Top products from r/cookiedecorating

Make sure you have several bowls for mixing icing colors. You can also use tupperware for this.

Spatulas. The more the better. I got a bunch of tiny ones from Walmart for $1 each that I use to mix icing colors, and bigger ones to scrape down the sides of the mixer. They're super useful.

Sifter. Useful for both powdered sugar and flour. Lumpy icing sucks.

Rolling pin. Standard size. I have a fondant rolling pin, which doesn't have handles, it's just a long plastic cylinder, but I prefer to roll out smaller batches at a time to minimize dough sticking to the rolling surface, so a regular rolling pin works just fine.

The rest is stuff you'll probably need to go to a craft store to get. Or online. I use Amazon a lot.

Parchment paper.

Pastry Bags.

Cellophane Bags. For packaging cookies individually, if you want to do that. You can use different sizes, but these are good for most average cookies.

Rolling Pin Spacers. These suckers are awesome. I use the yellow ones, they're about 1/4" and perfect for rolling out cookies to an even thickness every time.

Needle Tool. This thing is a lifesaver for popping air bubbles and smoothing out icing, but toothpicks work just as well.

As for ingredients, I prefer to get my Meringue Powder online as well.

Americolor gel is the shit. But you can use the Wilton stuff that craft stores sell just as easily. No big deal.

I buy my flour and powdered sugar in bulk at Costco and store it in big plastic tubs. Always get more powdered sugar than you think you'll need; it keeps well, and nothing sucks quite as much as ruining a batch of icing, or running out, and having to stop everything and go to the store for more powdered sugar.

I'm making a batch right now, so if I think of anything else I'll come back and edit this comment. All this stuff was all collected over a period of many months, so don't feel like you have to have all of it now. Just get what you need for the project you're doing, improvise as you can, and catalogue what you think will really help you with the next batch.

Hope that helps! :)

Edit: Was reminded during my decorating this evening: you're gonna need paper towels. So many paper towels.

I feel Im a bit of an intermediate cookie decorator at the moment. For someone whose just getting started on the cheap, really all you need is some ziploc sandwich bags and some toothpicks. It sounds janky, but it works quite well with simpler designs while you get some practice in. Also some food coloring gels. You dont want to use the liquid stuff because it will water down your icing and add an extra layer of frustration when trying to get your consistency right.

That aside, theres the baking side of things - baking pans and maybe a couple silpat liners (reusable silicone baking mat). They pay for themselves with the money you save from not having to buy paper pan liners. And some cookie cooling racks, which you can find pretty cheaply at Kmart.

Not much else to it. If you want to invest a bit more in it, then Id suggest grabbing a big roll of plastic piping bags, a handful of #3 tips (cheapy wiltons are fine) and couple of #1.5 tips (Id go with PME for the finer tips, theyre more consistent in size), and some couplers to go along with each tip you bought. Also a scribe tool is nifty, the finer point on it is nicer to work with than a toothpick.

Youd basically use the bigger tip for filling in areas with large amounts of icing, the finer tip for detail work, and the scribe tool to pop out the bubbles and tweak the icing once on the cookie. I still keep sandwich bags around to do the "flooding" as theyre plentiful, easy to fill, and I can mix up a bunch of colors for them easily.

Anyway, hope that helps. I linked stuff to Amazon to give you an idea of what Im talking about, but Amazon is far from the cheapest place to get this stuff. Im in the US, so I dont know where in Canada would be best to get this stuff.

Hey! Thank you so much that means a lot :) This is my favorite recipe, I under bake it a bit so it's still soft (about 9-10min) and I get a lot of compliments on it tasting as good as it looks which is the goal! (I also sub the almond extract for more vanilla)

I like rolling to 1/4in thickness, this rolling pin is amazing btw.
I hope this helps and you find the perfect recipe for you!

Sure thing! Sorry it took me a while, I had to look up my receipts and such 😊

Ingredients:

• Wilton Meringue Powder - $18.98
  
• A&H Baking Soda - $0.89 + tax
  
• C&H Powder Sugar x2 - $4.94 + tax
  
• Gold Medal Flour - $2.49 + tax
  
• Rodelle Pure Vanilla Extract - $25.99 + tax (you can definitely find cheaper, but someone told me that you should always get really high quality extract)
  
• 10 lb. Sugar from Costco - $5.49 + tax
  
• 2 dozen Eggs from Costco - $3.61
  
  Durables:
  
  
  
• KitchenAid KSM150PSAQ Artisan Series 5-Qt. Stand Mixer with Pouring Shield - $279.95
  I originally got the Hamilton Beech Hand Mixer , but it broke the first time I used it so I do NOT recommend. I got it for $15.30, but I reasoned that a KitchenAid lasts a lifetime.
  
• Joseph Joseph 20085 Adjustable Rolling Pin - $13.64
  
• 12 Color Cake Food Coloring Liqua-Gel Decorating Baking Set - U.S. Cake Supply - $18.76
  
• Pyrex Glass Mixing Bowl Set - $12.92
  
• Ateco 8-Piece Set of Standard Couplers - $5.45
  
• PME Seamless Stainless Steel Supatube, Writer No.3 - $4.69
  
• PME Seamless Stainless Steel Supatube, Writer No.1.5 - $4.69
  Note: You don't need couples or tips if you use tipless bags, which is actually what I'm doing right now
  
• Snapware Airtight 4.5-Cup Rectangular Food Storage Container Set (4-Piece) - $13.99
  
• 100 Tipless 13" (Large) Disposable Icing Bags - $6.99 + shipping
  
• Pyrex Deep Dish - $20.21
  
• Wilton Clear Treat Bags - $3.98
  
• Toothpicks - $2.99 + tax
  
  
  So all together that is $423.47 + a little tax

So some people use shortbread. I am not a fan, so I went with sugar. It’s pretty much just a recipe I found on Pinterest. Just search for “no spread sugar cookies” or something like that and it should bring up a few. You really need to find one that doesn’t rise much or spread out because it will distort the cookie cutter shape completely.
I personally leave my sticks of butter out for probably a minimum of 5 hours or so. Then I actually refrigerate the dough for a little before I roll it out.
Find a rolling pin that has rings on the ends so you can easily keep it all to the desired thickness or thinness. That was a lifesaver.
Here’s a link to the one I bought.

Joseph Joseph 20085 Adjustable Rolling Pin with Removable Rings, Multicolored https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0091QO3RK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_EfeJDbT3RTF1J

Wilton tip #223 l, you can buy tips individually at most cake stores and craft stores or it's usually included in the basic tip kits that come with 10-20 piping tips.

I use a bottle that lets me change tips for more detailed work.

I also recommend a scribe tool, it helps me clean up edges, fix points and do more detailed work.

My favorite are these piping bags, they are great for outlining and flooding, wouldn’t recommend for really stiff icing, the bag will pop. Also get the clear/white, there will be no writing on them.



DLOnline 200 Pcs Disposable Cream Pastry Bag Cake Icing Piping Decorating Tool Cupcake Decorating Piping Icing Bag (White) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07PVF7YRQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_LrRxDb52V89W4

Thank you! There was a recommendation in a video tutorial I was watching (I cannot recall which one) for the AAXA LED Pico Projector. It is currently a little over $100. I think my husband got it for less just before Christmas. I also purchased this stand, and this cable. In addition, since I was connecting to a Kindle Fire 4th generation, I needed one of these cables. The projector works well. Because of the orientation though, you need to flip your image upside down and horizontally to have it reflected properly on the cookie. It is nice and compact for storage, too.

The Aaxa Pico projector is the favorite projector of most cookiers and it retails for around 125$.

Pico on Amazon and Tripod that's suitable for cookie decorating with the Pico. If you want her to be able to use it right away think about the connection cord between the Pico and the phone, tablet or laptop.


You can find cookie turntables on etsy . You can also DIY one for relatively cheap.

Edit: don't get her one of those cheap, small projectors you can find on eBay and Amazon. They won't work for cookie decorating.

I used a recipe from Montreal Confections on Youtube.

Royal Icing Recipe:

• 8 tbsp Water
  
• 3 tbsp Meringue Powder (I used Wilton brand)
  
• Approximately 6 cups of Powdered Sugar (adding 1 cup at a time)
  
• I used only water and chose not use lemon juice like she did.
  
  
  
  Note that this recipe makes quite a bit of icing. I made a large batch of cookies (50 or so cookies) and I had more than enough. You may want to cut the recipe in half.
  
  She also has another video on how to get correct consistency.
  
  I worked with mine until I got close to a "20 second icing" so I could pipe and flood with the same icing.
  
  Also, I highly recommend purchasing a scribe needle tool to smooth out the icing.

Ugh! Ain't no body got time for that! I was hoping to use a multi-line decorating tip like: http://www.amazon.com/Wilton-134-Multi-Opening-Decorating-Tip/dp/B004AT6X5I but I think you're right

If anyone was wondering, I drew the little guy with the top hat with Wilton edible markers.

Non-mobile: these

^That's ^why ^I'm ^here, ^I ^don't ^judge ^you. ^PM ^/u/xl0 ^if ^I'm ^causing ^any ^trouble. ^WUT?

No problem. And it definitely takes time. I struggled with consistency a lot in the past. You want to be able to pull your mixing utensil out of it and have it fall back on itself and not settle again.

This is the projector I have with this stand. They were a gift from my boyfriend and I think the two of them are about $140. My phone doesn't support the use of an HDMI cord unfortunately so I just out my stuff on a thumb drive and project my images that way.