5 Ways to Have Fun with Holiday Cookie Decorating

When decorating cookies, it’s easy to get stuck in the same old routine of plain old gingerbread men and snowflakes. But it’s easier than you think to break the mold and mix up your techniques with edible ink, color mist and more. 

Cookie decorating is one of our favorite activities associated with the holiday season, so why not give it a fresh twist this year. We’ve already shown you how to decorate cookies with rubber stamps and powdered sugar here at Yahoo! DIY, but there are many other tricks to eye-catching desserts.

Photo: Yahoo! DIY

1. Say It with Cookies

Photo: Hanielas

Once you’ve flooded your cookies with royal icing and let them dry, consider writing messages on them. Love notes, greetings or well wishes for the new year can all find their place on a humble sugar cookie. All you need is a an edible ink pen, available at craft stores and baking supply shops. You could even transform these into gift tags!

2. Edible Stained Glass

Photo: Claire Justine

Did you know you can create single or even multicolored stained glass right in the middle of your cookies? Well, you can! Once your cookies are rolled out, cut shapes into the centers of them. Make little stars, houses with windows or Christmas tree ornaments and fill the cut outs with crushed up hard candy. You can use peppermints for a red and white marbleized effect, single color candies for simple and elegant glass, or an array or colorful sweets for a festive, glimmering look. Baking the cookies will melt the hard candy, and as they cool, panes of “glass” will form. Simple and very cool!

3. Spray Paint and Paper Doilies 

Photo: Somewhat Simple

Spraying Color Mist, which is an edible spray paint for cookie decorating, over plainly iced sugar cookies topped with paper doilies is a great way to create intricate and beautiful patterns. Once you create a dry, blank canvas with royal icing, your cookies will transform into delicate lace in no time!

4. Edible Paper Prints

Photo: Fancy Flours

If you’re not familiar with edible wafer papers, it’s time to try them out. They come in designs ranging from old vintage photos to geometric holiday patters, and are a straight shoot to wow-worthy cookies. Simply ice your cookie as you normally would, peel the wafer off its sheet and place it on top of the icing while it is still wet. The paper will stick to and soften into the icing for a seamless transfer. To complete the cookie, you can edge around the wafer paper with decorative swirls of royal icing.

5. Lacy Imprints

Photo: Pure and Noble

Doilies seem to be making a comeback in the crafting world and they’ve even found their way into holiday cookie decorating. Roll your cookie dough out on a clean work surface, a little thicker than you’d like the cookie to end up being. Now place a lace doily onto the cookie dough and run your rolling pin over it. When you pull the doily away, you’ll be left with absolutely beautiful lacy imprints. A good tip is to chill your dough slightly before applying the doily, that way you’ll get a more defined imprint, and your doily will pull away cleanly.

Photo: Oh Happy Day

This year, seize the opportunity to try something a little different while getting lost in all of that holiday baking. Your kids and friends are sure to love it and we’re pretty sure that when you show up at the next holiday bake sale or neighborhood cookie exchange, your cookies will be the talk of the town and the first to disappear.

 Photo: Veg Source