Hi Heather....
Have you tried using the Wilton Chocolate Candy Melts? They work really good. I use them on Christmas cookies all the time. The trick with them is after you melt them let them sit for about a minute. You can use them in decorating bags with cake decorating tips.
Look in my pictures and you will see some cookies I did (Santa) with the candy melts. I love them!!! They taste really good too! I use these instead of Royal Icing which I am not a fan of!
Good Luck
Jeanene
I like to make chocolate candy clay and use it on coookies........kinda like chocolate fondant I guess only a much stronger silkier chocolate taste like a ganache....only different lol
In any case if you want to try it you just melt 12 oz. of chocolate and mix in 1/3 cup of corn syrup, stir to combine then turn out on wax paper, put another sheet on top to cover and let it sit for a couple hours, it will stiffen up...then I just knead it a minute, roll it out, cut with the same cookie cutters I used for the cookies and voila a perfect cookie covering. You can do all detail work in melted chocolate...or like these cookies I did, I just painted on them using americolor gels
oh and if you want to make it from white chocolate you'll need to add 14 oz. instead with the 1/3 cup of corn syrup!
I LOVE THIS SITE! Cookie business has been slow this summer, so I've been spending a lot of time here, and becoming one of those CC addicts! 
I've used chocolate ganache on cookies - its taken a lot of trial and error - and its still not fool proof. (but SO delicious) Tempering the chocolate is the key to getting it to set up properly. But using it in a pastry bag while its still warm enough to flow smoothly onto the cookie is tricky too! I'm definitely going to try these other ideas.
One follow up question on the chocolate candy clay - does it harden enough to package the cookies later?
Thanks for the great question - and great answers!
Thanks for the quick answers already. Now I have some more questions for y'all:
Jeanene -- this is basically like making a chocolate transfer on your cookie instead of on parchment, right? Do you have to do anything special to get the chocolate to stick to the cookie?
KHalstead -- again, will the chocolate just stick on its own? Or do you have to "stick it" with something?
SweetDreamsAT -- I assume you are tempering the chocolate before you add it to the ganache? Do you try to thicken the recipe with something else? or is tempering the chocolate good enough?
BTW: Your website cookies are to die for!!! So beautiful...... I can only wish for such talent!
Thanks for the quick answers already. Now I have some more questions for y'all:
Jeanene -- this is basically like making a chocolate transfer on your cookie instead of on parchment, right? Do you have to do anything special to get the chocolate to stick to the cookie?
Nothing special at all to make it stick! Just apply and let dry. Dry time is about 1/2 hour then you can package up! I think it is easier then a chocolate transfer. You are saving a step by working right on the cookie!
Great info ladies!!!! I haven't made any cookie bouquets, but this will definitely be the next thing I try!! Cake Central is the BEST!!!!!
I am going to go ahead try all three chocolate methods...... starting with the chocolate wafers. (So cute, your Santa cookies.....I am going to make balloons!) I have to make chocolate transfers more son's birthday cake anyway, so that will be a perfect time to try the cookies as well. Thanks to everyone. I'll eventually post pix of the three methods, so you can see how I did! lol
I was wondering if you can use that white bark instead of the melts? I ask because at Wal-mart they sell a 2# block of white bark for $1.50 and that would be super cheap - more so then the melts.
I use the white bark on pretzels and it's very yummy - only the white bark though. The "chocolate bark food" (or whatever they call that cr@p) tastes like plastic, IMHO. thx
I was wondering if you can use that white bark instead of the melts? I ask because at Wal-mart they sell a 2# block of white bark for $1.50 and that would be super cheap - more so then the melts.
I use the white bark from Walmart on pretzels too, but when I tried it on the cookies I had a heck of a time. The consistency is not the same for decorating. The Wilton melts just kinda hold together better. I hope that makes sense. Actually a better way to say it is you have more control. Still hope that makes sense!
I don't remember the name, but the Hobby Lobby brand of candy melts works great too. I stock up on those when they have the 40% off coupons. I usually make several trips and make my DH go with me! Michaels also offers coupons on line via email. If you sign up for their weekly emails you get a 40% off coupon for them too! Sometimes 50%.
The Wilton melts actually go a long way. The red on the Santa hat was done with (1) bag of candy melts and it covered 25 cookies. You don't need a lot!
Good Luck!
I used the white bark on the cookies in that photo with no problems. What I did was put it on like mmf right when the cookies came out of the oven and it sort of melted onto the cookies, then it starts to sweat....like the oil in the chocolate comes out....don't freak, just leave them alone, don't touch them and in about 20 minutes it will be reabsorbed or evaporated or something....it goes away! Then once completely cooled they firm up very nicely for packaging!! It gets firmer than mmf but still soft..like a tootsie roll, you know how it kinda feels hard but when you bite into it, it's still soft? That's how the candy clay is on the cookies!
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