Make an Edible Gingerbread Cookie Wreath

How do you feel about wreaths? To be honest, I didn't used to care for them at all. I thought they were tacky and silly. However, I've slowly warmed up to the idea of using wreaths in my seasonal decor. I think there are many ways you can DIY a beautiful and elegant looking wreath, and wreaths with a bit of whimsy add some lightness to a room, don't you think? Today I have the honour of joining some of my favourite Canadian bloggers to share some fun & beautiful DIY Christmas wreath ideas with you. After much thought, I decided to take my favourite gingerbread cookie recipe from my mom, decorate the cookies like beautiful snowflakes, and make an edible gingerbread cookie wreath. This would be a lovely and whimsical decoration for your home at Christmas, and it would also make a practical and unique gift! Read on to see how I made it (plus get the best gingerbread cookie recipe EVER!) and then scroll down to the bottom of this post to see 15 more fun wreath ideas.

I think this wreath is just as pretty as it is practical - you could hang it on a window or doorway and enjoy it's festive look an scent, and then eat it when you want to! This would be a fun way to present cookies to your neighbor at Christmas, too.

To make this edible gingerbread cookie wreath, I first made a batch of my family's favourite gingerbread cookies and cut them into snowflake shapes. Here are some great snowflake cookie cutters to buy, and here is the gingerbread cookie recipe I use:

Gingerbread Cookies

Yield: 3 dozen

Ingredients:

For the cookies:

• ½ cup shortening
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• ½ cup molasses
• 2 cups flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cloves
• 1 ½ teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon ginger

For the icing:

• ¼ cup warm water
• 1 tablespoon corn syrup
• 3 cups confectioners / icing sugar (use more as needed)

Directions:

1. Mix together the shortening, sugar, egg yolk and molasses. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cloves, nutmeg and ginger.
2. Blend the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.
3. Roll out on a floured surface and cut out shapes with cookie cutters.
4. Bake at 350 F for 7-10 minutes
5. While baking, mix together the warm water, corn syrup and icing sugar for the icing. Make it on the thicker side, so add more icing sugar if needed.
6. When the cookies are cool, ice snowflake patterns on them with the icing sugar and a piping bag.
7. If you're making a wreath, reserve some icing.

To make the wreath form, cut out a circle from some thick cardboard. I used a good ol' diaper box and two sizes of plates to make my circle.

Use the reserved royal icing to attach the snowflake cookies to the wreath form. This stuff will hold like cement once it's dry!

I overlapped my cookies slightly and I found that dabbing the icing on the backs of the cookies like pictured worked best:

Continue overlapping and attaching cookies with the royal icing to your wreath form until it's filled.

Add some ribbon and/or a strip of fabric onto your wreath and - voila! Your festive Christmas wreath is ready to enjoy... and then to eat.

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