How to Decorate Sugar Cookies

By Sally's Baking Recipes · 60 min

Ingredients

Instructions

1. Bake and cool the sugar cookies first, using your own recipe or the one from the video.
2. Sift the confectioners' sugar into a large bowl, then add the meringue powder and 9 tablespoons of water. Beat on high speed for 1.5–2 minutes until the icing drizzles back down and smooths out within 5–10 seconds when the whisk is lifted.
3. If the icing is too thick, beat in more water one tablespoon at a time. If it is too thin, keep beating to add air, or add more sifted sugar.
4. To tint, divide the icing into bowls or tint the whole batch. Dot gel colour in with a toothpick, stir, and add more until the colour is deep enough. Stir in a few drops of water if the consistency needs adjusting.
5. Fit a pastry bag with a small round tip (such as Wilton #4, using a coupler if switching colours or tips). Fill the bag, leaving a few inches empty at the top, then twist to seal or clip it.
6. Outline the cookie with icing using a small round tip, then flood the centre with more icing. Add sprinkles while still wet if desired.
7. Let the flooded layer set for 1–2 hours, then pipe a second layer of details (such as swirls, lettering or dots) on the dried base. A smaller tip such as Wilton #2 suits fine detail. Let it set before stacking or storing.
8. Pipe one colour section at a time, letting each section set (at least 30 minutes, until semi-set) before filling the adjacent sections.
9. Pipe a section, dip the cookie into sprinkles or sparkling sugar to coat the wet icing, then pipe the remaining sections.
10. Let the icing dry for about 2 hours at room temperature in a thin layer. Thin or thick layers take longer. To speed up setting, refrigerate the cookies.

Summarized from Sally's Baking Recipes's video. Watch it for the details.