Decorating royal icing cookies is a nice way to create some pretty designs that can be used for things like cookie wedding favors. If you’re looking for how to decorate fancy cookies, royal icing is a good option. However, frosting cookies with royal icing can end up being hard on your hands, so here are some tips for making sugar cookie favors without wrecking your hands!
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Give yourself time.
When you make cookies that are decorated, you need to do them in stages so that the icing has time to dry in between steps.
That basically gives you time to make your hand tired while piping, rest long enough to just start getting stiff, then start over again on the next step.
(For an article about decorating cookies with candy clay instead of icing, click here.)
Last week I made cookies for wedding favors, and this week I had about twice as many to make for another wedding.
Cookies are definitely a process, and the royal icing that you use to decorate them is stiffer than buttercream icing, so my hand is stiff and tired today! It’s really important to stretch your hands out while you’re working, and to give yourself time between steps so that your hands don’t get hurt.
First, flood the cookies with icing.
First, roll out the dough as evenly as possible to keep the cookies flat, bake them, and allow them to completely cool off.
Don’t try to skimp on the cooling time! The cookies really do need to be completely cool before you decorate them with icing.
Next, they got one coat of thinned royal icing in a technique called flooding.
The icing is spread out on the cookies, sometimes with an outline to contain the icing, sometimes not.
I do it without because I like the way that the outline looks when I put it on after the flooded icing dries.
Let the icing dry completely, because if it’s not set you can create cracks when you come back to decorate on top of them.
Add the first part of the piped decorations.
Once the cookies are set, you can start piping the decorations on. I added a monogram to these to match the wedding cake design that the couple had chosen.
After the monograms had dried enough to be solid, I piped on the flowers to mimic the cascade of flowers that will go on the wedding cake, then I left the cookies to dry overnight before packaging them.
It’s CRITICAL that you leave these to dry for long enough. Royal icing dries slower than you think, because the surface dries first, then the inside part dries. If you think that the surface is dry and you touch them too soon, the inside icing won’t be dry and the design can crack and develop spiderweb-looking imperfections. Leave the cookies to dry longer than you think you need to to be on the safe side before packaging them.
Package the cookies.
The next morning, after the icing was dry enough to not be smashed flat, all of the cookies were put into individual bags, then the bags were tied shut with custom ribbons that the bride had ordered, printed with the couple’s names and the wedding date.
The cookies were delivered along with the wedding cake, and I’m sure they were eaten a lot faster than the time it took to make them.
For an article about decorating cookies with wafer paper, click here.
Wafer paper supply list:
Shop for materials to make wafer paper flowers on Amazon and Oasis Supply (#ad). Use coupon code REMEMBER10 for a discount on your entire order at Oasis Supply. (All Amazon links are affiliate links)
- Wafer paper (use coupon code REMEMBER10 for a discount on your entire order at Oasis Supply)
- Silicone flower center molds (Amazon)
- Petal veiners (Amazon)
- Petal dust (Oasis Supply)
- Floral wire (Amazon)
- Tylose glue (Oasis)
- Fluffy paintbrushes (Amazon)
- Flower former (Amazon)
- Craft scissors (Amazon)
- Liquid Food Coloring (Amazon)
- Food-grade glycerin to make wafer paper conditioner (Amazon)
- Corn starch (Amazon)
- Flower paper punches (Amazon)
- Steamer to shape wafer paper (Amazon)
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