What You Need to Know to Get Started with Sugar Cookies.
So you finally decided that after all this time of watching hundreds of hours of icing decorating videos that you are ready to take the plunge yourself and become an official “cookier”. Congrats and welcome to a fun world that is so rewarding (and tasty). Now that you are ready to go, what exactly do you need to start decorating your own cookies? We are going to cover the tools I use in my own kitchen and what you will need to have a successful start at decorating sugar cookies.
Get a GOOD Mixer
The number one thing you will use throughout your baking journey is a mixer. Whether it be a handheld mixer (which is a little more affordable) or a stand mixer, making sure you buy a quality mixer is going to save you a ton of time and a lot of stress. I went cheap on my first mixer and bought a used one thinking that it would save me some money but boy did that thing drive me insane. Attachments popped off mid mixing and it literally sounded like it was a rocket getting ready for a lunar landing every time I turned it on.
I went cheap on my first mixer and bought a used one thinking that it would save me some money but boy did that thing drive me insane.
That mixer made me dread the thought of making up a batch of sugar cookie dough and I felt myself starting to avoid making cookies. I knew I needed a quality mixer that helped me instead of giving me stress so I ended up getting a KitchenAid stand mixer and I have never looked back since. Getting a good mixer is going to make the process of baking so much easier and you won’t end up like me with two mixers!
Find the RIGHT Recipe
If you have searched on Google for a sugar cookie recipe, you know that the results are filled with endless recipes that all seem very similar. Are they all wrong? Absolutely not! The difference is that you will find one that works better for you than the others and that will be your “go-to” recipe til the end of days. When I first started, I tried so many different recipes until I found one that tasted great and didn’t spread when you baked the cookies.
There are endless flavors you can add to your cookies to give them that unique one-of-a-kind taste so start experimenting and find one that works best for you. Don’t worry, what works for one baker might not work for another because temperatures, humidity, and ovens all play a big factor in how your cookies will bake. So start testing out some recipes that sound fun and have your family and friends taste test (believe me, they will totally be down for this).
Find Meringue Powder.
I use royal icing for my cookies and that’s because it is both tasty and it hardens so you can carry them around easier. The old school way of making royal icing included beating egg whites senseless and I just don’t have time for that. The “newest” thing is a meringue powder substitute which will make your life so much easier! You can find meringue powder on Amazon and places like Micheals and Jo-Anns. There are a lot of different brands you can choose from, so find one that works easiest for you.
The Accessories Matter
Now that you have a good mixer and a tasty dough recipe, you will need the accessories for decorating with your royal icing. The bare basics you will need are icing bags, bag ties, food coloring, and a toothpick or a scribe tool. The icing bags are to hold your icing for when you are decorating and the bag ties keep the icing in the bags (and not all over you). Food coloring is how you will determine your icing color and a toothpick is for popping little bubbles in your icing so you can have that nice clean finish.
Remember your cookie start pack and get all you need so you can have a successful first sugar cookie decorating experience in your own home. Still want to learn from the pros? Sign up for our next sugar cookie decorating class at www.SugarCookieClasses.com!