Sugar cookie decorating can be intimidating, but this is a fun little trick to make the process much easier! Edible ink pens remove the fuss of fiddling with piping bags and are a perfect beginner’s hack. You could even turn this into an activity at a birthday party by giving the guests the white, undecorated fish and challenging them to decorate their own!
Ingredients
Cookie Dough
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 Tbsp milk
- 1 egg
- ¾ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp fresh lemon zest
Royal Icing
- 1 lb confectioner’s sugar
- 5 Tbsp meringue powder
- ¼ cup cold water
- Edible ink pens
How to Make It
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Bake the Cookies
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Mix together the flour, salt, and baking powder in a bowl. In a separate bowl, cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until it becomes light and fluffy. Add the milk, egg, vanilla, and lemon zest, and mix well. Then slowly add the flour mixture until it is just combined.
- Shape the dough into a ball, wrap it in plastic wrap, and place in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
- Lightly dust some flour onto your countertop, and roll the dough out until it is ¼-inch thick. Use a fish-shaped cookie cutter to cut out cookies. Place them on your prepared baking sheet, and bake for about 10 minutes, until lightly golden. Transfer the cookies to cooling racks and allow to fully cool. Make the Royal Icing
- Combine the confectioner’s sugar and meringue powder in a large bowl. Add the water and beat for 7 minutes, until it is smooth and when drizzled, stays on the surface for a few seconds.
- Place the icing into a piping bag fitted with a small, round piping tip. To Decorate
- Pipe the outline of the fish and fill it in with icing. Allow this to thoroughly dry, about 4 to 5 hours.
- Use the edible ink pens to draw the stripes and details onto the cookies. Allow the ink to dry and you’re done!