Cookie 1: “CRUST OVER” technique
Hi! I’m so glad you’re here! Let’s get started.
For this first cookie, we’re going to be using the “CRUST OVER” technique. Simply put, this just means that we are going to allow that first base layer of icing to dry and form a hard crust before we add any additional details or decorations.
Gently knead/massage icing bags for 1-2 minutes to eliminate any separation. You want the color of the icing to be consistent throughout the whole bag, if there are any dark spots you’ll want to massage those out until the icing is the same color throughout.
Next, we’ll follow up by cutting the tip of the icing bags. Start by snipping off a small amount straight across and cut bigger as needed.
Pipe an outline around the entire egg.
Now we are going to “flood” or fill in ALL of the egg with the pink icing. Pipe the icing onto the cookie, roughly filling in the outline.
Next, use your toothpick to spread the icing around to the edges/outline of the cookie and smooth out any imperfections. Careful while using your toothpick, you don’t want to go too deep or scrape the surface of the cookie.
Once you have a smooth glossy surface, let the icing "crust over" or harden for about 10 mins. Now let’s move onto the fun and final step!
Hold your piping bag 1/2” above the surface, and gently apply pressure when squeezing the bag. You don’t want the tip of the bag touching the surface of the cookie, the trick is to let the icing “drop” onto the cookie.
Use my egg as an example or get creative with you own piping patterns! Remember to eat up or let dry for 8 hours before you store them.
*HELPFUL TIP: While piping your designs, pipe with your arms for steady control and not your wrist. Piping with your wrist limits your motion and will leave your wrist feeling sore.
Cookie 2: “WET ON WET” Technique
We must work quickly during these next remaining steps. “WET-ON-WET” is best achieved while the icing is STILL WET! The “Wet-On-Wet” technique is basically when two or more icings “melt” together and dry as a flat smooth surface.
Outline your bunnies with the blue icing.
Like in Step 4 of Cookie 1, "flood" your bunnies. Using the "Wet-On-Wet" technique, begin piping horizontal lines across the surface.
Now, immediately pipe vertical lines over the horizontal lines.
After your bunnies have had some time to dry (about 20 minutes), squeeze a small dot of icing for the tail.
While the icing is still wet, pour some of the non pareil sprinkles on top to finish that cute bunny tail!
Carefully brush away any stray sprinkles to clean up the tail. Your bunny is now complete, good job! Remember to eat up or let dry for 8 hours before you store them.
COOKIE 3: “CRUST OVER & WET ON WET” combo
This next cookie combines the “Crust Over & Wet-On-Wet” techniques that you practiced on cookies 1 & 2.
Outline your carrot with orange icing, then "flood" your cookie.
Again, working quickly use the "wet on wet" technique, pipe small yellow dots onto the orange surface.
Allow the icing of the carrot to "crust over"/dry for about 10 minutes before piping the green leaves on top and the swirl on top of the carrot.
Once it’s hardened, you want to start by piping every other leaf so that they don’t "melt" together. Allow 5 minutes to pass before piping the remaining leaves.
Once you have piped all the carrot leaves, and have allowed them to dry for 10 minutes or so, you can then top them off with some squiggles for dimension/extra detail. All done! Remember to eat up or let dry for 8 hours before you store them.
Cookie 4: “ToothPick Pull”
The “Toothpick Pull” is one of my favorite techniques to combine with the “Wet-On-Wet” technique, because it allows you to manipulate the frosting to create unique patterns.
Use the green icing to pipe an outline all the way around the egg, then “flood” your cookie. Using any color you wish, pipe 4 lines straight across the egg.
Using your toothpick, alternately run your toothpick up and down through the lines you just piped. Feel free to have some fun here! However you run your toothpick through those lines, is how your frosting design will set up. The different colors will “melt” into each other and will dry as the same flat, smooth surface.