So you want to start decorating cookies, and you have no idea where to begin? Wondering exactly what cookie decorating supplies you need?
Whether you want to start your own custom cookie business, you are looking for a new hobby, or just want to impress your friends and family with your awesome cookie decorating skills, this supply guide is for you.
I have been decorating cookies and teaching classes for more than 10 years. I’ve decorated tens of thousands of cookies for happy clients, and taught hundreds of people how to do the same. I’ll tell you exactly what cookie decorating tools and supplies you need to get the job done and save time and money with less trial and error.
First, How to Make Cookies and Royal Icing
Here are my recipes for the perfect no-spread shortbread sugar cookie and royal icing:
Not a fan of lemon? That’s okay, I have 30 more shortbread sugar cookie recipes! From almond, to mint chip, to earl grey, all of these recipes work as a base for cookie decorating.
I try to keep this list up-to-date on where to purchase supplies, but I can’t guarantee all links are accurate or that vendors have stock or haven’t discontinued a product.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Supply Summary
If you read through this entire post, I go over all of the supplies and ingredients you will need, in detail, to start decorating cookies. A lot of it is stuff that you very well might already have on hand, especially if you already bake or cook.
In my No-Spread Cookie Recipe and Royal Icing Recipe, I further discuss my favorite ingredients and supplies for making dough and icing: rolling pin, cookie sheets, baking mats, mixer…etc.
Assuming you have cookie cutters and standard baking supplies, bare bones, the absolute essential ingredients and supplies that you need are:
Cookie Dough Ingredients:
- Butter
- Granulated Sugar
- Powdered Sugar
- Eggs
- Flour
- Cornstarch
- Extract or Emulsion
Icing Ingredients & Supplies :
- Meringue Powder
- Gel Food Coloring
- White Food Coloring
- Water
- Spray Bottle
Cookie Decorating Supplies:
- Icing bottles or bags
- Scribe/Needle Tool
- Edible Pens
Over the years I’ve been asked by my students and followers every question you could imagine regarding all the different supplies, ingredients, and brands I like and use. So I’ve tried to answer all that here: the specific supplies you need, why you need them, and why I like the ones that I use.
Piping Bags & Bottles
Favorite Products
There are a few different ways to flood and add details to cookies. I prefer to use tipless bags for both flooding and detail work, but if you are just starting out, you’ll probably find bottles are easier to flood with.
I would suggest using smaller sized bottles, preferably 2-4 oz. It might seem more efficient to use larger bottles, as you don’t have to refill them as frequently, but it’ll be harder on your hand, wrist and arm to squeeze a larger bottle for extended periods of time.
Pro Tip
You can also use traditional piping bags that you find at craft stores. Unlike tipless bags, traditional piping bags are made of a thicker plastic and have a seam, so they need to be used with a coupler and piping tip.
Traditional piping bag with coupler and metal tip
*CK Products Squeezit 2 oz mold painter bottle with coupler and metal tip
Master tipless bag
*If you have ever been to one of my in-person classes, or purchased the starter kit that I used to sell, you will be familiar with with the 2 oz bottles that I provided. They are the “CK Products Squeezit 2 oz Mold Painter Bottle with Coupler” that are now very hard to come by. I wasn’t able to get a straight answer out of the company on whether they have been discontinued, or if they are just having supply chain issues.
If you do a google search, sometimes all the resellers are out of stock, and sometimes you get lucky and find some. Amazon always has them under “Fox Run Decorating Set, 3 Icing Bottles, Clear” and it’s the 2 smaller icing bottles, and a large condiment bottle bundled together. Unfortunately, they do cost about twice as much as when you can find the icing bottled sold by themselves.
Couplers and Piping Tips
Favorite Products
For flooding cookies I always use a #2 round piping tip. And #2 tips are what I use on my bottles for my classes. #1 is a teeny tiny little tip that you’ll break your hand trying to flood a cookie with. The smaller tips (1, 0 and 00) can be used for details, but that’s where I just use tipless bags. #3 tips are a little too big and I find the icing comes out too fast and is difficult to control.
Pro Tip
If you are using traditional piping bags, you’ll need to use a coupler to attach the tip to the bag. If using bottles, I suggest replacing the tip that is provided with the bottles with a #2 tip, as the tips that come with the bottles are not standard sizes.
Snack/Binder Clips
Favorite Products
You can purchase fancy ties that are made specifically for pastry bags. However, when I am using tipless bags, I just tie the end of the bag in a knot. And if you have an Ikea near you, I use their BEVARA clips to keep my traditional pastry bags closed.
Pro Tip
You don’t need to purchase every specialty item on the market. Anything that’s made to keep something closed will work: binder clips, snack bag clips, rubber bands, etc.
Large Pastry Bags
Favorite Products
A 21″ pastry bag will hold an entire batch of my royal icing recipe. I find it easier to fill my tipless bags or bottles with icing by transferring my icing to a large bag, and then piping it into the smaller bags. This is so much easier and cleaner than trying to spoon the icing into your bags/bottles.
I take my large 21″ pastry bag, place it into a large utensil holder, tip down, and then fold over the pastry bag around the top of the utensil holder. Then I just fill the pastry bag with my icing, secure it closed with a snack bag clip, snip the tip, and pipe icing into my tipless bags or bottles. To keep my large bag closed, I wipe off the tip, roll it up a few times, and secure it with another snack bag clip or binder clip.
I like storing my icing in bags since icing separates, and I can just knead it up in the bags.
Needle/Scribe Tools
Favorite Products
Once you’ve figured out your bag-bottle-tipless bag preference, the next most important thing in cookie decorating is your scribe tool.
A scribe tool is essentially some kind of sharp, needle-like object you use to pop air bubbles in your icing, position sprinkles or other decorations, fill in gaps in your icing, move around icing, create marbled effects in icing, and more.
Pro Tip
You can use toothpicks, boo boo sticks, or the pretty beaded scribe tools that are all over Instagram and Etsy. I prefer a heavier, aluminum, Kemper Pro Needle Tool since the tips stay sharp, I can disinfect them really well, and I like the grip on the handle.
I very much DO NOT recommend you purchase the brand name scribe tools that you can find at craft stores. They usually have a yellow or purple plastic handle and a thin metal tip. I have found that they break easily, have a weird weight imbalance, and the metal bit never has a sharp tip.
Edible Food Decorating Pens
Favorite Products
You can find any number of edible food grade pens available. I use these to draw designs on my cookies before I start decorating, and to draw details on decorated cookies after the icing had completely dried. These are readily available in craft stores, I’ve even seen them at Walmart and Target, and you can find many more on Amazon.
Bar Towel/Washcloth/Paper Towel
Favorite Products
Perhaps not the most exciting thing to discuss, but cookie decorating can get messy/sticky, so this is an important one. I always have an ever-so-slightly-damp towel at my work station while I’m decorating. You’ll use this to keep your icing tips, bags, scribe tool, and fingers clean and to clean up any spills.
I use inexpensive bar towels I got online. I just run it under some water, wring out as much water as possible, and have it handy if I need to wipe off any of my tools while I’m decorating. It’s one of those things that doesn’t seem important until you need it.
Pro Tip
You can use a dish towel, washcloth, or even a paper towel. Just don’t use the good tea towels you inherited from Grandma or received as a wedding gift, since food coloring can stain.
Gel Food Coloring (Water-Based)
Favorite Products
With royal icing, you want to make sure that you use a water-based gel food coloring. If you get oil in your icing, it will not dry, so never use oil-based food coloring.
I’ve used pretty much every single gel food coloring on the market, and they all do the job, but I do have my favorites:
- I love Chefmaster because of their wide variety of colors, and the gel doesn’t dry out or separate after time, as I have found some other brands do.
- LorAnn’s gel food coloring has become my new go-to, but they do have a limited variety of colors. However, the bottles are twice the size as other brands, and cost about the same price per bottle.
- Wilton is also great, readily available in craft and grocery stores, and affordable. The only down-side, in my opinion, is that they’re in jars instead of squeeze-bottles. Make sure to use a clean toothpick or butterknife to scoop out the gel so you don’t contaminate the jar.
Pro Tip
You want to use gel food coloring for your icing for a couple of reasons. First, they are more concentrated, so you don’t have to use as much to get darker colored icing. Second, they have a similar consistency to royal icing.
The watery food coloring you get at the grocery store is less concentrated AND watery, so you have to use more of it to achieve the color you want, and it will water down your icing and make it too thin!
Liquid Whitener
Favorite Products
I also add white food coloring to every batch of icing that I make. Whether I am making white icing, or even black, whitener is going to bring your icing from an off-white to white, and whitener will also help to keep your icing homogenized.
Spray Bottle
Favorite Products
The most important tool when cookie decorating. The part people have the most difficulty with when first starting out, is getting your icing consistencies JUST RIGHT. I use a spray bottle to adjust my icing consistency if it is too thick. It is much easier, and fool-proof, to control how much water you’re adding with a spray bottle, than trying to pour or dribble in just the right amount of water. It’s kind of like the “measure twice, cut once” theory. You can always add another squirt of water if your icing is still a little too thick, but you’ll have to add more powdered sugar if you pour in too much water and thin down your icing too much.
Pro Tip
Scissors
Favorite Products
Make sure to use a good, sharp pair of scissors to cut icing bags. Dull scissors will tear tipless bags and your icing will come out of the bag askew and it’ll be harder to control.
Spatulas and Bowls
Favorite Products
Get yourself A LOT of spatulas and A LOT of bowls if you plan on cookie decorating. Chances are, when you’re mixing all of your icing, in all the different colors and consistencies you need, you’ll dirty every single bowl and spatula in your house.
Pro Tip
- Ikea GUBBRÖRA Rubber Spatulas are my favorite spatula I’ve ever used. Grab some if you have an Ikea near you. They’re heat resistant and not super bendy, so you can really scrape every last bit of icing out of your bowl. They also only cost a couple bucks each.
- When I’m mixing smaller amounts of colored icing, I prefer to use Ceramic Cereal Bowls. I find that a slightly heavier bowl is easier to hold while mixing, and the stainless steel or plastic ones move around too much.
Notta Cookie Practice Cookie
Favorite Products
I love these little practice cookies, and I always had then available for my students in my classes. You can practice flooding, piping details, stenciling…etc., before you commit to putting icing on your actual cookie. And then you can just scrape it off and reuse the icing for more practice. Dishwasher safe, or just give it a quick wash with some soap and water.
Boxes, Bags, and Packaging
Favorite Products
You can find cello bags for your cookies at grocery or craft stores, and they typically come with little twist ties as well. If you want to heat seal your bags, you’ll need an impulse sealer. There are a variety of impulse sealers on the market, and they can cost anywhere from $20 to several hundred. The one I’ve linked is the one that I have used since I purchased it in 2015, I’ve used it to seal tens of thousands of cello bags, and it still looks and works like it’s brand new.
BRP Box Shop is an awesome company that has every bag, box, and packaging supply you could ever want or need. A lot of cookiers and cookie cutter companies design their cookies to specifically fit in certain boxes that they carry.
Nashville Wraps is another of my favorite packaging companies, and I especially love their stretch loop bows.
And a huge shout out to Papermart! They were my main supplier for boxes, bags, and other packaging supplies when I was making custom cookies and cakes for orders. While they ship nationwide in the US, if you are in Orange County, California, you can pick up your order from their warehouse, and they also have several tent-sales throughout the year where you can find amazing deals.
Additional Supplies
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These items are some things you might already have around the house, or that you can buy at your local craft or dollar store. Always use tweezers and brushes that haven’t been used on non-food items before.
- Paint brushes, makeup brushes (use only food safe synthetic bristled brushes)
- Short heavy drinking glasses or mini buckets, lined with damp paper towel, to hold bottles
- Tweezers (for moving and placing sprinkles)
- Ruler
- Sprinkles, sanding sugar, sugar pearls
- Edible paints, luster dusts, disco dust, edible glitter
Once you’ve gotten the hang of cookie decorating, and want to try your hand at some advanced techniques, there are tons of fun cookie decorating supplies.
- Airbrush machines
- Stencils
- Silicone molds
- Embossed parchment paper and stamps
- Piping tips for royal icing flowers and leaves
Cookie Cutters
Favorite Products
So, I have a lot of cookie cutters. Like…A LOT! A friend once asked me how many I have and it got me to actually start counting, which made me realize I needed to stop counting. I have a problem, I’m fully willing to admit that, and I’m actually really comfortable with it.
Now, you can buy American Tradition Cookie cutters, which are the steel cookie cutters that they sell EVERYWHERE! And they’re great. But once you discover the world or ETSY and 3D printed cookie cutters you’re in trouble. There are just SO! MANY! CUTE! COOKIE! CUTTERS! I’ve linked to my favorite 3D printed cookie cutter shops above!
Whether you use metal, plastic, or 3D cookie cutters, it doesn’t matter. They’re all going to do the same job and I have no preference in cookie cutter material.
To keep your metal cookie cutters from rusting, make sure to thoroughly dry them after you’ve washed them. You can even throw them in a warm oven to dry. With plastic or 3D printed cookie cutters, make sure to never soak them in hot water or put them in the dishwasher, as the heat will melt and warp them.
Pro Tip
You absolutely do not need an expensive cookie cutter to make an amazing cookie. Half the time, when people ask me where I got a specific cookie cutter, it was a $1 cutter that I picked up from a discount shop, Target/Walmart, or the grocery store. Don’t feel like you need to spend thousands of dollars, right off the bat, to start decorating cookies.
Favorite Ingredient Brands
Butter
I’ve tested my shortbread cookie recipe with every butter on the market and there was no discernible difference in taste. Most of the time, I’m using Costco butter. Save the Kerrygold for your artisanal chocolate chunk cookies.
Flour
I only use King Arthur or Bob’s Red Mill flour in all my baking. Both are just good, employee-owned companies that make great, high-quality products. For gluten-free cookies, swap out the flour with a 1-to-1 (cup-for-cup) GF flour.
Sugar
All of my recipes were developed using C&H (Domino) sugar. It’s the only sugar on the market that still uses 100% cane sugar.
C&H and Domino are sister brands, and sell the same product. C&H is primarily sold on the West Coast of the United States, and Domino is primarily sold on the East Coast.
Meringue Powder
I prefer CK Products/Celebakes meringue powder. A lot of my cookie friends swear by Genies Dream, but I haven’t personally used it. If you have to use the brand they sell at the grocery store or craft store, you’re probably going to notice the artificial vanilla smell and taste.
Make sure you are buying meringue powder, and not royal icing mix!
Extracts and Emulsions
Any non-artificial vanilla extract will work. And I absolutely love LorAnn emulsions to flavor my shortbread sugar cookies.
You can also make your own vanilla extract!
Have a comment or question?