You're Lucky If You're My Neighbor ~ A Ramadan Favors' Story!

You're lucky if you're my neighbor! Why, you ask? Well, knowing the sisters behind Sara's Baked Creations has its perks like getting to taste some seriously scrumptious treats! As the blessed month of Ramadan came upon us, Abbie came up with a brilliant idea; she wanted to send off favors to wish everybody Ramadan Mubarak. When she told me what she wanted to do my eyes shined brightly with the opportunity to bake my heart out. I was in and so was mama when she found out. This year we prepared a beautiful little glass bowl full of candies and cookies as our Ramadan favors, thanks to Abbie's super awesome idea. The bowl also had dates - the one food that unites all Muslims across the globe during the month of Ramadan. It was wrapped in a shiny red wrapper and adorned with a beautiful gold bow and gorgeous labels. Abbie was the genius behind this creative idea who put everything together and designed beautiful labels, mama did her magic and wrapped the bowls so they looked gorgeous (seriously, she's a pro!), and I baked up the goodies!

The main feature of the favor bowl were the crescent shaped cookies decorated in white fondant and gold highlights. I baked seriously delicious vanilla sugar cookies. I was aiming for a really pretty, elegant, yet catchy look that would deliver the 'wow' Abbie wanted so I went with a classic white and gold combination. The cookies were patterned, quilted, and studded with gold dragees. Abbie stuck around as I decorated a sample cookie to give me the final thumbs up. After rejecting two designs, this one finally won our hearts. I wasn't entirely satisfied though, not until I sparkled them up with glitter! Glitter perfects everything!

I had to take pictures of the crescents in different lights and from various angles to capture all the details I worked into them. Don't they look absolutely gorgeous? The curvy designs and the quilted effect with gold dragees came out very elegant and the sparkle I added delivered the big 'WOW!' These were to be a fabulous addition to Sara's Baked Creations' list of Mission Sweetness. Abbie suggested I name them 'The New Moon Sugar Cookies', in honor of the moon sighting done for Ramadan. The crescents were the main feature, yes. The bowl was full of other fabulous goodies too, like the Spritz cookies I baked!

I decided to bake the Spritz in green and yellow to match the colors of the lantern label that Abbie had designed. Of course the sparkle from the crescents needed matching too, so I sprinkled some sparkle sugar on the yellow Spritz cookies too and it all looked brilliant together.

Finally, I baked up a batch of my favorite Snickerdoodles to complete the favor bowl. Somehow the traditional Snickerdoodle with its combination of cinnamon and sugar felt very Ramadan-like to me. They went perfectly with the sweets and the dates in the favor bowl. Yum yum! Oh, and they had sparkle too, just so everything matched. These cookies get their sparkle from the sugar coating on top!

When I was done baking up the contents of the favor bowls it was time for Abbie and mama's magic. Abbie cut out the labels she had printed a night before we were to send them out. She punched a hole through the labels and tied together Sara's Baked Creations contact card and a Ramadan Diaries label by Sisterly Yours too. The main label read, "Ali Family wishes you Ramadan Kareem."

The labels looked beautiful! The colors were bright and the lantern delivered such a nice Ramadan vibe. Abbie had done her magic with graphics again! Once the labels were done mama stepped in with her excellent wrapping skills. Seriously, she's so good at wrapping up gifts. I actually am surprised I'm her daughter because my gift wrapping skills don't exist at all. Give me a wrapping paper and ribbons and stuff and you'll find me sitting scratching my head with a totally confused expression an hour later.

The morning that we were supposed to send the favors out, Abbie woke up early and prepared the bowls. A yellow doily in the base added to the color and the theme. Once the doily was in Abbie filled in a Snickerdoodle cookie, Ferero Rocher chocolates, Three Musketeers chocolates, M&M candies, Spritz cookies, and dates. She then wrapped up the bowls with plastic wrap to keep the cookies airtight and fresh. When it was finally time to head out I added my fabulous New Moon sugar cookies and mama wrapped the bowls in a shiny red wrapper. She added the ribbon and the labels and we stepped back to admire the beauty.

*Sighs* It looked so pretty. An adorable little Ramadan favor bowl with that beautiful label and the yummy goodies peeking through.

The ladies who received the favor bowls loved them! I got some really good feedback on the cookies and everybody we spoke to loved how beautiful the favors looked. It was total yumm delivered in the most prettiest way possible!

Ramadan Mubarak from The Ali Family, Sara's Baked Creations, & Sisterly Yours

All the mouth-watering pictures in this post are original Sara's Baked Creations' content. Please have some shame and refrain from copying, recreating, and cheating without giving proper credit and mention!

Sara’s Baked Creations is on Mission Sweetness! Sara and Abbie are hobby bakers who bake for friends and family only. We are not a commercial bakery business; it gives us joy to spread smiles while enjoying sisterhood and living our passion for baking.