I made some tiny sugar cookies for you—teeny-tiny ones.
I’m a sucker for small things and I admit I like to play with my food. By now you’ve probably guessed that about me. I made more than just the baby cookies though; I wanted them to be on display.
So I built three-tier sugar cookie dessert stands. Cookies on cookies—totally adorable.
I love sugar cookies because they’re made from a few basic ingredients I usually have on hand, and they bake quickly. Lately I’ve been using a recipe from my friend Bridget at Bake at 350. It’s become my go-to because nothing needs to be brought to room temperature and the dough doesn’t require chilling before rolling. That means no waiting—huge plus. The dough is slightly crumbly when it first comes together, but knead it a bit and it rolls beautifully and lifts easily from the counter.
Bridget’s sugar cookie and royal icing recipe is straightforward and reliable—I’ve used it for peppermint cookies and a variety of other shapes. She also has a Cookie Decorating book that’s full of clear instructions and charming ideas. I’m giving away a signed copy at the end of this post.
If you want to recreate the cookie stands, here’s the process I used. These stands aren’t in Bridget’s book; I was simply inspired by her cookie decorating techniques and wanted to share how I built the display using her dough.
Start by rolling the cookie dough evenly. I used dough bands to keep the thickness consistent when rolling. Cut circles in graduated sizes—I used 3-7/8″, 3″, 2-5/8″ and 2-1/4″. Before baking, use a plastic drinking straw to remove the centers of each cookie; the straw collects the dough and creates clean holes. Freeze the cut shapes for about 10 minutes so they don’t spread while baking, then bake. After they come out of the oven, use the straw again to ensure the holes remain the desired size.
Save the dough scraps and use tiny cutters to make miniature desserts that will sit on the tiers. A pastry piping tip can shape little circles with rounded tops—perfect for mini macarons or whoopie pies—just tap the tip to release the dough.
I used assorted small cookie cutters about 1″ wide, tiny alphabet cutters, graduated ovals, and my favorite graduated circle cutters for the stands. You’ll want four different circle sizes to assemble each three-tier stand. For chocolate cookies, I swapped 1/2 cup of flour for 1/2 cup of cocoa and used vanilla extract.
After the cookies are completely cooled, it’s time to pipe. Traditionally I outline with stiffer icing and then flood with thin flood icing, but for these I used a medium royal icing consistency for both outlining and filling. If your lines come out a little wonky, pipe dots around the edges before the icing sets to camouflage imperfections. Let the decorated cookies dry overnight. Store any leftover royal icing airtight or leave it in a piping bag with the end tied off for finishing the next day.
For painted details, mix a small amount of luster dust with clear extract to create an edible paint. This works beautifully on macarons and adds a pretty sheen.
Now for the stand construction. Use sturdy cookie sticks for support; they’re thicker than cake-pop sticks. The sticks should be about 6″ tall—buy 6″ sticks or trim 8″ sticks down. Before assembling, twist a stick gently through each cookie hole to make sure it will slide through cleanly. Ensure the cookie icing has fully cured from the day before.
- Start with the smallest cookie shape un-iced. Place it flat, insert the cookie stick, and then slide the largest iced cookie on top. Having two cookies at the bottom gives more support and keeps the stick straight.
- Cut striped paper straws into 1½” sections. Slide one straw piece over the stick and push to the bottom to act as a spacer or ledge.
- Slide the second-largest iced cookie onto the stick until it rests on the straw spacer, then add another straw section as a spacer.
- Slide the final cookie into place until it rests on the straw. Add one more straw piece to the top and wrap a small piece of decorative tape around the straw, cutting a triangle to make a tiny flag topper.
- Optional but recommended: use leftover royal icing to pipe between the two bottom cookies and add dots around each tier center to help secure the cookies while building. Attach mini desserts to the tiers with icing and let the assembled stand dry for several hours before moving.
This method yields a three-tier cookie stand made from four cookies. Bridget’s recipe will make enough cookies for four stands with extra to decorate. You can scale the idea down to two tiers, a single cookie plate, or just the tiny cookies—choose how you want to play with it.
These stands are great for Valentine’s Day, dessert parties, or party favors. They’re surprisingly sturdy and delightful when displayed.
Now for the giveaway: I gave away a signed copy of Bridget’s book, Decorating Cookies. To enter, readers were asked to share in the blog comments what they did that weekend. The deadline has passed and the winner was announced in the original post. Congratulations to the winner!
Thank you all for the sweet words about the cookie stands—I really appreciate the enthusiasm. Enjoy making and decorating your own edible displays!
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Winner announcement: Comment #917—Becky P! Congratulations and enjoy decorating cookies (and swimming too).
