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 If you are just starting out decorating cookies, you will soon find that they can be extremely time consuming! It is amazing how much time one little cookie can take. But after doing many, many cookies, I have come up with a few tips to make it go smoothly and whittle down the time it takes. 
First, make a plan. Decide what cookies you are going to do,
and get your cutters together. Once you
have them together, figure out what frosting colors you will
need and write it all down. I usually sketch out
my designs on paper. I trace the cookie cutter so that I
know the exact shape and then sketch out the design
and make a note of what colors I plan use. If you have
trouble figuring out how you want to decorate the shapes,
I recommend looking at clip-art, coloring book pages, and
any pictures of cookies you can find (see the pictures
on this site, and also check out my links page to some
other great cookie sites). This will give you some great
ideas and you will have a plan for your cookies in no time.
Make a list of the glaze colors you will need as well
as your stiffer icing colors for outlines, etc.. Also make a
note of what tips you will need for each color, and
gather them together.Next, cut out and bake your cookies. While your cookies are cooling, (you want them to be completely cool!), make your frosting. Using the list you made before, make up all of the colors you will be needing, and leave a little bit of plain frosting in the bowl in case you overlooked a color, or you think of a color later that you would really like. I usually get a small container for each glaze color I will need. (clean butter tubs and yogurt containers work great for this and you can throw them away when you are done! That saves on clean-up) If I also need a stiff outline in the same color as the glaze (which I usually do), I make up the color I need in one of the containers, take some out and put it in the bag** (or bags, if I need more than one tip in that color), and then thin down the rest to make the glaze. Keep doing this until you have all of the colors you need. I cover the containers of glaze with a clean damp towel until I need them. **I use parchment paper bags 99% of the time when I decorate cookies. For cakes I always use the featherlight pastry bags, but when making cookies, I need so many colors in such small amounts that I just use the parchment triangles. It is easier to manage all of the colors and it's easier to clean up! If you are using royal icing, here's a great tip I learned from good old Martha. Get a tall drinking glass for each of the colors you are using and put a damp piece of paper towel in the bottom of each. Put your bags in the glasses with the tips resting on the paper towel. This will keep the frosting from drying out and clogging your tips! If you are using buttercream, you really don't need to worry about doing this. Finally, set up your work station so that everything is within reach. Since you made up all of your colors and bags in advance, you can clean up your kitchen and have all the space you need so you can just concentrate on the decorating. |
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