Decorate Sugar Cookies Just Like the Pros
You can learn to beautifully decorate sugar cookies just like you see on social media and I can teach you how! Whether you like to learn from pictures and text or videos and words, I've got you covered! I have created photo Cookie Cards and a Video Tutorial so that you can choose your method of instruction.
*This tutorial is provided for those that have purchased my annually offered Royal Icing Patriotic Cookie Decorating Kit. If you are creating the cookies and icing on your own, I use medium flood royal icing to both outline and flood the cookies.
Patriotic Cookie Cutters
Cookie Cards: Sugar Cookie Decorating Guides
Use my Cookie Cards below as a guide to decorate your Patriotic sugar cookies. Step by step photos plus written instructions give you all the details that you need to create beautifully decorated sugar cookies of your own.
Decorate a Popsicle Cookie with Royal Icing
- Outline and flood the popsicle stick.
- Pipe a rectangle outline in the center of the popsicle, dividing it into 3 sections.
- Following the outline, flood the entire rectangle working towards the center.
- Give the cookie a gentle shake by moving it back and forth to even out the royal icing. If needed, use a toothpick or scribe tool to move the icing around on the cookie to fill in any gaps or holes.
- Let the royal icing dry for at least 20 minutes before you add top layers and adjacent sections. You can speed up the drying time of your royal icing by using a small table fan or dehydrator on the lowest setting.
- Outline the top half circle section.
- Following the outline, flood the top section working towards the center.
- While the top section is still wet, add sprinkles.
- Outline the bottom rectangle section.
- Following the outline, flood the bottom section working towards the center.
PRO TIP: Sprinkles will sink in to your icing if it is too wet. Let your icing crust over for just a minute before you add your sprinkles so that they stick to the top of the icing.
Decorate a Rocket Cookie with Royal Icing using the Wet on Wet Technique
- Pipe a square outline in the center of the rocket, leaving a triangle section at the top and a rounded section at the bottom.
- Following the outline, flood the square working towards the center.
- Give the cookie a gentle shake by moving it back and forth to even out the royal icing. If needed, use a toothpick or scribe tool to move the icing around on the cookie to fill in any gaps or holes.
- While the base layer of royal icing is still wet, pipe the polka dots. Let the polka dots sink into the base layer of royal icing. If needed, use a toothpick or scribe tool to poke each dot down.
- Let the royal icing dry for at least 20 minutes before you add top layers and adjacent sections. You can speed up the drying time of your royal icing by using a small table fan or dehydrator on the lowest setting.
- Pipe an outline around the triangle section at the top.
- Following the outline, flood the triangle.
- Pipe a small rectangle stick at the bottom center of the rocket.
- Pipe a wick and a "flame" or add a sprinkle for texture.
PRO TIP: To achieve a seamlessly smooth wet on wet design, flood the cookie quickly and then add the design while the base layer of royal icing is still wet. This creates a flat design that looks like a background pattern rather than a raised top design on the cookie.
Decorate a Star Cookie with Royal Icing using the Marbling Technique
- To create a "tie dye/firecracker" effect, start in the center of the cookie and pipe one color in a swirling motion.
- Repeat, alternating with each color, to create a pattern, filling in the entire cookie.
- Using a toothpick or scribe tool , scrape a line through the icing starting in the center of the cookie toward one of the star points. Repeat by scraping 4 more lines, each starting at the center and moving toward each star point, essentially dividing the cookie into five sections.
- Scrape two more lines through the icing in between each of the 5 lines already created, for a total of 10 more lines. Start in the center and scrape out toward the edge.
- Give the cookie a gentle shake by moving it back and forth to even out the royal icing. If needed, use a toothpick or scribe tool to move the icing around on the cookie to fill in any gaps or holes.
PRO TIP: Pipe a white outline around the entire edge of the star cookie if you are having trouble piping your swirl lines to fill the cookie. This will give the cookie a clear and defined edge.
Step by Step Sugar Cookie Decorating VIDEO Tutorial
Visual Learner? Let's Decorate Cookies Together!
Follow along to my step by step video tutorial. Learn how to decorate Patriotic Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing including a Popsicle, Star and Rocket. I break down the decorating process into easy to follow steps and give you helpful tips along the way.
Helpful Cookie Decorating Tools:
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Want to Learn More?!
Looking for more inspiration? Check out my Buttercream Icing Patriotic Sugar Cookie Decorating Tutorial. Learn to decorate the same Patriotic cookies with buttercream icing in different designs that can also be translated to royal icing.
