When I decorate cookies, they usually always end up looking like cartoonish versions of what they represent. You want cookies to look like bumble bees, if bumble bees had giant heads, loved to smile, and sported some super cute polka dot wings? Step right this way.
Things on hand:
• Piping bags
• Piping tips and couplers (I use Ateco piping tips and couplers, so the sizes listed below correspond with that brand)
• Optional: food pen
• Optional: small round cookie cutter
Things you’ll need:
• Black royal icing in an outline piping consistency
• White royal icing in a flood consistency
• Yellow royal icing in a flood consistency
• Bee cookie cutter (I used this one here)
If needed, the royal icing recipe I use is here as well.
Once you use your favorite sugar cookie recipe to make your cookies, it’s time to decorate. If you prefer freehand icing, which I usually do, grab that black royal icing you made and outline away! There is absolutely no need to draw on the design with a food pen first unless you want to. If you can use some guidelines, I’m just here to say there is no shame in sketching on the cookie design before you commit in icing.
Circles, for example, are my least favorite shape to make. When there is a circle to be had, I almost always draw it on before icing. I used a small round cookie cutter to draw the circle for the bee faces.
The size of piping tip will vary depending on the size of cookie you’re starting with. With this 3.25″ cookie, a #2 tip was used to pipe the black icing outline and body.
Tip: If you are drawing a design with a food pen first, draw the design slightly smaller than you need. This way, when you pipe on the outline, you can pipe the icing juuuust outside of your pen marks, completely hiding your pen marks with the outline and upcoming flooded icing.
Let the black outline dry completely. I like to put cookies in front of an oscillating fan to speed up the drying time after each color is added.
If you don’t let the icing dry for long enough, you may end up with color bleed or definition that isn’t super sharp. I didn’t let these dry for as long as I normally would (maybe 20 minutes?) and there is some slight definition loss between the black and yellow. Just something to be aware of.
A #2 tip was used to pipe the yellow icing.
Don’t forget those yellow antennae dots!
Next add the wings. Pipe the wing shape with white icing, then immediately dot the white icing with the yellow icing.
I like to make the top wings first, let dry for 15-30 minutes, then come back and do the bottom wings so there is some definition between the top and bottom.
A #2 tip was used to pipe the white and a #00 tip was used for the yellow dots. And if I’m feeling extra fancy, I might add some white swirl details on top of the wings using a #1 or smaller tip.
The finishing touch is that smiling face!
Do you use the piping consistency black to do the face?
All of the black was done with the same consistency. The outlines, bee stripes and eyes are the same to help keep it as easy as possible.