Frosting Cookies

[SandyM]

In another month I'm going to start pulling together all of my ingredients to bury myself (and everyone around me) in Christmas cookies. One question I can't seem to get answered is this: How do I keep the decorations from "running" on my frosted cookies? Is there a secret ingredient to add to the confectioners sugar/milk/butter/anise recipe to keep the colored sugar from smearing? They're so pretty when they're first frosted, but the next day, everything runs together....... I suppose it's not that big of a deal, but if it can be prevented without too much pain and suffering, I'd love to hear about it. And you guys are the best resource I know.........

[lorilei]

Is it because the frosting itself is too thin? Usually when this happens to me, I find that the problem is solved by thickening the frosting a bit with more powdered sugar.

It's also a good idea to let each color dry before adding another...

[SandyM]

I think I misled you - my frosting is always white, but it's the sugar sprinkles that run. When I'm feeling overly ambitious I use different color frosting, but generally, I'm late in getting it done, and I use all white frosting and embellish with decorations.

[lindrusso]

Sandy,

It could be your frosting recipe. The butter may be making your frosting "soft" and therefore susceptible to running. When I do frosting cookies, I use a royal icing recipe - it hardens right up, so if you're looking for a "soft" icing, this won't be a good one. With this recipe you can add the sprinkles while the icing is still "wet", but you can also embellish with colored icing on top of the white if you let the icing dry in between.

I use this recipe and have never had a problem with the colors running:

ROYAL ICING
2 large egg whites (or 5 tablespoons meringue powder mixed with a scant 1/2 cup water)
1 pound confectioners' sugar
food coloring or paste

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat egg whites, sugar and 2 teaspoons water on low speed for 10 minutes. Add food coloring, a little at a time, to achieve desired color.

2. Royal icing needs to have different consistencies, depending on how you use it. For piping, the icing should easily pass through a pastry tip and retain its shape. For spreading, also known as floodwork, icing should have the consistency of squeeze-bottle mustard. Icing is perfect for floodwork if you can lift your spatula and see a ribbonlike trail for 5 seconds. If icing is too thin, beat 2 to 3 minutes more; if it is too thick, add water a few drops at a time, mixing thoroughly between additions.

[SandyDee]

Lindrusso, Thanks for thr Royal Icing Recipe, about how many cookies does this frost?

[Grace]

Sandy,

I don't know how many cookies it would frost, but with a pound of confectioner's sugar, I would imagine quite a few. But what I really wanted to do is give you one more tip in regards to royal icing. While you are icing your cookies, you will need to keep the bowl/bowls of icing covered with a damp towel. They dry out FAST, and are pretty well irretrievable once they started to harden up. So keep them covered or do as Martha S. does - She puts every color she's blended in a pastry bag, twists the bag closed, and stands each one up in a glass with a wet paper towel at the bottom. Hope that helps you out, and HAPPY COOKIE MAKING!!! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif It sounds like so much fun, and I too, am putting together my list of which cookies I will be making this year. Better Homes and Gardens put out a Christmas cookie edition this year - I bought it and it looks great - so many different ideas, even the Nanaimo bars everyone here talks about!! Only 10 more weeks to Xmas!

[SandyDee]

Grace, You are too eager!!! I am still mourning over the passing of summer. I appreciate the tip though. It's a good one. I had caught sight of Martha S. doing that when I watched her one time. I will have to search the shelves for that Christmas Cookie edition of BH&G and see if I can add to my goodies this year. Thanks.

[lindrusso]

Definitely wait until the cookies are cooled for Royal Icing.

You may still have quite a bit left over, but you could halve the recipe above and easily do 24 cookies.

I'm not sure exactly how many cookies this will frost, but I always make quite a large - batch 40-50 medium-size cut-out cookies - and this recipe will frost them all. We usually don't frost all of them so that the kids can do the easy sugar decorating!

Oh, and I've used the Martha method that Grace described and it really does keep things neat and organized (and keeps the icing from drying out).

[This message has been edited by lindrusso (edited 10-16-2000).]

[andreajackson]

lindrusso- Do you have a good recipe for sugar cookies? I have been trying to get one but I really want just the basic sugar cookie not lemon or anything out of the ordinary. (Oh yeah and light would be best of course)

[andreajackson]

I have a question, is it better to frost sugar cookies after they are cool or when they some out of the oven? I would assume once they are cool would be better but I thought I would ask all of you!
Also does anyone have a recipe for frosting that would be for a smaller amount of cookies(about 24)?