Decorating Christmas Cookies with Flood Icing

In this video I get to decorate some cookies that mom (Candra) made for me. I’ve been trying to practice using flood icing because I find it is really versatile. You can “draw” on the cookies with the flood icing and it will have a smooth finish.

Unfortunately, these cookies didn’t work out as well as I would have liked, but I hope everyone can learn a little bit from my mistakes. In hindsight, I probably should have made all of my flood icing before starting to decorate the cookies. Also, I should have put a few less lights on the cookie. Sometimes less is more.

Here are some recipes and videos that will help you make these cookies:

• Shortbread Cookie Recipe
• Royal Icing
• Decorating Halloween Cookies with Flood Icing

Directions:

Yield: two dozen cookies

1. Start by making the shortbread cookies, except instead of heart shaped cookie cutters, use Christmas shapes (recipe here). Let the cookies cool completely before using.
2. Make royal icing (recipe here). This will give you enough royal icing to pipe the borders of your cookies and make your flood icing.
3. Pipe a border of royal icing around the outside of the cookie. This will hold the flood icing in place and prevent it from running off of the cookie. Separate some royal icing (about 1/4 cup) and add the desired gel coloring. Fill into a piping bag, with a #3 tip, and pipe on top of the cookies, following around the outside edge.
4. Make flood icing by adding water to the royal icing. Add 1 tbsp at a time, mixing after each addition of water, until you reach the desired consistency.
5. Separate some of the flood icing and add your desired gel coloring. Repeat this step for all other desired colors.
6. Place the flood icing into a piping bag. Roughly fill in the bordered area on the top of your shortbread cookies. The icing will do most of the work for you by flowing and settling for a nice smooth finish. But if you have some areas that aren’t filled in, coax the icing into those spots with a toothpick.
7. While the flood icing is still wet, start piping the other colors to create your design. In the video below, I make a Christmas tree with lights by adding small dots of different colors and shaping them with a toothpick.
8. You can eat the cookies right away. But for those cookies that don’t get eaten immediately, be sure to store them in an airtight container. Do not stack them on top of each other until the flood icing has completely hardened (app. 24 hours).