Royal Icing Cookies: What I Wish I Had Known as a Beginner

If you’re reading this, you’re probably ready to dive head first into creating almost-too-beautiful-to-eat royal icing cookies. Royal icing cookies are the perfect treat for any occasion and they can really set the tone for an event! They photograph beautifully and taste great, too. If you think decorating beautiful royal icing cookies is above your skill level, think again! With a little practice and determination, you can be a cookie Picasso. But before you break out the mixer, I invite you to check out these tips and tricks that I wish I had known beforehand when making royal icing cookies to save yourself a lot of time, effort, and headache!
(P.S. – If you’re in need of a great sugar cookie recipe for royal icing cookies, check out The Perfect Sugar Cookie Recipe! )

1. PREPARE ALL OF YOUR SUPPLIES BEFOREHAND.

Aside from the obvious things like an electric mixer, you’re going to need several less-obvious supplies too. I suggest having several small bowls/containers on hand for mixing your icing colors. Also, having plenty of pipette bags will save you the headache of continuously washing them out when you are switching colors / consistencies.

2. HAVE PATIENCE.

When decorating royal icing cookies, prepare to exercise your patience. This isn’t a quick project. It’s a project that you may even spread out over a couple of days. When adding details to your cookies, it’s so important to wait until the layer of flooded icing is completely dry. If you add details on top of flooded icing that isn’t entirely dry, your icing will crack and the colors will bleed, creating a not-so-beautiful effect. I let my flooded icing dry for at least two hours before adding designs.

3. DECIDE YOUR COOKIE COLOR PALETTE BEFOREHAND.

By deciding your cookie-decorating color palette beforehand, you will eliminate a lot of headache once you get started. If you already know the colors you plan to use and have a general blueprint for decorating, you will be able to decorate with each color/consistency in a systematic way rather than continuously needing a color you’ve already discarded. Trust me, it’s nearly impossible to create an exact-color match if you need to use the same color later.

4. WORK FROM THICK TO THIN.

I like to make my royal icing a little on the thick side because it’s ALWAYS easier to thin the icing by adding water than it is to thicken the icing. When creating your flooding icing, use just a splash at a time. The water really goes a long way in thinning the icing. If you’re coloring the icing with liquid food coloring, make sure to do that first before setting the consistency of the icing. Sometimes the liquid food coloring alone will thin the icing out to your desired consistency.

When making your flooding icing, also be sure not to get the icing TOO thin. When this happens, your icing looks more like a glaze and it will not totally cover the color of the cookie. The beauty of royal icing cookies is their clean opacity. Your flooding icing should drip quickly off the spoon but should maintain it’s color and opacity.

5. TEST YOUR PIPING TIPS.

Your cookies have a flooded base layer, you’ve allowed them adequate time to harden, and you’re ready to add all the cute embellishments. You put the piping tip to the cookie and PLOP. Icing everywhere. There’s not much worse than being betrayed by your piping tip! I suggest testing your tip on a paper plate each time before it touches a cookie. Sure, mistakes can be wiped off but it usually leaves some residue that is difficult to eliminate entirely.

Each piping tip creates a totally different visual effect so it’s important to learn each tip. Some are great for words, some are better for adding texture. Any time that I plan to write a word on a cookie, I always try writing it first on a plate to see how the icing will lay.

Overall, learning to decorate royal icing cookies can save you lots of money and can make any event look more impressive! Decorating cookies takes patience, trial-and-error, and a willingness to make a mess. Hope these tips for decorating royal icing cookies are helpful. Have fun decorating and show off your designs in the comments!