So, I'm making cookie bouquets for my DD's birthday centerpieces and I've done tons of decorated cookies but never on a stick. I'm using the recipe from cookiecrazie.blogspot.com, in case that matters. Do I bake them with the stick stuck in the dough or glue the sticks on with royal icing after the fact?

Go into the forums and do a search about this. There have been extensive discussions about how to do it.

You bake them right on the stick. I use the lollypop sticks. Cut your cookies out rather thick. Take the stick and place it on the cookie before baking. Put your finger on top of the stick and gently rock it back and forth to work it into the cookie dough (Your finger will smooth the cookie dough over the stick). Bake

I love her recipe! I tried baking them with the stick in, but I hated how I could only fit 6 per sheet. I put the sticks in right after they come out of the oven.

the best way is to drill them, then adding the stick with a bit of icing

yikes, there has to be an easier way than drilling......lol
adding the sticks in after baking sounds easy enough; do you have to take the cookies out of the oven earlier to keep them soft?

OK - having just gone through this for the first time last week, I could not help but feel your anxiety! Felt I had to help another baker in need...

I tried both ways - inserting the stick after baking & before - here is my experience & take on it all...
1st - The dough definately had to be a little more thicker then I first expected - I had originally rolled about 1/4 inch but found it better to go a little thicker.
Now, I wanted to insert the stick immediately after baking (to avoid the limits of only fitting 4 or so with sticks on a baking tray) but wound up putting the stick in before baking afterall - reason being is when I tried to put the stick in after if the stick broke through the baked cookie I was out a cookie - wasted not usable! (not to mention frustrating being I had to make 90!).
SO I tried to put the stick in first - found the dough much more stable if I chilled the dough a little on the cookie sheet after cutting the shape out. I was then able to slowly push the stick in (with my fingers gently pressing on top of the cookie to "feel" where it was going) without effecting the shape of the cookie (I was baking fairly large fluted squares to add fondant & an ei). At least by doing this I could patch up the back of the cookie, if the stick came through, with a slim line of dough that I blended in slightly so it would bake in without looking like a patch of dough = no wasted cookie!
I will warn you - it was time consuming! I was considering the great tips I saw here on cc to attach the stick to the bag to "look" like a pop BUT I was also making centerpieces & was afraid it would look funny since they could be seen from all angles by the guests.

I give GREAT BIG THANKS to linedancer here on cc who was sooo sweet in sharing her talent - basically my personal fondant/ei cookie coach throughout! I promised her I would post pics in her honor (as I never have) - so i'll post a message when I do so you can see the final outcome.
Really HTH - know it is long - but just wanted to "Pay it Forward" as I truly appreciated all the help I received! If you have any questions feel free - I will share my experience or I'll ask a pro like linedancer to help out! Good Luck - let us know how it goes....

I bake cookies on sticks all the time for my son's school. I usually press the lollipop stick onto the cookie and cover (patch) the exposed part to the stick with a little bit of the cookie dough, then I turn the cookie over and bake. This way the only way you could tell that they cookie was patched is to turn the cookie over and look. I find it works out well and I find it much easier than trying to push the stick into the dough. Hope this helps

BACI thanks for the kind words, glad I could help. I am having somewhat of the same kind of dilemma right now, making a cookie bouquet for the Central Florida Fair.

I usually bag my bouquet cookies and put the stick on the bag, but I don't want to bag these, so the stick has to go into the cookie.

Here is a thread with the method I used, thanks to yane for the tip.

http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-663627-.html

I used the same size stick I am going to use in my bouquet, am planning to add some ri to the hole to help stabilize the cookies as they are quite heavy.

HTH

BTW BACI, don't forget the pics

edited to add, I thought this worked really well, with the shorter stick, you can bake more cookies at a time. The stick does come out quite easily..

Hi Linedancer, how are ya?
Yane doesn't mention whether or not she uses RI at all when inserting the larger stick. Do you use any?
Thanks

Oops sorry
I see now that your going to . lol

Hey, toleshed, how you doin'?? Lots of snow, maybe?? I am going to experiment with the ri here in a day or two. Will let you know.