Fill your Pittsburgh cookie table with any – or all – of these beautiful cookies! They are perfect for a wedding any time of the year.
Have you heard of this fun wedding tradition? Maybe you’ve seen donut walls, but wedding cookie tables are honestly one of the best things to ever come out of Pennsylvania.
As you plan your special day (or help someone plan theirs), do not skip the cookie table! Your guests will love this sweet tradition. There isn’t one right way to decorate or fill one out, but taste and looks are both important factors here. So, I have some of the prettiest and tastiest cookie ideas that are totally wedding-worthy.
FAQs about Pittsburgh Wedding Cookie Table
Before we get to the tantalizing list of cookies, I am going to answer some questions I see all the time about wedding cookie tables. If you don’t see your question in the list, please leave it in the comments.
What is a cookie table?
Just like the name implies, a wedding cookie table is a large table set up at a wedding filled with different types of family favorite and fancy cookies for guests to eat. Some cookie tables are absolutely overflowing with dozens of different types of cookies.
Here in Pennsylvania, this is a very common tradition. It’s so common that if you go to a wedding without a cookie table, it feels like something is missing.
Some people think this tradition started around the Great Depression when people joined together to bake tons of affordable cookies instead of baking and decorating elaborate cakes.
No matter where or when this originated, it is a delicious and beautiful tradition!
What cookies are on a wedding cookie table?
The fun thing about cookie tables is that you can add any type of cookies that you want! Serving a huge variety of different cookies from rustic to fancy not only makes the cookie table look more enticing, but it also gives your guests more choices.
It also pays respect to the original intent of cookie tables when they first started. People used to make cookies that represented their family’s heritage. It’s a wonderful way to stay on theme and celebrate your family’s unique recipes and traditions.
Hosting a Christmas wedding? Be sure to check out my favorite Christmas cookie recipes.
How many cookies do I need for the cookie table at a wedding?
You’ll need to set out enough cookies for everyone to have at least a few. The best rule to follow is to set out about three to six cookies per person, depending on how big the cookies are.
When do you set out the cookies on a Pittsburgh wedding cookie table?
When you set out the cookies depends on your wedding’s schedule of events. If you are following the traditional order of ceremony, photos, reception, dance, etc., then it is best to set out the cookies after the ceremony and before the dinner.
The cookies give your guests something to nibble on while the bride, groom, and wedding party take their photos.
Prefer to hold the sweets until later on? Set them out after dinner during the dancing portion of the evening!
Wedding Cookie Table Recipes
These are the only cookie recipes you’ll need to completely fill up a Pittsburgh cookie table. Click through to each recipe and pin your favorites to Pinterest.
1. Cream Horns
Also called Lady Locks, these are traditional cookie table cookies. They are perfectly delicate and fancy enough for the most formal wedding.
2. Lemon Sandwich Cookies
I love how light the flavor is in these lemon sandwich cookies. They are great to have any time of year and have the perfect combination of cream and crispy shortbread.
3. Peanut Butter Striped Cookies
Another classic take on shortbread cookies is these striped peanut butter shortbread cookies. They are crispy, and you can use any type of cookie cutter you want, so it’s easy to personalize them for the bride and groom.
4. Nutella Thumbprint Cookies
Anyone that loves Nutella is going to adore these cookies! Nutella thumbprints are a chocolaty twist on classic jam-filled thumbprint cookies.
5. Black and White Cookies
I’ve seen different versions of black and white cookies at lots of weddings before. My recipe adds a fun little change – I used pumpkin in the cookie dough!
6. Cream Wafer Cookies
Use the wedding colors as the filling in these crispy cream wafer cookies. You can even cut out the cookies with different cookie cutters to make the shapes wedding-themed.
7. Italian Sprinkle Cookies
Don’t forget to set out classic traditional Italian wedding cookies on your big day. The sprinkles are optional. For a wedding, add some silver sprinkles or just leave the sprinkles out and serve beautiful white cookies.
8. Almond Orange Sugar Cookies
These playful mushroom-shaped cookies will grab your guest’s attention. They have a surprising almond and orange flavor that everyone will enjoy.
9. Dulce de Leche Chocolate Sandwich Cookies
People who love this Latin American dessert will really enjoy these chocolate sandwich cookies. The crispy chocolate wafers are filled with creamy caramel – it is a very decadent cookie.
10. Salted Caramel Crumb Bars
These classic dessert bars are a crowd-pleaser! Not only do they have that popular salted caramel taste, but they are really easy to make for a huge crowd too. It’s always good to make a cookie or dessert bar that you know people will enjoy.
11. Peanut Butter Cookies
Another fan-favorite is these soft peanut butter cookies. You can fill them with any seasonal M&M candies that you want to reflect the current colors. Or just stay traditional and leave the candies out.
12. White Chocolate Cherry Shortbread Cookies
Soft and sweet, these cherry shortbread cookies are the perfect thing to share with wedding guests. They are a lot of fun to decorate and will soon become a wedding favorite.
That’s a Wrap on the Perfect Pittsburgh Cookie Table
Whether you make a few of these cookies or all of them, it is really easy to fill up a Pittsburgh cookie table with the choices in this list. These cookies will impress your guests and give kids something fun to eat while they wait for the food or music.
Wedding cookie tables are a really fun tradition. They might just be popular on the East coast for now, but they are so much fun that if you set one up, your guests will rave about it!
