Ornament Cookies

I used just three colors of royal icing to make these ornament cookies and was still able to create a wide assortment of designs. I decorated all of these using the wet on wet technique of dropping wet icing onto wet icing for a flat design.

There are two main reasons I like using the wet on wet technique. One is that it's quick decorating because there's no added drying time between layers. And two, is that a single flat layer of icing is the sturdiest and a smart choice for holiday cookies that will packaged or shipped. A single layer of icing holds up best because there are no raised bits that can be squashed or knocked off.

Here's how I decorated them:

I mixed up all of my icing colors, thinned them to flood consistency and placed them in piping bags fitted with #2 tips. I used just three colors, blue, green and white.

When you decorate using the wet on wet technique you can work on just one cookie at a time.

Outline and fill a section of the cookie with white.

Use a skewer or scribe tool to help evenly distribute the icing and give the cookie a gentle shake to help the icing settle.

Immediately add two blue stripes.

Add a green stripe.

Now outline and fill the other sections of the cookie.

If you don't decorate the entire cookie while the icing is still wet, you'll have obvious seams between the segments.

One down, more to go.

You can also divide up the segments on the cookie differently.

Remember to always give the cookie a gentle shake to help the icing settle and help eliminate air bubbles.

Add some dots while the icing is still wet.

Finish off the cookie with some blue on the top and bottom.

You can also draw through piped lines for a chevron effect.

This is so simple yet people are always amazed by it.

Three cookies down.

Here are two more design ideas. Experiment, be creative and most importantly, have fun. Let the cookies dry completely before serving or packaging.