Hanukkah Holiday Sugar Cookies – Recipes and Decorating Tutorial on ToriAvey.com
Sometimes, I have wild ideas. My imagination is always spinning (like a dreidel!!), and it’s really difficult to turn it off. I try to tell my brain to quiet down. “You don’t need any new ideas right now, you’re very busy, you’ve got enough on your plate.” But my brain won’t listen. Like last week, when I was totally swamped with Hanukkah preparations, photo shoots, media appearances and deadlines. In the middle of the holiday madness, my imagination comes up with this gem…
“I really want to teach myself how to decorate holiday sugar cookies with royal icing.”
Sounds simple enough. Holiday cookies can’t be THAT hard to make. I know how to bake cookies, and I’ve used royal icing in the past for other projects. How difficult can it be?
Fast forward to today, dozens of cookies later, as I put together the whole project for the blog. I know you can’t see me through the computer, but at this moment I’m shaking my head. How difficult can it be? Well, with nobody to stand beside me and teach me the ropes, it was very difficult indeed. VERY difficult. And yet, once I set my mind to something, I can’t give up. Luckily, I documented the whole entire process and everything I’ve learned (including the mistakes I made along the way). I’ve broken it down into three tutorials to teach you the ropes step-by-step. It’s really not so tough, if you have all of the steps clearly written out for you. By the end of these tutorials, you’ll be able to make fabulous cookies just like these:
Now, I can’t say that I’m a cookie expert by any means, though I have become slightly obsessed with the process. This whole cookie decorating thing is an art form, and there are some terrific cookie artists out there that are FAR better at this than I am. Luckily, many of them have blogged about what they know. I’ve placed links to some fantastic cookie blogs below. Some of these websites helped me along the way. If you’re at all serious about cookie decorating, you should definitely check out their sites. You’ll learn a lot!
This is a multi-step process that will take you more than 24 hours to finish. I’ve decided to break this blog up into smaller, more concentrated blogs, because if I tried to put all of the step-by-step photos onto one page it would take forever to load. I’ve linked to each step of the process below, so you can go check out each recipe and tutorial separately. You can then print the instructions from each page and staple them together to do the whole project.
I focused on Hanukkah-style cookies because it’s that time of year, but you can use these tutorials for any holiday– or any style of decoration. The tips are universal, no matter what holiday you celebrate. Once you understand the basic process, you’ll find that you can get very creative and artistic with your cookies. The only limit is your imagination!
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HOLIDAY SUGAR COOKIE RECIPES AND TUTORIALS
How to Decorate Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing
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PRODUCTS YOU WILL NEED
In addition to everyday cooking items and ingredients you can find at your local grocery store, the following specialized products are used in my tutorials. They will make the cookie making process a lot easier. You can purchase them from the links provided below (most items have free 2-day shipping with Amazon Prime), craft stores, cake decorating stores or specialty culinary markets.
Star of David Cookie Cutter
(or you can use cookie cutters of your choice)
Cookie and Cupcake Decorating Bottles and Icing Tips
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FABULOUS COOKIE DECORATING SITE
Great tips and tutorials, as well as some helpful royal icing videos here.
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Tarawanda Howard says
So beautiful. Thank you for sharing.
Martina Durdovic says
Wonderful blue sweets 🙂
Jane Hoddes says
They are beautiful Tori! Ours are distinctly amateur, but we enjoyed making them.
Brian Bileci says
Shabbat Shalom שבת שלום Chag Chanukah Sameach חג חנוכח שמח
Natalie Neal Whitefield says
Almost too pretty to eat, but I bet they are delicious <3
Maury Remer says
Love it! Wish I had the energy to make some. LOL
Kira Spellman says
Haha! I am enjoying your Chanukah puns! I am not Jewish, but I am blessed by your joy! The cookies are beautiful! Where do those precious measuring scoops come from???
Tori Avey says
Oh gosh, I’m trying to remember… Anthropologie, I think?? It got them a few years ago. Love them!
Kira Spellman says
Ty!
Anna Ash Yarow says
Wow tori you amaze me with your detail!
Tori Avey says
Sweet Anna, it’s called a Type A personality, I think! 😉
Susan Rose says
Pretty! Chappy Chanukah!
Betty Anastas says
lovely
Bettie Smith Daniels says
Beautiful
Vivian Ehrenwald Kruger says
Mine never look as nice as these
Tori Avey says
Check out the tutorial Vivian, there are some easy tips there that might help. I really sent myself to cookie decorating boot camp and had lots of trial and error before mastering the royal icing. But the way I see it, they don’t have to look so perfect… as long as they taste yummy! 🙂
Julie L Losoya-Harthi says
Yes, very beautiful. I wouldn’t want to eat them.
Suzanne Brown says
Cute
Kathy Jackson Firestone says
Gimel some cookies! LOL!
Alene Wright says
Tory is a maestro with the color blue. Beautiful.
Tori Avey says
Why thank you Alene! 🙂
Susan Brunton says
Beautiful!
Michelle says
I love meringue powder! The results are very consistent. I learned about it taking the Wilton classes when my son was little. I can’t wait to try these cookies!
Hester aka The Chef Doc says
These came out so beautifully, Tori. I think I might have to invest in metal cookie cutters because plastic do not seem to give me edges as crisp as yours. And, I’m glad to hear that someone likes using meringue powder. I’ve seen many recipes to make royal icing from scratch but I just don’t feel like doing it, lol. Thanks for the lovely ideas!
Loreli Crummett says
I am looking for a molasses or gingerbread cookie that I used to make in a huge menorah shape for my kids. Do you think your sugar cookie recipe would work, and I can be creative about the decorating like I was with the gingerbread recipe? It seems to have fallen into a black hole in one of our many military moves. My husband is a retired Marine,
Tori Avey says
Definitely Loreli! This sugar cookie is very sturdy and should work with pretty much any shape. Many thanks to your husband for his service!