Hi all ~

I need to make some decorated cookies to put on plates on display in my bakery.

I made a recipe of salt dough (2 c flour, 1 c salt, 1 c water) which worked great for rolling and cutting out the cookies, but they baked badly (puffy and lumpy). I baked them at 200 degrees F for half an hour or so, per the instructions on a salt dough ornament web site.

Does anyone have any better suggestions or recipe for long-lasting, FLAT display cookies that aren't real cookies?

Thanks!!
Sherri

Could you use Scuply clay or something similar? Not sure if it would work...

(Or maybe that Crayola magic clay stuff?)

Salt dough cookies. They look real and last forever.

Why not just use regular sugar cookies? They will dry and look great for a while ! My brother still have one of my cookies that I made two years ago!

I already tried salt dough with poor results.

I was hoping someone had a tried-and-true salt dough recipe and baking instructions so that the salt dough cookies don't have irregular, puffy surfaces.

I stopped at a local baker that was opening a new shop. I asked about cookies, and they got out a huge box of real cookies, decorated, that were bagged and sealed. From what they said, they had had those samples for a while, and they still looked great!

I use real ones that are individually bagged. I've had some for 5-7 years and they are just fine for display purposes.

(Just keep them out of hot, direct sunlight....or the icing colours will fade and white turns a patchy ivory after a long time.)

Antonia, how about doing them out of homemade playdough (which is basically a salt dough)? You'd have to let them air dry, not bake.

I don't have a copy of the recipe my mom always made for us. I'll email her for it, but it could take a few days.

In the meantime, here's a link that has 10 different recipes: http://tipnut.com/10-homemade-playdough-recipes/

My father-in-law has his Father's Day Cookies mounted in a shadow box in his workshop from a few years ago and my mother-in-law has several displayed on a shelf from quite some time ago. I have some that I made a few years ago as well. They are all heat-sealed, kept out of direct sunlight and have had no color fading or other issues. You might want to do real cookies. Just my thought.

My sister still has a wedding cookie from our niece's wedding 5 years ago. We did regular sugar cookie, used Toba's glace, then royal trim and flowers on that - all bagged with a ribbon closure. It looks great.

I don't see why they would.