These cookies were iced the EASY way, no piping bag. I wouldn’t have believed it myself if you would have told me so.Nope, just dipped them into the glaze icing and viola!
I’m so happy that I figured out a new way to ice cookies, especially since I had 6 dozen cookies baked and ready to be iced with an annoying pain that was preventing me from icing them. It did take me a couple of tries to get the icing correct along with the method of how to dip them and have the extra icing run off the cookies with out making a complete MESS.
Glaze Icing Recipe {printable}
4 cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon corn syrup
2 tablespoons water (more may be needed)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract ( or flavor of your choice)
a few drops of food coloring (I use Americolor gel colors)
Mix the powdered sugar along with corn syrup and water and extract until it’s smooth and creamy.
The glaze worked best when it’s was not runny. I ran my spatula through the icing and drew a line, it too about 5 seconds for it to fill back in where I drew the line. Adjust the water so it’s fluid, but not runny.
Extract and food coloring are both in liquid/gel form, so adjust accordingly if you add more, you may need more powdered sugar.
I placed the icing in an oval dish and strapped a lollipop stick with a rubber band going under the dish attaching to each side of the stick.
I love how pretty cookies that have been piped on look, but I’m dealing with some shoulder pain right now so, this is how I have be icing cookies. I was surprised how quickly it went, I finished dozens of cookies in a matter of minutes.
I did not scrape the icing off of the cookie. I dipped the top edge of the cookies into the icing and then ran the majority of the excess of the icing off by holding the cookie about 1/4 inch away from the lollipop stick, as I moved the cookie from where I dipped it to the other side of the dish. Then I turned the cookies over onto a drying rack. After icing these, I realized if the cookies were just a little bit thicker, my fingers wouldn’t get in the icing. The cookies I did with the red icing were just a bit thicker and it worked, no icing on my fingers!
The lollipop stick helps remove the majority of the excess icing without having to wait for the excess to drip off without messing up the icing you want to remain on the cookie. It also allows for an even layer of icing to remain on the cookie, and when turning the cookies upright, no drips went over the edges of the cookies (iced in red, as that was the correct consistency of icing) the pink was too runny and ran over the edges-that is why I’m showing you both. Hopefully the photos will help you to achieve the consistency needed for smooth finished cookies.
The pink icing was the first batch I had tried to dip into icing and it was a little bit runny, so some areas ran over the edge of these Chocolate Cut-out Cookie which by the way are Super-Delicious, no wonder they are called the End All for Chocolate Cookies. I used special dark chocolate cocoa, that is why they are extra dark. The recipe if from Lilaloa. The second time I tried dipping the cookies was the red icing in the beginning of this post, I made the glaze icing a bit thicker and it worked out great. So a little trial and error or the icing allowed me to see the difference.
* Cookies that are a little thicker (like the ones on top iced in red) were less messy as there was more cookie to grab onto and my fingers didn’t need to touch the icing.
**Glaze icing dries hard, if you let them icing air dry for 12 hours before stacking cookies or packaging them.
*** no piping the edge required
****Will work with Royal Icing as well
*How do I get red icing RED, I use Americolor Food Coloring.
Enjoy this new method of icing cookies on the cookie recipes I linked below, so fast and easy iced cookies.
heart cookies using Italian Cookie Recipe
I squealed a little! This is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO cool!!!
What a great idea! Thanks for sharing!
What purpose exactly did the stick serve? If you don’t touch the stick?
Thanks for this recipe. I’m making green frogs today and have to try this out. Looks like a great idea.
I think you just saved my life. Genius!!!!
What a great idea Diane!!! Loving it!
Seriously?!
love this idea. You just made my life a whooooole lot easier!!
what a great tip Diane!!
cute! I use this technique with Royal for smaller cookies, love how it’s so fast and clean. I find they dry a lot faster too.
I’m so glad it works with Royal Icing too, I had a few people ask that. (I found your message in my spam folder
sorry doesn’t spam know I’m so happy you commented. For drying time, it really does depend on the cookie size and wetness of icing along with the weather I find, to package and stack I like to wait the 12 hours, but yes often they are dry before that time. I certainly didn’t want people who don’t ice cookies often think they can package them right away and thought 12 hours was safe 
Thanks again for commenting Laura
ok, I’m looking your post over again………..do you pipe the outline first? then dip?
no just dip them, the other cookies that are piped on the edge are just cookie recipes I linked up. I will edit the post to make that more clear
thanks Cheryl
what a useful time saver idea!! THANKS!!
Love this method! It would make large batch icing so much easier. Thanks for the wonderful tip.
Love you for doing this! LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes!!!
This will be lovingly pinned to my Pinterest “cookies” board as it will be invaluable for those times when I just get to be the “colour mixer” when the kids get to do all the “fun stuff”. Thank you so much!
Thank you, glad you liked the post.
Fabulous! Arthritis (in my 30s no less!) keeps me from doing as many cookies as I’d like to, so getting that base layer on without a bag would be a real pain saver! Hope your shoulder pain gets better quickly!
great post! Your cookies look perfect!
This is the method I learned from my mother-in-law (same glaze icing recipe too). It does go very quickly and the kids can do this one easily too.
These look awesome. I can’t wait to try this method! Thanks for sharing.
what is the purpose of the lollipop stick?
I think the stick was to help remove some of the excess icing without having to wait for it to all drip off
yes that is correct Christina. It helps remove the majority of the excess icing, or you would be holding each cookie for quite some time, for it all to drip off. It also kept them looking uniform, with the same amount of icing remaining on each cookie.
But, if you don’t touch the stick, how exactly does it remove the excess? I need a video. lol
you don’t allow the COOKIE to touch the stick, you don’t want to wipe of clean of icing, you allow the excess icing to be gently be glided off by the stick, once you give it a try you will see it’s really not so hard.
Happy Baking!
your cookies are gorgeous and great tips!
Wow, that’s really cool, thanks for sharing, Diane.
OK< you made this sound too easy, but I know my cookies would not look as perfect as yours! I will try your method next time I make cookies (I guess Valentine's Day is fast approaching:). Wish me luck!
Lana, your cookies will look beautiful. I’m sure!
Diane, that red is gorgeous! Happy early Valentine’s Day!
Wow, love this method would of saved me hours when I did over 150 decorated sugar cookies. I am assuming they try to where you can pipe decorations on them like others? Love it and can’t wait to give it a go!
yes it will be a huge time saver for that, and yes you can pipe over the base color to make them more decorative.
I am wondering how these dry. Are they much like royal icing? I’m excited to try this, but have some edible images to attach to the cookies.
The glaze icing dries hard, allow 12 hours to dry before stacking cookies
BRILLIANT idea!!! I can’t wait to use this idea — SUCH a time saver!
thanks Georganne! I just LOVE your chocolate cookie recipe
I think this was already asked, so sorry if it’s a repeat — can you clarify if this dried rock hard like RI?
the glaze icing dries hard, allow the icing to dry 12 hours before stacking.
Great tip! Thanks, you are full of great ideas!
Brilliant!
Great tip girl!!! They look great!
You are so clever! Hope your shoulder feels better soon.
Thanks
I’m keeping my fingers crossed the shoulder issue isn’t too serious.
This is such a cool idea! Great for kids who have trouble piping as well. Thanks for the great tutorial.
Wow, what a great and easy method. I am not a good piper so I really need to try icing this way.
Would this same method work with Regular royal icing if the consistency is correct? I don’t care too much for the shiny glaze icing, I like the more matte look of royal icing.
Yes I’m sure it will work with Royal Icing as well. I just haven’t tried it yet. If you do try it let me know how it went
Thanks for sharing this! Love it!
Delicious…Totally Yummy..
Aarthi
http://yummytummy-aarthi.blogspot.com/
How cool is this? I am so trying this ASAP! Thanks for sharing. I just found you on facebook and I just love your blog. Have a great day.
Thanks Caroline
Very cool, since I HATE decorating cookies. I give that job to my kids! : )
LOL, so funny!!!
Diane, this is such a fun post! What a great idea for those struggling with a piping bag and also great for kids decorating! They look beautiful too.
yes I think kids will have fun too
Great tip!!! Love the look of your cookies! PS…hope your shoulder feels better soon~
Thank you
Tried this tonight on Lilaloa’s chocolate sugar cookies. Worked beautifully!! Thank you so much for the time saver and gorgeous cookies.
I’m so glad you tried it
So cute! Now that the decorating part is so easy, it should make the eating part even better too!
yes, we’ll all have more time to eat
Great tips! Hope you are feeling better soon!
Thanks Amanda
These look so pretty! I will definitely try this. Thanks for the great tutorial. My mom made your Italian cookies and we all loved them:)
Oh I’m so glad you all liked them
I can’t WAIT to try this. I use Glaze myself with Royal icing details and this will save SO MUCH TIME!!! Thank you.
I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought about it before
it saves TONS of time.
Exciting News! Thanks for blazing the trail for us! You are a brave cookie diva and a kind soul to share your creative genius! I am new to your work and saw it for the first time today at SweetSugarBelle..I am so glad I found you!! I will be making cookies this way today, Merci!
I’m so glad you like the post
great idea, I only use glaze, so I will have to try this for sure.
I’ve have only ever done this with round cokies! I had no idea it would work as well for other shapes too!!
I used to have the darndest time making my circles round and this always worked perfectly for that! I am going to have to try this with other cookies and see how much faster it makes the icing process!!
Thanks Diane!1
I love that you shared this, “Necessity is the mother of invention.” I’m sure there are others out there who suffer from time to time with the carpel tunnel…this will be a good technique for them as well. Hope your shoulder gets better soon, and thanks for sharing.
Thanks, I’m hoping my shoulder is better soon too. In the meantime, this will be my go to method
I have a glaze question: Do you use 4 cups of powdered sugar or 1 cup to 1 T corn syrup? I see two different amounts (one here and the other on the Lemon Poppyseed recipe.
sorry I confused you, at the time I made the lemon cookies, that is what I used. Typically I use 4 cups powdered sugar to one tablespoon corn syrup-that is my go to amount. The corn syrup seems to make it have a smoother texture and even out sheen when they dry, but sometimes I’ve added to much and they don’t dry quickly. ( could have been the weather I’m still not sure)
So the 4 to 1 ratio is my most often used combination
Happy Baking!
Thank You Diane!! Going to try this soon, hope my cookies turn out as good!
So clever! Found this via Pinterest, and had to comment. Thanks for sharing your tip!
I’m so glad you liked it
Just tried this with mixed results(I am not a professional).had to add much more than the 2tb of water and I think it was still too thick. I was afraid of it being too runny!
yes the consistency of the icing is key. Once you find the perfect consistency for “you” to work with, it goes so fast. If it’s too runny and drippy, add more powdered sugar, if it’s too thick for you then yes you will need to add more water. Lots of variables on icing, temperature also I find plays a part, a hot kitchen=runny,cold kitchen=thicker. Since it’s in a bowl it’s very easy to add what you need, mix it up and try another cookie. I hope you find the right consistency that will work for you
Whether you are working with the glaze icing or a royal icing it’s take a bit to find your way, but once you find it, this is an easy way to coat cookies.
Hi, Diane..thank you so much for posting this technique.
. I am just a little confused with the stick being one the bowl. I know you used it to level off the glaze on your cookies, but how exactly do you do this without messing up the glaze? Do you actually drag the glazed cookie over the top of the stick after you have dipped it in the glaze & let some drip off? I just can’t visualize how this works. ?????? TIA. 
I used the stick to remove the bulk of the icing I didn’t want to remain on the cookie, no I didn’t scrape the cookie, I held the cookie about 1/4 of an inch off of the stick and let the stick take the excess off (while leaving plenty of icing on the cookie) once you try it, I’m sure it will make more sense.
Girl, you are a pro! Such a great post
This is genius! Thank you for sharing!
I used this technique this weekend, and linked it back to you. Thanks!
http://lifecraftsandwhatever.blogspot.com/2012/01/leg-warmers-and-neon-and-spandex-oh-my.html
I’m so glad you used it, and yes it’s not as precise but certainly goes fast
and is easy on my shoulder. Thanks so much for linking back.
http://barbarasbeat.blogspot.com/2012/02/momtrepreneur-tip-of-day-how-to-ice.html
Ok, I feel silly asking, but you mention that you dip the top edge of the cookie in the icing. Does this mean you don’t dip the entire front of the cookie in the icing? When you hold the cookie over the stick do you just hold it in a stationary position or do you move the cookie back and forth over the stick?
Any chance you could post a video tutorial???
Obviously, I’m a royal icing newbie….
it sounds harder than it is, once you give it a try you’ll see how easy it is to do this. You start at one end of the dish and dip the top of the cookie (don’t dip too far in you don’t want icing on the sides of the cookie, they look prettier with just the icing on the top) as you move the cookie from one side of the dish to the other the excess icing will drip off and the stick help remove the majority of the excess without touching the cookie, so you don’t have to stand there so long waiting for it all to drip off. Next time you make cookies give it a try
As far as the video goes, its’ on my “list” 
Hope that helps, Happy Baking ~Diane
Do you know if you can frost cupcakes the same way you did the cookies, I would like to do that if it will work!!!!
yes, you can…donuts too
OH , Great, I am having a Church Valentines Banquet, and I am putting cupcakes on the dessert table, Cant wait to try this!!! thank you so much.
How did you get the icing so red? I know its off topic, but I’ve never been able to get a real red. I really want to try this too.
I use Americolor food coloring, all their reds (and all colors for that matter) are very concentrated. If you are making icing and will end up with about 2 cups of icing, I’d guess 10 drops at least. The color red does darken over time, like an hour. So mix it ahead of time, pink I find does the same thing. Hope that was helpful
Oh I forgot to ask, are you using Americolor food coloring and not getting it red enough? or are you using a different food coloring?
HI I have the same question as Lisa, above… no matter WHAT I do, I cannot seem to get red icing !!! I’ve tried everything ! Also, I am a tiny bit confused regarding the stick too ! If the cookie doesn’t touch it, why use it at all ? Thanks for any help with this, I love making cookies and always looking for easier ways to decorate them… yours are fantastic, well done Diane !
why use the stick?
and you don’t have to stand there for three minutes letting each cookie drip the excess icing off either.
Because it helps get off all the excess icing without messing up the cookie
Once you try it you’ll understand why it’s there.
Red Icing= I most often use super red, but I have other red colors from Americolor. My question is are you using Americolor food coloring and not getting it red enough. I don’t have any trouble with it, it’s the only red I use. I use at least 10 drops in 2 cups of icing.
Hope that is helpful
No just using Wilton icing colors but will def try the Americolor food coloring
Thank you
I used your bakery cookie recipe and this recipe/method for V-Day cookies to bring to my daughter’s daycare. They turned out amazing! Even the cookies that got a little well done were super yummy! And, I did run out of powdered sugar, so my icing was a litte runny, but I managed it so much better with that rubber-banded stick (chopstick for me) method
. Thanks!
I’m so glad they came out great!! Yea I have a tendency of running out of powdered sugar too, no matter how many pounds I have on hand
Glad you like the “new” method of icing cookies, I did some today too and love how quickly it goes. Happy Valentine’s Day!!!
I just found this on pinterest and came here in a flash. Wow I love what you’ve done. Makes so much sense. A really great tutorial. I could have used this last week with the Valentines cookies. OK a couple of questions…..I have never seen americolor. Where is it usually sold? Do you have to order it or do they have a website? Also I detest royal icing. Cookies are next to inedible with the icing being so hard. But I do like the glaze idea.I know you said it dries hard but can you still bite into it without cracking your teeth? (smile) I’m going to try your cookie recipes too. Everything sounds so good. Thanks for this great tutorial. Its one of the best cookie ones I’ve ever seen!! So easy and beautiful!
Nann
Americolor is available to me at local cake supply stores, they do have a website and I know it’s also available on Amazon.
Glaze icing is not as hard as Royal Icing and doesn’t have the tangier taste as there are no egg whites. It does dry hard, but you can certainly bite into the cookies for a few weeks. I tested them once. At 4 weeks the icing was quite hard. But really who has them around for that long. LOL. Hope that is helpful, ~Diane
Stopped by from a link on Sugarbelle. This looks like a great technique. I am brand new at decorating cookies, and am trying to read and try everything!! I am excited to give this a try on my next batch. Thanks for such a great tutorial!!
genius. I love this because pipping is a little tough and this makes sure everything is even and smooth. Love it!