How to Decorate Holiday Cookies (Tutorial)
How to Decorate Holiday Cookies
by Jennifer Carlisle
These cookies are fun and simple to make and decorate. The cookies I made are sugar cookies, and gingerbread cookies. Infact, the sugar cookies are a recipe from this blog, My Favorite Sugar Cookie Recipe. I am only going to cover how I made the snowmen and Christmas trees, not the gingerbread men. I have included pictures of the gingerbread men though, and they are very easy.
I wanted to post a tutorial about these cookies, because I have had several people ask me how I decorate my cookies. This is just one of the ways I do it, and I feel it is simple with supplies that most people can find in their home. For these cookies I used a ziploc sandwich bag to pipe the icing on. I do own decorating bags, but sometimes out of convienence I use ziploc baggies. So you don't need to be a serious baker to make these cookies. Even if you don't want to go through all the work of using a cookie recipe from scratch you can most certainly buy store bought dough, no one has to know. I do hope you try my cookie recipe at least once though. The great thing about dough too, is that you can always make it ahead of time and freeze it until you are ready to use it, keep that in mind.
Frosty the Snowman
For the Snowmen Cookies You Will Need:
-Sugar cookies shaped like snowmen, undecorated
-Vanilla or white frosting (I reccomend not using the whipped frosting from the store, too many air bubbles in it, makes it hard to pipe through the bag and decorate)
-blue food coloring
-1-2 ziploc baggies
-Wilton White Sparkling Sugar Sprinkles to sprinkle all over
-Wilton Orange Jimmies Sprinkles for the nose
-Candies or sprinkles that look like black dots for eyes (mini chocolate chips would work too)
Use these to sprinkle all over Frosty's body
Use the orange sprinkles for Frosty's nose
Use the black dots for Frosty's eyes
For the Christmas Tree Cookies You Will Need:
-Sugar cookies shaped like Christmas trees, undecorated
-Vanilla or white frosting (I reccomend not using the whipped frosting from the store, too many air bubbles in it, makes it hard to pipe through the bag and decorate)
-Green, blue, red, and yellow food coloring
-4-5 ziploc baggies
-Wilton White Sparkling Sugar Sprinkles to sprinkle all over
Undecorated cookies
First, bake your cookies. Feel free to use any shape or size cutout you wish, they don't have to be snowmen or trees.
Let them cool completely, on a cooling rack is best.
Once cooled, prepare your frosting, you can use store bought, I did. I used a vanilla frosting and I added blue food coloring to make the hats and scarf on the snowman. I also used green, blue and red for the Christmas tree. I reserved some white frosting for the actual snowman and some ornaments on the Christmas tree. Add as many drops of food coloring as you wish to create the color you want for the cookies. I use between 3-6 usually. Mix food coloring with about 1/2 cup of frosting depending on how much you want to use and how many colors you use.
Blue frosting in a ziploc baggie for decorating
Place about 1/4- 1/2 cup of the colored frosting into the corner of a ziploc baggie. Seal the bag partially, leaving a little opening for air to escape. Take scissors and snip the corner of the bag. Snip only a small piece off then test out your bag and see if that is the desired amount of frosting you want to use to create lines of frosting with. It is easier to snip off a little bit at a time ,than to snip off a large amount and have to start over with a new bag. Press the frosting down into the corner of the bag and twist the top half, where the seal is, to prevent the prevent the frosting from coming out the top of the bag. It should only come out the snipped end of the bag. Also when piping the frosting from the bag, be very gentle when squeezing and don't add too much frosting as this can cause the bag to blow a hole out the side.
Outlining the hat on the snowman
Filling in the outline of the snowman's hat
The hat is filled in, now on to the snowman's body. Outline the rest of the body in white frosting.
Filling in Frosty's body, starting with the head first.
Filling in the arms...
one at a time.
Then the rest of his body
Place the cookie you wish to decorate in front of you and with gentle pressure start outling your cookie. With the snowmen I started with the hats in blue. I outlined them first, then I filled it in, starting at one end, then making a back and forth motion to fill in the rest of the hat. Then I switched to the color white, you will need a whole new bag for the white. Follow the same directions from above for the white frosting bag. Then outline the snowman with the white frosting, and fill it in the same way you did with the hat. Back and Forth or Up and Down motion to help fill in the outline.
Once the snowman is completely filled in, you can add the black dots for eyes, the orange sprinkle for a nose, and the white sparkling sugar all over the snowman's body. I did not add the white sparkling sugar to the hat or scarf though. Then with the blue frosting bag make a scarf by piping a line across the neck and adding two more lines down off of it for the ends of the scarf, like it is wrapped around his neck. Then that is it, your snowman is complete!
Add the eyes, two black dots.
Add the nose, one orange sprinkle
Almost done...
Make the scarf, around the neck...
and down the front
All Done!!!
For the Christmas tree, color white frosting with green food coloring and place frosting in a ziploc baggie as instructed above. Snip the end and twist the other end to prevent leaking. Gently pipe green frosting along the outside of the tree as an outline. When finished outlining, fill in with the same motion as you do for the snowmen, back and forth or up and down. Once the tree is filled in completely, using different frosting colors make the ornaments with whichever colors you would like. I did blue, white and red. If you would like you can add a yellow star to the top or lights. Then add a sprinkle of the white sparkly sugar sprinkles, to make it look like snow on the tree.
Feel free to design them any way you would like, this is just kind of a guide to get you started. I have decorated cookies so many different ways, and that is the fun part. Just use your imagination, be creative, have fun with it. And if you screw up, scrape off the frosting you don't want with a tooth pick or start new with a new cookie.
Undecorated Christmas tree
Outline the tree in green frosting
Outline of tree
Fill in the tree
Add different colored dots on the tree for ornaments. Then sprinkle with white sparkling sugar sprinkles, so it looks like snow.
Gingerbread Men and Christmas Trees
Assortment of Holiday Cookies
I hope this tutorial helps with your holiday cookie decorating this year!
Happy Holidays to Everyone!!
by Jennifer Carlisle
These cookies are fun and simple to make and decorate. The cookies I made are sugar cookies, and gingerbread cookies. Infact, the sugar cookies are a recipe from this blog, My Favorite Sugar Cookie Recipe. I am only going to cover how I made the snowmen and Christmas trees, not the gingerbread men. I have included pictures of the gingerbread men though, and they are very easy.
I wanted to post a tutorial about these cookies, because I have had several people ask me how I decorate my cookies. This is just one of the ways I do it, and I feel it is simple with supplies that most people can find in their home. For these cookies I used a ziploc sandwich bag to pipe the icing on. I do own decorating bags, but sometimes out of convienence I use ziploc baggies. So you don't need to be a serious baker to make these cookies. Even if you don't want to go through all the work of using a cookie recipe from scratch you can most certainly buy store bought dough, no one has to know. I do hope you try my cookie recipe at least once though. The great thing about dough too, is that you can always make it ahead of time and freeze it until you are ready to use it, keep that in mind.
For the Snowmen Cookies You Will Need:
-Sugar cookies shaped like snowmen, undecorated
-Vanilla or white frosting (I reccomend not using the whipped frosting from the store, too many air bubbles in it, makes it hard to pipe through the bag and decorate)
-blue food coloring
-1-2 ziploc baggies
-Wilton White Sparkling Sugar Sprinkles to sprinkle all over
-Wilton Orange Jimmies Sprinkles for the nose
-Candies or sprinkles that look like black dots for eyes (mini chocolate chips would work too)
Use the orange sprinkles for Frosty's nose
Use the black dots for Frosty's eyes
Christmas Tree Cookies
For the Christmas Tree Cookies You Will Need:
-Sugar cookies shaped like Christmas trees, undecorated
-Vanilla or white frosting (I reccomend not using the whipped frosting from the store, too many air bubbles in it, makes it hard to pipe through the bag and decorate)
-Green, blue, red, and yellow food coloring
-4-5 ziploc baggies
-Wilton White Sparkling Sugar Sprinkles to sprinkle all over
First, bake your cookies. Feel free to use any shape or size cutout you wish, they don't have to be snowmen or trees.
Let them cool completely, on a cooling rack is best.
Once cooled, prepare your frosting, you can use store bought, I did. I used a vanilla frosting and I added blue food coloring to make the hats and scarf on the snowman. I also used green, blue and red for the Christmas tree. I reserved some white frosting for the actual snowman and some ornaments on the Christmas tree. Add as many drops of food coloring as you wish to create the color you want for the cookies. I use between 3-6 usually. Mix food coloring with about 1/2 cup of frosting depending on how much you want to use and how many colors you use.
Place about 1/4- 1/2 cup of the colored frosting into the corner of a ziploc baggie. Seal the bag partially, leaving a little opening for air to escape. Take scissors and snip the corner of the bag. Snip only a small piece off then test out your bag and see if that is the desired amount of frosting you want to use to create lines of frosting with. It is easier to snip off a little bit at a time ,than to snip off a large amount and have to start over with a new bag. Press the frosting down into the corner of the bag and twist the top half, where the seal is, to prevent the prevent the frosting from coming out the top of the bag. It should only come out the snipped end of the bag. Also when piping the frosting from the bag, be very gentle when squeezing and don't add too much frosting as this can cause the bag to blow a hole out the side.
Filling in the hat
Place the cookie you wish to decorate in front of you and with gentle pressure start outling your cookie. With the snowmen I started with the hats in blue. I outlined them first, then I filled it in, starting at one end, then making a back and forth motion to fill in the rest of the hat. Then I switched to the color white, you will need a whole new bag for the white. Follow the same directions from above for the white frosting bag. Then outline the snowman with the white frosting, and fill it in the same way you did with the hat. Back and Forth or Up and Down motion to help fill in the outline.
Here is a video of me applying the snowman's hat with frosting in a ziploc baggie
For the Christmas tree, color white frosting with green food coloring and place frosting in a ziploc baggie as instructed above. Snip the end and twist the other end to prevent leaking. Gently pipe green frosting along the outside of the tree as an outline. When finished outlining, fill in with the same motion as you do for the snowmen, back and forth or up and down. Once the tree is filled in completely, using different frosting colors make the ornaments with whichever colors you would like. I did blue, white and red. If you would like you can add a yellow star to the top or lights. Then add a sprinkle of the white sparkly sugar sprinkles, to make it look like snow on the tree.
Feel free to design them any way you would like, this is just kind of a guide to get you started. I have decorated cookies so many different ways, and that is the fun part. Just use your imagination, be creative, have fun with it. And if you screw up, scrape off the frosting you don't want with a tooth pick or start new with a new cookie.
I hope this tutorial helps with your holiday cookie decorating this year!
Happy Holidays to Everyone!!
Comments
Post a Comment