Cookie Planets

Craft a snack that's out of this world! Cookie Planets are incredibly easy edible crafts for kids to make. With just a little help from adults to get started, kids can decorate their cookies to reflect the solar system, or they can make up all kinds of delicious planets from all over the galaxy. Cookie Planets are a fun homemade dessert idea for birthday parties, classrooms, or just because, and they require much less effort than a lot of other baked dessert. You won’t want to miss this tutorial from Candy Aisle Crafts; blast off into the kitchen today!

Materials:

• One 4-ounce white chocolate bar
• ¼ teaspoon vegetable oil (optional)
• Sandwich-sized resealable plastic bag, for piping
• Rubber band or twist tie, for piping
• Scissors
• Assorted flat round cookies (such as Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafers)
• Waxed paper
• Paintbrush and small bowl
• Assorted sanding sugars and/or nonpareils

1. Break the chocolate into somewhat even pieces and put in a stainless steel bowl. Place the bowl on top of a saucepan of simmering water (the bowl should not touch the water). When the chocolate is almost melted, turn off the heat and stir until the chocolate is fully melted. Add up to . teaspoon vegetable oil, if needed, to thin the chocolate until it pours off a spoon.
2. To make a piping bag, put one corner of the resealable plastic bag in a small juice glass. Pull the rest of the bag over the sides of the glass. Fill the bag with about a cup of the melted chocolate. Twist the bag closed in your hands, tightly cinch it with the rubber band, and seal the bag closed. Cut the tiniest hole (less than 1⁄8") off the corner of the bag with scissors. Squeeze out some chocolate to see if the hole is big enough. Enlarge the hole if needed by cutting off the tiniest bit of the bag until it pipes out a thick line of chocolate.
3. Line a baking sheet with wax paper and place the cookies on the sheet. Brush the remaining chocolate onto the cookies in wide transparent stripes. Pipe thin lines of chocolate next to or on top of the brushed lines.
4. Make rings by piping lines of chocolate across a cookie, extending ." or less past the edges of the cookie.
5. Sprinkle the tops with the sanding sugar and/or nonpareils. Shake off any excess.
6. Refrigerate for at least 20 minutes to harden. Store in an airtight container, separated by layers of waxed paper, in the refrigerator