Hand-Painted Sugar Cookies

I love beautifully decorated sugar cookies, but I’m always on the lookout for easy, short-cut options for making them because I feel like they’re So. Much. Work.  And they require more skill and patience than I feel I have the majority of the time.  That’s why I love our easy glace sugar cookie glaze, and that’s why I’m bringing you another fun option, today!  This is a SUPER easy way to get a custom sugar cookie design, and it’s fun, too! I thought this would be the perfect tutorial for Valentine’s Day because you can letter someone’s name or write a sweet love note right on your cookie. Think of baby showers, weddings, birthdays, and so much more.

Ingredients and Equipment Needed

This is just a preview of ingredients and method, keep scrolling for full printable recipe.

• Sugar cookies with a layer of royal icing – These cookies start with a plain layer of royal icing.  Now you can make your own royal icing, which is the kind of icing that goes on wet and then dries into a dry, smooth, matte finish.  We actually don’t have a recipe here for royal icing, but there are a million on-line.  I recommend our friend Bridget of Bake at 350– she’s the master of royal icing! However, if you want to take the REALLY easy route- do what I do.  Go to a local bakery and just order plain cookies with a single-color royal icing like these (from local One Haute Cookie, in the Boise, area).  Make sure the icing is completely dry; it’s best to draw on these a full day after they’ve been iced.
  
  If you’re making your cookies from scratch, I recommend these Sugar Cookies.
• Food-safe markers – The second thing you’ll need for these is a set of food-safe markers.  I ordered a set from Americolor on Amazon, you can see them here.  These ones are a little pricy, but I love the vibrant colors and they work well.  They also have a semi-flexible brush tip, which comes in handy if you want to use them for hand-lettering. Wilton also makes some that you can order on Amazon, or they usually carry at craft stores like Michaels or Hobby Lobby.
  
  These look and feel just like regular markers, only they’re made with food coloring so you can write on things like cookies!  The smooth, dry finish of royal icing is a perfect canvas. Even just investing in a plain black food-safe marker is a great idea.  I LOVE the plain black and white, and look how simple the designs are.  It literally took less than 30 seconds to whip those ones out.

How to Make Hand-Painted Sugar Cookies

1. Make sure your icing has had a chance to dry completely, usually overnight.
2. Bust out your markers and get coloring. That’s it! They’ll dry quickly and be ready to go.