Don’t be intimidated by royal icing. You can get your cookies to look like they came straight from the bakery by using a simple piping and glazing technique, coupled with a bit of patience. Here’s how to do it!

What you’ll need:

• Prepared Royal Icing
• Baked cookies, completely cooled
• Piping bag (multiple, if using more than one color)
• Squeeze bottle
• Teaspoon
• Small offset metal spatula

How to:

1.  First, prepare your royal icing as directed here. Scoop some frosting in a piping bag fitted with a small round writing tip—this will be used for piping borders on the cookies. Thin some of the reserved royal icing with water, one teaspoon at a time, until it is the consistency of cream—this will be used for flooding and glazing the cookies later.

2.  Once you’ve watered the reserved icing down to a creamy consistency, pour it into the squeeze bottle.

3.  Next, set up your work space! Make sure your cookies are completely cooled before you start decorating. We used Classic Sugar Cookies, but Gingerbread Cookies are a great choice too.

5.  After the borders of your cookies have set, you can start filling with glaze. To do this, carefully flood the inside of the borders with the thinned royal icing in the squeeze bottle.

6.  Using a small metal spatula, gently smooth any air bubbles or gaps until each cookie is completely glazed. Let the cookies stand for three minutes before adding any additional decorations like sprinkles or candies. Allow them to dry completely before storing.