Cookie Borders

My recent batch of barn owl cookies. The cookies with a border look better to me and more complete.

A piped border whether it be dots, a line or a combination of the two, is a really nice way to finish off decorated cookies.

I just think a border makes a cookie feel really complete, it's a frame for your art — And that's why I added a variety of them to my recent batch of barn owl cookies.

When adding a border you want to use icing that is piping consistency and holds its shape yet isn't so stiff that it holds a peak and you can see your stop and start points.  You want icing that holds yet settles to a smooth surface. This might sound complicated but it really isn't and just takes patience and practice.

Having the correct consistency of royal icing when piping borders is the key to success so it's important to take your time to get the consistency right. Always test icing first by piping onto a plate before adding it to your cookies.

Once you have your icing right, it's time to add the borders. Here are a few ideas:

A line following the shape of the cookie is the simplest design.

A dot border. Practice making even-sized dots before adding them to the cookie.

Closeup.

Alternating dots and lines for a border is another option.

Adding dots all over the cookie creates a wide border and also helps "frame" the owl.

Writing On Cookies

Cookies for a handwriting workshop.

Writing on cookies takes patience and most importantly the right consistency of royal icing.

If your icing is too stiff it will leave peaks and break and if it's too thin it will spread and your letters will gradually become indistinguishable.

When thinning icing for writing, I aim for the consistency of yogurt - a consistency that will hold it's shape but is still soft enough flow evenly as you pipe and not leave peaks.

The best way to test for proper writing consistency is to first practice piping onto a plate to test the icing. With my recent batch of cookies for a handwriting workshop, I did this and it saved me from ruining a few cookies.

Wait for the icing base coat on your cookies to dry before adding writing.

I started by using a #1 tip which didn't work with my icing. The tip wasn't large enough for the icing to flow evenly.  It zigzagged out of the tip and was impossible to control

I changed to a #2 tip and as you can see from the photo of my practice plate (below), that did the trick.

The #1 tip just made uncontrollable squiggles. That's a pretty bad looking "C". Switching to a #2 tip made all the difference as you can see from my "A's" and "B". Always test your icing on a plate before going for it on the cookies.

A final tip is don't decorate cookies when you are feeling rushed. Decorated sugar cookies keep for weeks so they don't need to be made the day before. Tackle the project when you can take your time and you will have much better results.