated sugar cookies. Others, like the peppermint macarons on my board, look best on their side, to show off their feet and fillings. I love the confetti cookies layered on top of each other.

Layer cookies

Another benefit of layering cookies on top of one another will make sure they don’t get hidden.

make sure that all the cookies can be seen. Either top them on each other, or use bowls turned upside down to make them taller.

Smaller cookies go last

Use the smallest cookies in your selection to fill in the gaps. It will also help pull the whole board together! I chose the snowflake cookies to fill in the gaps between the bigger cookies, and you can see that they help highlight my centrepiece cookie, the snowman macarons.

What’s on my cookie board?

On my cookie board I included 6 types of cookies, one candy bark and some candy canes.

ONE: Confetti Cookies

You can find my confetti cookie recipe on this site!

I used the recipe to make smaller cookies, so instead of 16 cookies, I made 32 cookies from the one batch. I wanted people to be able to taste all the cookies!

TWO: Snowman macarons

These were a bit of an experiment. The snowmen were piped freehand on a silicon mat, and the details of the eyes, nose, scarf and buttons were piped on with royal icing. I filled the snowman macarons with Nutella!

THREE: Peppermint white chocolate macarons

You can find this festive macaron recipe here! I love this holiday flavor combination of bright and bold peppermint with the sweetness of white chocolate!

FOUR: Christmas Tree Ornament Cookies

These were one of the ways I used the sugar cookie dough. I made a double batch of the my favorite Bon Appetit’s Ultimate Sugar Cookie Dough.

I dyed the cookie dough green, cut out the cookie dough into Christmas Tree Shape with small circles. I then filled the holes with crushed hard candy and baked them with Christmas sprinkles. More details are in this post!

FIVE: Chocolate Dipped Finger Cookies

The second way I used the sugar cookie dough was to make these chocolate dipped shortbread cookies.

I add cocoa powder to one batch of cookie dough, cut them into equal rectangles, and baked them. Once cooled, I dipped them in melted white chocolate and topped them with festive sprinkles! More details are in this post!

SIX: Snowflake Cookies

The third way I used the sugar cookie dough was to make these mini snowflake cookies with a cookie stamp.

Once baked and cooled, I made a simple glaze to dip the cookies, and top with coarse sugar or sprinkles! More details are in this post!

SEVEN: Chocolate candy bark

Candy bark is super simple to make and can be topped with whatever you have on hand!

I used a combination of milk and white chocolate, added some cookie crumbles from the sugar cookies, and some holiday sprinkles to make them festive!

EIGHT: Candy Canes

I included some store bought candy canes to add some more traditional festive feel to the board and of course, to make life easier.

There you have it, all the details to making a simple cookie board, perfect for the holiday season!

Let me know if you used any of these tips!

Happy Holidays!

Follow me on Instagram @sprinklesandscribbles for more baking inspiration!

Cheers,

Create: Holiday Cookie Board