Kids love cookies and they also like to build things with food. You or one of your helpers makes this Holiday centerpiece by gluing a batch of cutout cookies together with icing to make an edible 10-inch wreath made of cookies. Place a large pillar candle in the middle for a beautiful centerpiece.
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For best results, use cookies with perfectly flat bottoms.
Assemble the following supplies:
Large 12-inch flat plate or platter, small offset spatula
50 to 60 sugar cookies
You can use plain cookies, cookies decorated with sugar or icing. For a uniform look, use all star shaped cookies.
1 large egg white
1 cup confectioners' sugar
Then follow these steps to turn your cookies into a table centerpiece
Make the “glue” by whipping the egg white in a large bowl with a balloon whip attachment until the egg white is frothy. Slowly add the confectioners' sugar and whip the mixture until it’s thick and fluffy and stiff peaks form, at least 5 minutes. Add a little more sugar if it’s too thin, or a little water if it’s too thick. Place a damp towel over the bowl until you’re ready to use the frosting.
Arrange the cookies on a plate as follows: Place a cookie along the outer edge of the plate and place a dab of icing, using the offset spatula, near the bottom left of the cookie. Glue a second cookie onto the first, pressing it against the glue. Glue a third cookie slightly to the lower right of the second cookie, creating an alternating zigzag pattern; work counterclockwise around the plate. Create a wreath by forming a circle with the cookies. The icing should act as glue and be hidden beneath the cookies.
Set the wreath out on a table and fill the center with a pillar candle, a small floral arrangement, or a bowl of ornaments. The wreath lasts 5 days and the cookies may be eaten.
A dark-colored plate shows off the wreath to its best advantage. Try a red glass plate if you have one.
If you are concerned about eating raw eggs, you can purchase meringue powder at craft stores and anywhere cake decorating ingredients are found, and use it in place of egg whites. Substitute 5 tablespoons meringue powder, reconstituted per the manufacturer’s instructions, for one egg white.
If you like the idea of a cookie wreath, but don’t have the time to bake, buy several dozen flat cookies (you can even use chocolate chip) and shape a wreath right on a platter, without the glue. This kind of wreath is particularly easy to disassemble and eat.