Despite my self-proclaimed status as the Queen of Gingerbread [1] (the crown totally helps me get through baking 100+ gingerbread houses each year!), I haven't done any construction work with sugar cookies.  No real reason why, but for the Little Red Riding Hood picnic [2], I decided to change that and make edible cookie baskets to hold my mini applesauce spice muffins [3].

My piping skills are seriously unimpressive, but even with my level of ability, I love how the cookie boxes turned out!

And seriously, a box made out of cookies, holding more treats inside?  That would be pretty awesome, no matter how it was decorated!

I baked up my favorite sugar cookies [4], and cut them in rectangles to form the four sides of my basket and the bottom.  I whipped up some nice, stiff royal icing [5] (you want it to be able to hold its shape, not spread out like flooding icing) and used a basket weave icing tip [6] to create the woven effect on the cookies. 

I let the basket-weave icing dry completely, and then assembled my cookie boxes using more of the same brown royal icing.  I didn't bother putting any icing on the base of the basket, since you wouldn't be able to see it.

It's like the Turkucken of the baking world--treats inside of treats!  Except I actually want to eat this nesting confection.

The kids loved it!  Though, to be fair, they love any kind of cookie.

Still, I'm calling it a cookie win.

I can't wait to make a Christmas variation on this project next month!