Easter Cookie Orders Next Week? Here’s How to Prep Now (And Save Your Sanity)

Easter is just around the corner — and if you’re a cookier, that probably means your kitchen is about to look like a pastel explosion.

Between custom orders, pop-up sales, PYO cookies, and all those cute little bunny minis… Easter can be one of the busiest cookie holidays of the year. But with a little prep now (yes, right now!) you can make next week a whole lot easier on yourself.

Here are my 7 tips on how to prep now, so you can spend less time stressing and more time decorating...

1. Take Stock of What You Already Have

This is your first step! Pull out all your Easter cookie supplies and see what you’ve got on hand.

→ Check for:

• Cookie cutters

• Cookie and Icing Ingredients

• Gel Colors

• Sprinkles and PYO palettes

• Bags, Backers, Toppers

• Stencils & airbrush colors

• Boxes, bows, crinkle paper

• Edible markers & brushes

2. Pre-Make or Pre-Bake What You Can

Future-you will thank present-you for this one.

• Make & freeze cookie dough. Yup, you can do this. Roll it out before freezing and be sure to wrap it airtight with plastic wrap. Place it in the fridge to thaw a day before you bake. Check the dough a couple hours before you plan to bake to see if it is thawed enough. If you only make your dough a day in advance of baking, you can just keep it in the fridge.

• Making royal icing a day ahead of time can be helpful too! Not everyone likes to do this, but we do it here at The Cookie Countess. The trick is to leave it at a very stiff consistency (basically how it comes out of the mixer) and keep it in the fridge. Then you can pull it out as needed. Just give it an hour or so to come to room temp.

• If you are making any designs that use royal icing transfers, do those now. I LOVE using transfers - saves a lot of time when you are at crunch time! And it helps you when making designs that you make not be brave enough to freehand. Check out our blog on how to make transfers here. And all our free downloads, including some easter designs are available here. 

Little things add up — and this kind of prep will save you SO much time during the rush.

3. Get Your Packaging Ready

Treat your packaging like another assembly line.

• Fold and assemble boxes ahead of time. I always underestimate the amount of time boxes can take to put together. So do these ahead of time. This is a also a great way to have family members pitch in and help

• Bundle PYO palettes and brushes if you are making PYO cookies

• Add any stickers, or labels to packaging now

Having all of this ready to grab-and-go is a game changer when it’s time to pack orders.

4. Make a Decorating Plan

When I have a lot of cookies to make, I like to sit down and write out the following things

• How many cookies of each design + 1 or 2 extra per design. Having some extras on hand will save you from any last minute mishaps that happen to all of us eventually 

• Colors needed and what consistency of each color

• Order of events. Which cookies need to be flooded first, and what colors. Look at your designs and see what icing needs to be crusted before the next step in the design can be done. Anything that will be stenciled with royal icing, like PYO cookies, needs to be flooded and allowed to dry overnight.

Having a well thought out decorating plan will let you execute faster in the moment and get those cookies wrapped and packaged faster. 

5. Plan Your Social Media Content Now

During a busy cookie week, posting on social can feel like just one more thing — unless you prep ahead.

• If you did presales, you would already have pics of your Easter cookies, but now is a great time to repost if you still have cookies available

• Record quick videos of your process. Plan ahead if you will film any tutorials or just fun content. Get your tripods, stands and lights ready. 

• If you sell/sold your cookies, share a clear deadline for orders and pickups. This can be done in an email or message. Don't feel the need to make special accommodations to customer last minute changes. If it was clear from the beginning when cookies would be available, stick to your schedule.  

Bonus tip: Behind-the-scenes content performs really well. Don’t overthink it! Grab your phone camera and film lots of content to post later. If you have a teenager in the house, this is a great task for them! 

6. Prep Your Cookie Workspace

Nothing slows you down faster than a messy workspace.

→ Spend a few minutes now to:

• Clean and organize

• Gather everything in one place. Once you have everything you need, take a picture and save it for the next big holiday. Make notes of anything you may have forgotten for next time.

• Restock bowls, piping bags & paper towels, anything you use a lot of in your decorating

• Prep your airbrush & stencils - make sure your airbrush machine is running smoothly and doesn't have leftover color from last time you used it.

• Clear counter space, clean cookie sheets or anything else that you think might need a swipe of a damp towel

• Charge your devices - if you are using a battery powered projector make sure it is charged and ready to go!

You’ll be surprised how much smoother everything feels when you’re not hunting for a clean scribe tool mid-decorating.

7. Take Care of You

This might just be the most important prep step.

→ Remember to:

• Get good sleep (as much as possible!)

• Stay hydrated

• Have some healthy snacks on hand

• Have your favorite GrubHub restaurants on speed dial! 

• Stretch between long decorating sessions

• Get up and talk a quick walk - give your hands and eyes a rest 

• Give yourself grace — perfection isn’t the goal

You’ve Got This!

Holiday cookie hustle is no joke — but a little prep goes a long way.

Your future tired, sprinkle-covered self will be SO grateful you took a few minutes today to get ready for next week’s Easter cookie craziness. And remember to enjoy the process! Cookie decorating should bring you joy and satisfaction. Having a plan and doing some prep ahead of time will allow you to be in the moment and admire your edible works of art so much more.