cookie decorating how to + recipes

I am going to share a cookie decorating tutorial with you. hope it helps you, but please remember I am a novice at this and have not attended any classes or anything. There is probably a much better way out there to be making these.

First you want to make the cookie dough. you can use your own recipe, whichever you like best. I used a basic, simple sugar cookie recipe, no flavors added.
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Cut the dough with the cookie cutter of your choice. I chose ducks and circles.



Bake them in the oven as per your recipe or until you see they are done. you do not want to over do them.


Let them cool down completely before starting to decorate them



I did the peak of the duck first, using decorating crayons from Dr Oetker. They are great for small details. you do not need to prepare royal icing for small things. they are also soooo very affordable.


While this hardened I prepared the royal icing, as this is how I chose to decorate my cookies.
you can make egg white royal icing, but I chose to use Wilton's meringue powder for safety issues.
meringue powder is an egg white substitute. It's egg white powder, and it is free of risk. It did not feel safe using raw egg whites and give them to so many people. You can very well use pasteurized egg whites, but since they are not available here in Romania, I went with the Meringue powder.

The recipe is very simple.

Royal icing

3 tablespoons Meringue powder
~500 gr of confectioners' sugar
6 tablespoons of warm water

Beat all ingredients until icing forms peaks.

Then you want to do the outline of the cookies. You should add some water to your royal icing so that it won't be so stiff. You do not want it runny though.



Use the color of your choice and do the outline.



Then you need to flood the cookies. For that, you need to add more water to your colored royal icing so that it becomes slightly runny. Too much water will make it more difficult to work with and will spoil your work.



Using a tooth pick you have to extend the icing so that you completely cover your cookie. do not leave any uncovered spots.



Let them dry out really well.I left them over night and the next day, using the crayons I mentioned above, I started adding the details. These crayons are available at supermarkets, are very cheap, come in four colors and I totally love them and recommend them to everyone.



This is how mine looked in the end. Get creative and do what ever you like.
If you want, share your creations here. I will be happy to make another guest posting.



And this is my sweet heart about to be eating her 3D cookie, which she decorated herself.