Cookie Frosting Question

[Tazicket]

DH and I got cookie cutters earlier this year, so we're super stoked to make sugar cut-out cookies for Christmas.

Whenever I made cut out cookies growing up, we topped them with the different color sugar sprinkles. DH and I were just talking about making our cookies this weekend and he asked about icing. So, now I'm a little confused.

What kind of icing do you put on sugar cut out cookies? Is it like Pillsbury icing out of a tub or is there a special secret to it? Help!!

 

[BillSears]

Top them with the sprinkles! Personally I think the frosting doesn't work with a nice crisp sugar cookie. You can't crunch frosting.

 

[Mrs.Toad]

I always make a powdered sugar icing, put a thin layer atop the cookie, then add the sprinkles. It hardens up so it all stays crunchy, and gives it a little extra sweetness, which I personally think cut-out cookies need.

We decorate some with those little tubes of decorating icing, too. Just outlines and details, though, I also think a fully frosted cookie is too much.

 

[dcgrumpy]

I've used a sugar glaze http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/recipe.aspx?recipeID=37774&Source=SearchResultPage

 

[Tazicket]

I always make a powdered sugar icing, put a thin layer atop the cookie, then add the sprinkles. It hardens up so it all stays crunchy, and gives it a little extra sweetness, which I personally think cut-out cookies need.

We decorate some with those little tubes of decorating icing, too. Just outlines and details, though, I also think a fully frosted cookie is too much.

Cool! How do you make a powdered sugar frosting? Can you add liquid food coloring to it? (We'd like to do different colors and I'm a little gun shy with food coloring - I know for a fact chocolate seizes up really bad when you add the liquid food coloring stuff )

 

[ducklite]

I make Royal Icing. It dries hard but flexible (so you don't break your teeth!) and takes color beautifully.

The stuff from a tube never totally sets, especially the gels, and the stuff you make from confectioners sugar and milk is too runny to really make a nice finished edge look on the cookie.

 

[nataliela]

I second royal frosting. They have lots of different recipes on the internet. My favorite includes confect. Sugar, corn starch and milk. I don’t remember the amounts off hand.

I like to make a thicker batch (more sugar) and out line the parts of the cookie I want with that color, then make a thinner batch(more milk) and pour into the lines with a spoon.

This frosting is really easy to mix in color. It also tastes sweet, but not overpowering.

When I get home tonight I will post the recipe if no one else has.

 

[Tazicket]

I second royal frosting. They have lots of different recipes on the internet. My favorite includes confect. Sugar, corn starch and milk. I don’t remember the amounts off hand.

I like to make a thicker batch (more sugar) and out line the parts of the cookie I want with that color, then make a thinner batch(more milk) and pour into the lines with a spoon.

This frosting is really easy to mix in color. It also tastes sweet, but not overpowering.

When I get home tonight I will post the recipe if no one else has.

That would be great! Thanks!

 

[720L]

I just buy vanilla frosting!

 

[EthansMom]

I use powdered sugar icing: 1 cup powdered sugar, 1/4 teas. vanilla, 1 tablespoon milk.

If it's too thick, add a bit of milk. If too runny, add a bit of powdered sugar.

We usually make white (no food coloring), green, & red.

Also, sprinkles make it on to most cookies. (We top the cookies with icing and then add sprinkles while the icing is still wet.)

I make the sugar cookies (thick so they're soft). And the whole family decorates them.

Two tips: Put a bowl or plate under the cookie while you're decorating it to catch icing drips and dropped sprinkles & Don't stack the cookies on top of each other until AFTER the icing has thoroughly dried or they'll stick to each other.

Making Christmas cookies is one of our favorite Christmas traditions!

 

[Mrs.Toad]

Cool! How do you make a powdered sugar frosting? Can you add liquid food coloring to it? (We'd like to do different colors and I'm a little gun shy with food coloring - I know for a fact chocolate seizes up really bad when you add the liquid food coloring stuff )

The one I make is super easy:

1 cup of powdered sugar
1 Tablespoon+ milk or orange juice
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Mix all ingredients. It'll probably be too thick, but gets runny very quickly, so add more milk or OJ very slowly - 1 teaspoon at a time until it's the desired consistency. It takes food coloring well, but add that a drop at a time as well, you can always add more if it's not enough, but can't take it back out if it's too much.

As Anne said, it can be too runny, and drip off the edges and not look so great. But my cookies look like crap anyway, because my kids always "help".

I might have to try that Royal icing sometime, it sounds like it might work better.

 

[Tazicket]

The one I make is super easy:

1 cup of powdered sugar
1 Tablespoon+ milk or orange juice
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Mix all ingredients. It'll probably be too thick, but gets runny very quickly, so add more milk or OJ very slowly - 1 teaspoon at a time until it's the desired consistency. It takes food coloring well, but add that a drop at a time as well, you can always add more if it's not enough, but can't take it back out if it's too much.

As Anne said, it can be too runny, and drip off the edges and not look so great. But my cookies look like crap anyway, because my kids always "help".

I might have to try that Royal icing sometime, it sounds like it might work better.

I just spit Ginger Ale all over my computer screen!

 

[daisax]

A stick of butter and as much confectioner's sugar as you can mix into it.

Heaven.

 

[ChristmasElf]

Royal Icing

This icing, also called decorators icing is similar to flat icings except that it is much thicker and made with egg whites, which make it hard and brittle when dry. It is used almost exclusivly for decorating work.

Procedure for Preparing Royal Icing

1. Place desired amount of Confectioners Sugar in a mixing bowl. Add a small quantity of cream of tartar (for whiteness) about 1/8 tsp per pound of sugar.

2. Beat in egg whites, a little at a time, until the sugar forms a smooth paste. You will need 2-3 oz egg whites per pound of sugar (about 4 egg whites as a normal large sized egg weighs 2 oz with the yolk)

3. Keep unused icing covered with a damp cloth or plastic film at all times to prevent hardening.


For a simple icing, just take confectioners sugar, just a pinch of salt (you won't taste the salt, it will just help remove the after taste frosting has) 2 Tablespoons butter, 1 tsp vanilla and a dash of milk to desired consistency.
Add a drop or 2 of your favorite food coloring to color frosting.

 

[ducklite]

Royal Icing

This icing, also called decorators icing is similar to flat icings except that it is much thicker and made with egg whites, which make it hard and brittle when dry. It is used almost exclusivly for decorating work.

Procedure for Preparing Royal Icing

1. Place desired amount of Confectioners Sugar in a mixing bowl. Add a small quantity of cream of tartar (for whiteness) about 1/8 tsp per pound of sugar.

2. Beat in egg whites, a little at a time, until the sugar forms a smooth paste. You will need 2-3 oz egg whites per pound of sugar (about 4 egg whites as a normal large sized egg weighs 2 oz with the yolk)

3. Keep unused icing covered with a damp cloth or plastic film at all times to prevent hardening.

That's the Royal icing recipe I use. And absolutely you need to keep the bowl covered with a damp dishtowel and work quickly with it. You can leave the cream of tartar out if you will be adding coloring.

 

[disneyaggie]

YUMMY!

 

[java]

I do
Sifted Confectioners flour
3 TBS. Merrange powder(ok I know I spelled that one way wrong but you know the stuff I am talking about?)
and warm water.
Until you get the consistency you like= usually around 10 TBS for me with 3 cups of sugar.

To get the icing to stay on the cookie you can first pipe a thin rim around the outer edge. Then fill in. And yes you can just color this with food dye- I use powders.

But growing up my Mom just did sprinkles. My SIL is a pastry chef that had an online cookie business so she taught me a couple tricks. (but my cookies are generally butt ugly too as I have 4 tiny helpers)

 

[lyzziesmom]

I have always used powdered sugar mixed just with water. Just mix in a small amount of water at a time until it's the right consistency, and remember a little bit goes a LONG way. Keep it just a little thicker than you want, because you'll be adding moisture in the next step. Stick a few tablespoons of the frosting into ziploc baggies, and add a few drops of food coloring (or a squirt of the food coloring gel) and a few drops of whatever flavor you want. I like to coordinate flavors with colors: Lemon or almond for yellow, mint for blue, vanilla for white, spearmint for green, etc. Close the baggie and squeeze out all the air, then mush around until the color/flavor is all mixed in. Use a small nail to poke a hole in one corner of the baggie, and squeeze it onto the cookies. Add sprinkles as desired.

It tastes wonderful, and dries quickly. Even with little helpers, the finished results look pretty good. It doesn't spoil as quickly as the kind made with milk does. You can even make it ahead and refrigerate it in the baggies until needed, just add a few drops of water if it hardens up.

 

[I loveStitchnippyjon]

I am always so impatient for the icing to dry so I can put the cookies away (at that point I am so very sick of looking at them!) so I now use melted colored chocolate discs (the kind for making candy). I melt small amounts in plastic baggies, snip the corner, and they are hard in no time, the "icing" tastes good, and is already colored!

 

[nataliela]

the icing I use


1 cup confectiosn sugar
4 tsp milk
2 tsp light corn syrup
1/4 tsp almond extract(I don't always use this)

mix sugar and milk until smooth
add cornsyrup and almond extract- mix until glossy
add color

add more sugar(thickness) or milk(thinning) slowly as needed.

As I said before, I like to make a thicker batch to outline, then thin it out and fill in.