A Step-by-Step Guide to Decorated Sugar Cookies with Ashley Fondren

We’ve all seen them and perhaps even enjoyed them—those incredibly designed and delicious sugar cookies. But the thought of attempting these professionally made cookies at home can be overwhelming.

Well, be overwhelmed no more! Ashley Fondren, owner of Comfort Confections Bakery, is walking us through the entire process: from making the cookies to applying the final touches of your design.

So whether you’ve picked up baking as a new hobby, want to give these tasty treats a try for a special “happy day” gift for a neighbor, or plan to make these for the first party you throw after self-quarantining and social distancing are no more, we’re confident you’ll be pleased with your final product after following Ashley’s professional guidance in this step-by-step guide.

Happy baking!

Making the Cookies

Cookie Ingredients:

3 sticks of butter at room temperature
1 1/4 cups sugar
4 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla
5 cups flour
2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder

Step 1: Butter & Sugar

Mix together 3 sticks of butter at room temperature and 1 1/4 cups sugar until light and fluffy. Be sure to scrap down the sides of your bowl to ensure you’ve mixed the butter and sugar completely.

Step 2: Eggs & Vanilla

Add 4 large eggs, one at a time, and mix after each one. Then, add 2 tsp vanilla. Mix and scrap down the sides of your bowl again. Mixture will look similar to the third photo.

Step 3: Flour, Salt, & Baking Powder

In a separate bowl, stir together 5 cups flour, 2 tsp salt, and 2 tsp baking powder. Then, in 3 to 4 small amounts, add your flour mixture to your butter and sugar mixture and mix well after each addition. Be sure to scrap down the sides of your mixing bowl after each addition.

Step 4: Refrigerating the Dough

Lay out two pieces of Saran Wrap on a flat surface and place the dough in the middle. Flatten the dough into a 1-inch thick disc. Cover and put in the fridge to rest for at least 1 hour.

If you don’t plan on using the dough right away, you can freeze it for up to 3 months.

Step 5: Rolling Out the Dough

When it’s time to roll out your cookies, first flour your surface. Then, unwrap your dough and lightly flour the top of the dough. Start rolling until you reach your desire thickness. Mine is about 1/4-inch thick when I’m done.

Tip: I use a rolling pin that doesn’t have handles and also has bands you put on the end to measure your thickness. That way you know you have the same level of thickness throughout your dough.

Step 6: Cutting Out Your Shapes

Now, take your desired shapes and start cutting. If your dough is sticky, sprinkle a little flour on the top and dip your cutter in some loose flour.

Tip: Now is also a good time to make sure you’ve preheated your oven to 400°.

Step 7: Laying them Out

After you cut them out, lay them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Some people use jelly roll baking liners, and that’s fine too. I personally use parchment paper because it’s an easy clean up.

Step 8: Baking

After all your cookies are placed. Bake them at 400° for 7 minutes, rotating halfway through. My oven cooks fast so it may take yours a minute or two longer. Just keep your eyes on the cookies so they don’t burn.

Now that your cookies are done! Let them cool completely before you start icing.

Making the Royal Icing

Royal Icing Ingredients:

4 cups powdered sugar
3 Tbsp Meringue powder
Water
Your preferred gel icing colors (Do not use regular food coloring. It is too runny and will water your icing down.)

Step 1: Mixing & Achieving the Right Consistency

Mix 4 cups of powdered sugar and 3 Tbsp of Meringue powder on low to well incorporate. Start by adding 1/2 cup of water and mix well. If icing is still thick and clumpy, add 1 to 2 Tbsp of water at a time, mixing after each. You want your final icing consistency to be smooth but still fairly thick. After you get your consistency right, mix icing on a medium speed for 3–5 minutes until it turns from a beige color to white.

Step 2: Icing Storage

Lastly, store in an air tight container in the fridge. If you don’t use the icing right away (it will be good for up to a week), the water will slightly separate from the icing and you will need to remix before use. You can simply remix with a hand spatula.

Step 3: Coloring the Icing

Take a small amount of icing and put into a separate bowl.
Take your gel icing color. Start with a few drops. For this example, I’m using white and put in about 3 or 4 drops. Mix with a hand spatula to incorporate.

Tip: Do not use regular food coloring as this is too runny and will water your icing down. Plus, it takes so much more coloring than the gel.

The icing will be thick, and to thin it based on which consistency you need, I found the best device is a square bottle. It’s much easier to control how much water goes in. Remember, you can always add water but you can never take it out.

Step 4: Achieving Various Icing Consistencies for Decorating

4a: Writing Consistency

Next, you want to make your icing the right consistency for what you need. First is my writing consistency. I add just a little water so that after mixing well, the icing stands up as pictured:

4b: Outlining Consistency

Next is my outlining consistency. Add just a little bit more water so that after you mix it well, the stiff peak is still there but a little softer:

4c: Flooding Consistency

To make this consistency requires a decent amount more of water. Mix really well.

I personally count to 15, and the mixture should be completely smooth. If at 15 seconds it’s still holding shape, add water. If it went smooth before the 15 seconds, add a little more icing from your storage container to thicken it back up. Doing this is easier with white icing. Trying to do this when you’ve added a color will be much more difficult because it will start to change the final color outcome of your icing. That’s why it’s best to only add a little water at a time to keep from over watering.

A good flooding consistency will look like this:

Step 5: Fill Your Piping Bag

Next, take your piping bag shown below. I personally like tipless piping bags because it keeps me from having to wash the little bitty tools of non-tipless bags.

Take your bag and put it into a cup or glass. I personally use a tall glass, but that is just my personal preference.

Decorating the Cookies

There are so many different cookie shapes and designs you can use to create special treats for special occasions. For the following two decorating examples, I chose to show you how I decorated some cookies for a two-year-old’s birthday celebration!

The Scallop

First, you want to apply your outline using the icing consistency you created for outlining:

Next, you’ll use the icing you created for flooding to fill in your design:

Next, for this design, I applied edible gold paint:

Last, I added some writing detail:

The Party Hat

First, outline your design:

Then, fill it in (also called “flooding”):

Next, add your writing detail:

More writing detail:

Last, I applied edible gold once the writing dried:

For more great recipes and tips from Ashley Fondren, be sure to check out these articles, which are full of delicious recipes—both sweet and savory:

Meet Ashley Fondren

Ashley Fondren is the owner of Comfort Confections in Little Rock, Arkansas, where she lives with her husband, Jon, and their daughter, Brooklyn. Comfort Confections specializes in custom sugar cookies and also offers box lunches, brownies, banana pudding, pound cake, banana bread, pies and more for any type of occasion. Everything is made to order and made from scratch. Be sure to follow @comfortconfectionslr on Instagram and Facebook.