Let me begin by saying that I am a total novice when it comes to decorating sugar cookies, unlike my friend over at A Helicopter Mom who does the most beautiful cookies – you know the ones that are so pretty that it’s hard to eat them. I don’t have the steadiest of hands, so for the longest time I was terrified to try this technique. I seem to have better luck decorating cakes – they are much more forgiving. But my cookies turned out okay, so I thought I would go ahead and share them along with directions on how to flood sugar cookies with royal icing.
Begin by whipping up a batches of your favorite sugar cookies and royal icing. I came across several different of royal icing recipes, but settled on the most basic for this first attempt. In a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, combine 1 pound confectioners sugar and scant 1/2 cup of water. Mix until the frosting is smooth. You can optionally add 5 tablespoons meringue powder or 2 large egg whites. I fully intended to add the meringue powder, but totally forgot. Spoon or pour the royal icing into a squeeze nozzle bottle or a pastry bag fitted with a #2 or #3 tip.
Step 1. Pipe the outline of the cookie. Let it dry for a few minutes before you flood with additional icing.
Step 2. Staying within the lines you just piped, start piping from the outside and work your way toward the middle. Continue to flood the cookies until completely filled in, careful not to overfill. If any air bubbles develop, use a pin to perforate them.
I topped my cookies with some simple drop flowers I had left over from a birthday cake I recently made. I’ll have to make some more of those to share with you – that’s something I actually do pretty well.
I’ve dabble in this just a little bit, but I need to play around some more. You’re right about A Helicopter Mom. She’s crazy talented.
Those look pretty. 🙂
These are awesome! Thank you for demonstrating your flooding technique. It’s something I hope to get good at by Christmas so I can make some special treats 🙂
Those are beautiful Easter cookies – I wouldn’t want to eat them either 🙂 Thanks for the tip! I’ve only used Royal Icing once, and thought it was so much work, so I’ve never done it again. That was a long time ago (like almost 10 years I think!) so I’ll have to try it again, maybe it isn’t as bad as I remember!
I love the look of flooding.
Those are very very pretty! Great tutorial