Baby showers provide a great opportunity to really lean into a theme and the cheese factor (literally and figuratively).
For this party, we were celebrating two little expectant baby boys. We tried to focus on fun, easy to grab treats and food because we knew people would want to mingle and might be too shy to cut into a cake.
We didn’t have much time to prepare for this event, so we did a combination of homemade and store-bought sweets that we jazzed up with blue melted chocolate, sprinkles, and bows. With this tactic, we were able to create an abundant selection of cute treats with minimal effort. We also bought a selection of fun candies that worked as both decor and treats.
Nutterbutter Babies
These cookies are so cheesy, but also so cute. They are also incredibly easy to make, so extra points for the big wow, low effort.
Take a Nutterbutter cookie and dip each bottom side at an angle to create the illusion of a swaddled baby. Then add two dots of frosting to affix candy eyes. I also found some candy pacifiers and added those to a few. Super cute and easy peasy.
Edible Rattles
By affixing small treats to either end of a candy stick, you can create an adorable edible baby rattle that’s easy for your guests to grab and nibble while mingling. You can use cake pops, Oreos, or mini donuts. We have two examples here, one with a big and little Oreo at either end and another version with some store-bought donuts.
Rice Crispy Treats
These are a crowd favorite and provide lots of opportunities for decorations. You can buy pre-made or make your own. I made my own, using the standard Rice Crispy treat recipe with a few extra hacks to enhance the flavor: (1) add a splash of vanilla and a pinch of salt to the melted marshmallow butter mixture; and (2) reserve a cup of mini marshmallows to add at the very last second – the vanilla and salt will give an extra depth of flavor and the last min marshmallows will create pockets of luxurious marshmallow.
Pretzel Pacifiers
Who doesn’t love the salty sweetness of chocolate pretzels? This is a twist on that concept with a caramel bonus and a fun pacifier design.
First, lay down two small pretzel twists with the bottoms touching on baking sheets, ideally lined with parchment, foil, or silicon baking mats for easy clean up. Top the center where the two pretzels touch with an unwrapped Rolo and place in a warm (200 degrees Fahrenheit) until the chocolate softens (only a few minutes – keep an eye on them, you just want them soft not a melted puddle). Once they are removed from the oven, top each one with candy coated chocolate in the color of your choice – we went with Carmel filled M&Ms in blue and yellow for this party. Push the candy down until you get the desired look and so that both pretzels are securely smooshed into the chocolate caramel goodness. Let them dry and then they are ready to serve.
Gettin Dippy With It
Now that you have melted chocolate, have fun with it. I also dipped one side of some colorful chocolate candy cookies. You can also dip pretzel rods, potato chips (pick a sturdy chip), crispy bacon, or any other salty or sweet snack you have handy. This brings some decorative cohesion to a plentiful spread, with very little extra effort.
Edible Decor – Candy Duck Ponds
We found some fun blue candies and placed them in clear containers with some rubber duckies on top. This is a cute decoration that guests can nibble on throughout the party.
Bonus Idea 1: You can even use one as a game – guess the number of candies!
Bonus Idea 2: You could fully lean into this idea and create a landscape candy bar – add some green jelly beans around the blue candy ponds or maybe a peach candy sandy beach on another side. You will just need some baggies or cups so that guests can make their own candy goodie bag to take home. This also helps cut down on the leftover candy.
Salty and Savory Snacks
For this party, I also added a veggie and cheese tray with a fun take on the Cabbage Patch dolls.
For the centerpiece of the platter, I hollowed out a small cabbage (save the insides for a stir fry or cabbage salad), and placed a very small baby doll inside with its head popping out.
I also added some cute baby onesie toothpicks to the cheese cubes to make them easier to grab. I serve a lot of cheese boards and a key component to a successful board is making the cheese accessible for the guests and occasion. In this situation, people were just going to be walking by so I cut some high quality cheddar and pepperjack cheese into easy to snag cubes.
