Easy Jelly Bean Flower Cookies

Easy Jelly Bean Flower Cookies ~ a quick and easy springtime slice and bake sugar cookie that kids can do themselves! Great for Easter and Mother’s Day.

If you need a last minute Easter project to do with the kids, this is it.  It’s the kind of thing I used to love doing with my girls.  You can make these Jelly Bean Flower Cookies  any time, anywhere, there’s no mess involved because it uses store-bought cookie dough.  All ages can participate and get creative.  The older ones can count out the number of ‘petals’ they’ll need, and experiment with color combinations, the younger ones can sort the candy and get a little dexterity practice.  There’s no right or wrong, no  mistakes, when it comes to something this simple.   So if you’ve got kids, neighborhood kids, grand-kids, or nieces and nephews, this is a great weekend holiday project to do with them.  Grab some refrigerated sugar cookie dough, jumbo M&Ms, a bag of  jelly beans and you’re ready to go.

All you have to do is gently press the candy into the warm cookies to form the flowers.  That’s it— it couldn’t be easier.  Buy the smaller jellybeans that come in lots of colors for the best results.  A tray of them will look  like a bright granny square blanket!

I think this kind of simple project is worth its weight in gold around holidays.   It gives kids a chance to participate and get creative.  Even if you don’t have kids this is kind of fun.  Of course you can use other types of candies as well, and I would love to do this on mini frosted cupcakes.  If I were making these for a party, I might use my VANILLA BEAN SHORTBREAD COOKIE recipe instead instead of the ready-made dough, it doesn’t spread as much and the flavor is legendary.

Notes:

• Be sure to press the candies into the cookies while they are hot out of the oven so the candies will adhere well.
• Use any candy you like for this project, gumdrops and other jelly candies work well, too.

Have a wonderful weekend, I hope you’re spending it with family!