Say No to Cake, and Hello to Cookies

Picture your baby or toddler digging into birthday cake, frosting oozing from between her fingers, smeared over the table, escaping into her hair, and the hair of whoever is crouched closest when the candles go out. Cute, right? Now imagine that cute kid times ten. Or thirty. That is your daycare or pre-school provider's experience of birthday cake and cupcakes. Not only is it likely to become an icky mess, but, in many cases, workers say kids really don't like the frosting and much of the food goes to waste. If you want to be a hero in the eyes of these very important people in your child's life, explore a creative alternative: the Birthday Cookie.

Birthday cookies can be as simple or crafty as the time you have to invest. To a small child, a cookie is a cookie: see cookie, take a bite. Up until a certain age, most of the pretty decorations and elaborate party themes are for the grown ups and the photo ops that will later fill scrapbooks and albums and greeting cards to grandparents. To that end, there are a number of basic options, and more that will probably occur to you as you move from the concept of cake to cookie.

The first, simplest, would obviously be to pass out your child's favorite cookie, whatever that is, along with cute napkins, and an approved beverage. Not exactly an event for the scrapbook, though, hmm? So how do you bridge the gap between practical and party? Two words: cutout cookies.

There are a variety of ways to decorate cutouts for a birthday. Below are listed some examples. Beyond that, is your birthday theme, and your imagination!

Cutouts On A Theme
Use cutters to create shapes related to the party's theme and decorate at your comfort level. Shapes such as dinosaurs, cartoon characters, palm trees, hearts, stars, and many others are available at discount and craft stores and online. (Note: More fancy frosting may look fun, but leads back to more mess and more sugar.)

Mini Messages
Using oversized cutters (approximately 5") in heart, circle or star shapes, cut out a cooking for each child (teachers and parent helpers, too!) spread with a thin layer of icing, and decorate with a simple appropriate message-- "Susie is 2"; "Happy B-day!"-or simply the name or age of the child having the birthday.

The Big Picture
This one requires a little more homework, but is guaranteed to make a lasting impression with your daycare or school staff. Locate a set of alphabet cookie cutters (or, if you're patient and willing, cut by hand). Purchase a piece of ordinary poster board. Use the board to create a birthday message for your child, spelled out in decorated cookies. You may want to embellish the board with paint, markers, or additional frosting. Use icing to "glue" the cookie letters and shapes onto the board. After the birthday song is sung, cookies are simply detached from the poster board and handed out to each child. (Note: Be sure you have head count in advance to ensure that your message includes enough letters, number, shapes and whatnot to include the right number of recipients. Extras that don't fit on the board can always be stashed on the side).

You can use sugar cookie mix or pre-made refrigerated sugar cookie dough for cookies. A recipe is also provided below. Mixing powdered confectioner's sugar with water or milk until it reaches a workable consistency, with food coloring added for creativity, can make simple icing. For writing on cookies, tubes of pre-made icing can be purchased on the baking aisle. More professional decorating tools are available as well.

Good luck and great cookies!

Sugar Cookie Recipe for Cutouts

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 Tablespoons warm water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cream together butter and sugar. Sift together the dry ingredients; add to the butter mixture and beat well. Add the egg, water, and vanilla and beat again until well mixed. Shape dough into two flattened rounds, wrap, and refrigerate at least one hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

On a well-floured board, roll out the dough until 1/8 inch thick. Cut into shapes and set one to two inches apart on baking sheets. Leftover dough can be rolled and cut once more. Bake for about 10 minutes. Do not allow to brown. Cool on racks. (Makes about 2 dozen 3' cookies)