Cookie Decorating Resources

Here is a list of resources for you, as your adventure in cookie decorating begins

Dough

To roll out my cookie dough, I use a 19″ rolling pin and dough guides like these. I prefer this because I like to roll nice wide sheets of dough. Another alternative would be buying the Joseph and Joseph rolling pin, which has built in guides on the sides of the pin (rolls your dough as far as 16.5″ wide). With either choice, I use the 3/8″ guides for 3/8′ thick dough.

Baking

I use simple aluminum, half sheet baking pans. Here is a link to some standard Nordicware pans. You shouldn’t bake directly on the pan, nor should you grease your pan. You need to use nonstick liners of some sort. I have used both silicon baking mats and parchment paper. The benefit of silicone mats is that you don’t need to keep buying them. The benefit of parchment pan liners, is not having to wash the pans as regularly. They are a one time use, disposable pan liner. You can choose from a small pack to a big pack (better overall price but you will need to store 500 pan liners!)

Royal Icing

When making your icing, an essential ingredient is meringue powder. It is not available at typical grocery stores. I have used many brands in the past, but the most accessible brand for beginners (that I like the taste of) is Wilton. I have listed a couple of different quantity options depending how often you plan to make royal icing.

When making royal icing, I use a silicone rubber scraper often to scrape the bowl and mix my icing colors. I find the silicone kind wash and ware the best! I also use a simple spray bottle when preparing the different consistencies of icing. You’ll find it’s easy to overdo it when pouring in. A spray bottle adds just a little at a time.

My favorite coloring for my icing, hands down, is americolor gels. If you have been using liquid or paste food coloring, you will notice a big difference and improvement when switching to gel food coloring. They offer many different sets of colors, depending on how much you’d like to invest. Colors can be mixed to make other beautiful colors. Just takes patience and a little creativity!

I have been a big fan of both icing in bottles and tipless bags at different times. I currently use ALL TIPLESS BAGS. Here are the pros and cons: The bottles are reusable. I use the smaller ones, (you can use tips on) for my piping consistencies and I use the bigger ones for flooding. Another plus is that they stand on their own and are easier to use, especially for children. The downside is all of the dishes and bottle washing. 🙂 Tipless bags are a bit easier to fill, easier to squeeze and very versatile. You can attach a tip or cut your bag different ways to create different results. The downside to these is that they are a bit messier. When you set your frosting bag down, it can leak a bit on your work surface unless you are very diligent in protecting the tip. Another downside is that you need to keep replacing them, as they are one time use bags. The very best part about them is, NO DISHES!