Decorating Royal Icing Sugar Cookies

So what do you do with your Royal Icing now that it's prepared?

Find instructions for decorating iced sugar cookies after the jump.
We left you off with pastry bags and squeeze bottles of icing. Here's what you do:

First of all, this is how I hold the bag, with the rolled top towards my hand. This might look weird because I am left-handed. If you are right handed, hold the bag in your right hand please. snicker.
And don't look at the state of my fingernails. I SAID DON'T LOOK!


Ok. Use your pastry bag to draw an outline all the way around the edge of your cookie. Keep it far enough from the edge that the icing won't slide down the side. Keep your tip about 1/2 inch above the cookie and let the icing "fall" onto the cookie. It might take a little practice on wax paper to get the perfect speed and pressure.

For the record, this is the bottom of a cookie (I was out of blanks) but you should ice the TOPS of your cookies.

Complete the outlines of all of your cookies first so that the icing can harden slightly before the next step. By the time you finish outlining you should be ready to move on.


With the squeeze bottle (your flood icing) run icing all the way around the inside edge of your outline.


Fill the rest of the cookie with icing in a zig-zag motion leaving a bit of space in-between strokes. The icing should run into the bare spots.


Fill the rest of the spaces with icing or use the tip of the bottle to push the icing into the bare spots.


If you see any air-bubbles, now is the time to pop them with a toothpick. Once they have a chance to dry at all, popping the bubbles will leave an unsightly hole.


Now let them dry completely out on the counter overnight before moving on to decorate with more royal icing, sprinkles, colored sugar and sugar flowers (I made mine (learn how on our post DIY Royal Icing Flowers) but you can grab some at any craft store with a baking department or online.)


Once your cookies are complete and dry, store them in a tin separated by wax paper or in plastic bags tied up with a bow for sharing!

Here are a few more pics of this year's Easter batch. If you make some cookies, send us pictures! And if you have any questions, don't hesitate to leave a comment.