Food
Beginner Friendly Valentine Sugar Cookie Decorating Tutorial
Jan
If you are just getting started with cookie decorating, here’s a wildly easy set of cookies that are beginner friendly and oh so cute! They are perfect for Valentine’s Day and would make such a fun and thoughtful gift for your significant other, gal pals, or your mom.
I used 4 different decorating techniques that are all beginner friendly on top of sugar cookies. So you don’t need to be an expert to make professional, adorable decorated cookies. Let’s make them!
Kitchen Tools You Will Need:
Valentine Cookie Cutters
Icing Bottles or Piping Bags with a Small Round Tip
Cookie Sheets
Toothpicks
Mixing Bowls
Measuring Cups and Spoons
Rolling Pin
Optional Tools:
Stand Mixer
Wire Rack
How to Make the Sugar Cookies
Now there’s an easy way and a hard way. If you want the easy way, just grab a tube of Pillsbury Refrigerated Sugar Cookie Dough from the grocery store. And be sure that you have flour on hand for dusting your cutting board, cookie cutters, and rolling pin.
But you can also choose to make the cookie dough from scratch. If you choose to make it, follow your favorite soft sugar cookie recipe, or this one here.
Soft Sugar Cookie Recipe
1 1/4 cup + 1 tbsp. All-Purpose Flour
1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
1/4 tsp. Salt
1/2 cup Softened Butter
1/2 cup White Sugar
1 large Egg, room temperature
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
Blend your sugar and butter until creamed. Then blend in your egg and vanilla extra until smooth. Last, place all your dry ingredients in a sifter and sift the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, pausing several times to slowly stir the ingredients together.
Refrigerate your dough for 1-2 hours.
Roll Your Dough & Punch Your Cookie Shapes
Regardless of whether you maded your own dough or started with pre-made dough, you will arrive at this point. Next, you will need to roll your dough and punch shapes with your cookie cutters. Flour your surfaces well, including your cookie cutters, and roll your dough to around 1/4 inch thick.
As you work, you may need to roll your dough back in a ball and flatten again. You may also need to place your dough back in the fridge to chill it again. Bake at 350°F for 8 minutes or until the edges begin to brown.
Ingredients: In a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, combine the sugar and meringue powder. Next, add 8 tablespoons of water, and beat on low for 1 minute. Continue to add water one tablespoon at a time until the icing slowly drizzles from the whisk. Once prepared, if the icing is too hard, add more water one drop at a time. If it’s too runny, add more powdered sugar one teaspoon at a time. Separate the icing into small mixing bowls and add food coloring until it reaches the perfect shade. Remember you can mix and blend multiple colors. Mix the food color until it’s perfectly blended. Scoop the icing into piping bags or icing bottles. When you are decorating any cookies, first line around the edge of the cookie to create the outer shape. To start, tap your piping bag or bottle to the cookie then lift and hold the piping tip around 1/4 inch above the cookie surface. When you are ready to finish a line, tap down again. Never fully push the tip into the cookie surface. Lifting the piping bag or bottle will allow the icing to gently fall on to the cookie and it will help lines appear more even. For a smooth surface cookie, immediately fill in the interior of the cookie with icing. Use a toothpick to poke any air bubbles and direct icing into any holes. If you want multiple layers, you must let the first layer of icing dry and set before adding additional layers. The icing should completely dry, at room temperature for at least four hours, before adding sketched food writer details to the top. A Heart Inside a Heart: Outline the cookie with a color of your choice then fill in the cookie with the same color of icing. As you are filling in the cookie, start near the edges and work your way inward. Allow the icing to set for 20-30 minutes before making a smaller heart on top of your first heart. Repeat this same procedure of outlining the heart first and then filling in the icing. Marbled: Make an array of stripes in 2 or more colors filling in the entire cookie so there are no black spaces. Then take a toothpick and drag it across the cookie perpendicular to the stripes. Clean the toothpick after each pass.
4 cups Powdered Sugar
3 tbsp. Meringue Powder
8-12 tbsp. Room Temperature Water
Gel Food Coloring in White, Pink, and Red
How to Make Royal Icing
How to Decorate The Valentine Cookies
Valentine Decorated Cookie Styles You Can Try
Polka Dots: Outline and fill your cookie with a color of your choice. Quickly before your icing sets, drop an array of drops into the 1st color with a 2nd color of your choice.
Artful Hearts: To make the more abstract hearts, follow the polka dot style described above. Next, take a toothpick and drag it downward through each dot and clean the toothpick before making another pass. Need a little extra guidance? It’s confusing the first time but gets easier. Check out this video for a detailed guide!
Let’s Stay Friends!
Insta | Pinterest | Enews | TikTok
Looking for something similar?
