Decorating Cookies with Royal Icing

Decorating Cookies with Royal Icing is easier than you think!

Anyone can do it and I’m going to prove it to you all!

And you don’t need a lot of fancy bags and tips and impossible to find decorating tools.

I did it! And I’m no cookie decorator. But I have friends (on Facebook) who are.

And they are all so wonderful, sharing what they create and how they create it.

For this post we’re going to focus on what Callye at Sweet Sugarbelle  taught me. Because her tutorials just made it “click” in my head, and now because of her, I’m not ashamed to try and make a pretty cookie instead of the drop cookies I usually make.

To make Royal Icing you need to watch her tutorial on 20 second icing The entire post is really helpful and all the videos are short, Callye gets right to the point!

I used Sugarbelle’s Basic Sugar Cookie Recipe. Just like her Icing, it’s no fail, I love it and it tastes great!  I chose a candy cane and a cookie man for shapes. Keep it simple starting out.

Now if you’ve done what I told you and watched Sugarbelle’s Tutorials, you are now ready to start. Make your royal icing, using Sugarbelle”s Royal Icing get it on the thick but pourable side. The easiest way to “water down” your icing is using a plant mister, spray bottle, call it what you want. Use it. It works. And it will take a lot of misting to go from the Royal icing to get to the 20 second icing.

You all need to trust me on this, it’s really worth getting “it”. I’ve had so much fun since I got “it” that I’m looking for excuses to make cookies.

So you have baked cookies, and you have your 20 second icing. Now for some fun. Remember my promise of no fancy tools. Here’s all you need to make simple but beautiful, ALL THE OTHER MOMS ARE GONNA HATE YOU, cookies.

And I already did all the research for you.

You want the wide mouth bottles. Make sure they are wide mouth unless you just like pouring icing all over your counter.

Wilton makes a 2 pack decorating bottle that I found at Michaels for under $3.00. It was by the candy melts.  Hobby Lobby didn’t have any bottles in the cake decorating section but in the paint section they had the bottles I wanted for $1.89 each. And I’m sad to say I found nothing at Walmart.

And when I got home, I remembered I had bottles that we use for barbecue sauce in the cabinet. Just make sure your hole isn’t too big.

You can also order  Condiment Bottles on line from Amazon.

Color about 1/3 of your icing. I used the Americolor Red, everyone is so right about those food colorings, I probably would have had to use a whole container of another brand to get this red.

Now pour into your bottles

Again, I watched Callye’s tutorial on the 20 second icing, her 3rd and 4th videos show how to use it! Go back and watch one more time if you need to.

Now just try it!

this will be hard,
Joan bakes all the time,
blah, blah, blah

I only decorated 3-4 cookies,
my 12 year old did all the rest!

Want to add a little fun, right after applying the icing, add some sprinkles, let it set for about 30 minutes then carefully shake off and continue

Be sure to let your cookies dry for several hours, overnight is best.

And still think you can’t do it?

How about two 9 year olds?

my first try (before Callye and Sweet Sugarbelle’s tutorials)

My second try, after getting “it”

Here are my tips for starting out.
*Keep it simple, either make small cookies or just don’t try to cover the entire cookie. Working in small areas works best.
*Practice on those first few cookies, you know the ones that are a little burnt around the edges.
*Have fun with it, even if they look ugly, they still taste really good!

Here are some more Holiday favorites

Swedish Christmas Cookies

Chocolate decorator Cookies

Mint Chocolate Bark

Gingerbread Men