Culina's Blog

Decorative Sugar Cookie and Icing Recipes

Cookie decorating ideas can be found everywhere, from architectural magazines to fashion magazines. Let your imagination run and have fun. Take your time and be patient. 

Cream Together In Main Mixing Bowl:

• 2 cups butter - room temperature
• 2 cups granulated sugar

Add To Butter Mixture:

• Two whole eggs
• 2 tsp. Vanilla bean paste (real vanilla extract will work if you don't have paste)

Mix thoroughly until all ingredients combined, scrape the bowl of your electric mixer often to clean sides.

In A Separate Bowl Sift Together:

• 3 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 51/2 - 6 cups of flour

Add flour mixture to butter mixture a cup at a time and mix each cup thoroughly. 

Roll out the dough and cut cookies. If it is warm in your house, you can put the rolled out cookie dough in the refrigerator for 10 minutes before cutting cookies.

Cut out cookies and refrigerate or freeze the cutout cookie dough for 15-30 minutes. This keeps the cookies in shape during baking.

Royal Icing Recipe For Cookie Base 

Royal Icing does not contain any dairy. It is not the same kind of icing as is used to cover a cake. Royal icing glaze is a little runny but it hardens when cooled, making it an excellent choice for decorated cookies and gingerbread houses.

• 1 cup powdered sugar 
• 1 tsp almond or lemon extract (I prefer Nielsen-Massey extracts) 
• 1 tbsp meringue powder 
• 1/4 tsp cream of tartar (if you don't have this, don't worry) 
• 2-3 tsp of water as needed. The icing should be thick enough to hold it's shape when piped on. 

Mix with an electric hand or stand mixer. Be careful not to over beat Royal Icing; you do not want to whip too much air into it. High speed until ingredients are mixed and then low speed for a few minutes more until you achieve beautiful soft peaks on the beater.  If it is too runny, add more powdered sugar in small portions at a time until the icing thickens. 

Royal Icing for Decorating Cookies (can be made a day in advance)

2 cups powdered sugar 

5 tbsp meringue powder 

1/3 cup water 

Add all ingredients and beat with an electric mixer until firm. Be patient; it will take about 15 minutes to reach proper consistency. 

Divide into separate bowls to add color and then transfer to plastic bottles or piping bags, cover tips, and set aside. 

Plan Ahead:

Make sure you have all of your supplies ahead of time. Depending on your cookie project, you may not need all of these tools. 

 - Plastic Squeeze Bottles or Piping Bags 

 - Gel Food Coloring (for best color) 

 - Luster Dust 

 - Edible Glitter 

 - Wax Paper 

 - Artist Brushes 

 - Toothpicks or Scriber Needle 

 - Cookie Cutters

 - Baking Pans 

 - Cooling Racks 

 - Storage Containers 

 - Small Bottle of Clear Corn Syrup (to adhere dragees, glitter, and colored sugars) 

 - Premade Royal Icing decorations (many available) 

Cookie Decorating Resources: 

 - Michaels

 - Country Kitchen Sweet Art

 - Amazon 

Alternative Cookie Decorating Idea - Use Fondant. 

Make and bake cookies just as you would for royal icing decorating 

Make Royal Icing for Base Coat 

Make Royal Icing for Decorating 

My favorite fondant is Satin Ice. It tastes good and is easy to manage.

Once cookies are cooled, using a paintbrush or spatula, cover the face of the cookie with Royal Icing. Roll and cut out fondant with the same cookie-cutter used for cookie design. 

TIP: Before lifting the cutout fondant from the paper, put it in the refrigerator for a few minutes. 

This process keeps the fondant overlay from stretching when you lift it to place on the cookie. 

Lift the cutout fondant and overlay on the cookie just after applying fresh royal icing. The icing should still be wet. 

The fondant may be a little tacky from condensation, try not to handle or touch the surface of the fondant overlay until it dries. Use a spatula to lift the fondant onto the surface of the cookie. 

Snowflake Shaped Sugar Cookies overlayed with fondant and dusted with edible glitter. Moose shaped cookies for a bachelor party. Chocolate Fondant overlay.