FOUR WAYS TO DECORATE
VALENTINE'S DAY
SUGAR COOKIES
FROM SUGARHERO.COM
Heart-shaped sugar cookies are a Valentine's Day classic--buttery and sweet, with glossy royal icing on top. Here's everything you need to know to decorate heart-shaped Valentine's Day cookies FOUR different ways! Read on for step-by-step pictures and instructions.
CLICK HERE FOR THE PRINTABLE RECIPE
All designs start on a white heart base, so begin by outlining the cookie with a thin line of icing. IMPORTANT: work in batches of 2-3 cookies at a time, so the icing doesn't harden too quickly.
Fill in the center right away with more royal icing, and use a toothpick to push it out to the edges so it meets the outline and forms a seamless white coating. Now let's start decorating!
TO MAKE EASY HEART DESIGNS
While the white base coating is still wet, pipe dots of red royal icing all over the top.
1
Drag a toothpick through the center of the dots to make abstract heart shapes all over.
2
You can also pipe dots around the outside edge of the cookie and drag a toothpick through them, creating a border of hearts.
3
TO MAKE ZIGZAG HEARTS
While the white base coating is still wet, pipe lines of alternating colors all the way across the cookie.
1
Drag a toothpick from bottom to top, then move over a bit and drag it from top to bottom. Repeat this pattern across the whole cookie.
2
TO MAKE ELEGANT ROSES
While the white base coating is still wet, pipe small "blobs" of light pastel colors on top.
1
Add a streak of darker color across each blob.
2
Now pipe a small dot of white icing in the center.
3
Time to swirl! Take your trusty toothpick and swirl it around the colored blobs, so the mixed colors look like flowers.
4
Finally, add dots of green on the sides of the flowers and pull them outward to look like leaves.
5
TO MAKE MINI ROSETTES
Start with a polka-dotted base. Let it dry for an hour, then put stiff royal icing in a piping bag with a small star tip. Pipe a small circle in the top corner, then repeat two more times to make a little cluster of rosettes.
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