The Royal Icing Revolt or Painted Sugar Cookies

I love cookies!  The oven rarely cools down at our house, I bake so many cookies.  I bake cookies but I don't usually decorate them.   With the holiday season approaching I think it's time I address this issue. 

I've done all the research, watched dozens of how-to videos and spend a small fortune on pastry bags and paste food colouring. It's time to learn how to decorate cookies using Royal Icing. 

There's just one problem... I don't like Royal Icing!   I like the way it looks.  It makes the most amazing looking cookies - but cookies are to eat.  Taste is the most important thing to me.  

I was getting the ingredients out of the cupboard, preparing to make Royal Icing when I spied a little box of fondant icing lurking in the corner.  I'd seen painted cakes,  why not try decorating some painted cookies?  I followed the instructions on the packet and cut leaf shapes out of the fondant icing, placed them on a piece of baking paper and organised my 'paints'.

Now, I don't know what the proper technique is for painting on fondant icing.  I  simply used my paste food colouring as if they were watercolours.  Using a new oval brush carefully cleaned with hot, soapy water, I applied the diluted food colour in a series of washes.   

I left the leaves to dry a bit before adding the final details of veins and stems.  To 'glue' the fondant icing to the cookies, I mixed a little icing sugar with a few drops of water, spread a bit of icing glue onto the cookie and gently applied the fondant icing leaf.  Press the fondant leave down very carefully to make sure it is attached to the cookie.  That's all there is to it!

Yes, I know, I still haven't mastered decorating with Royal Icing but I've made myself a promise to at least have a go before Christmas.  Right now, I am going to make a coffee and enjoy a painted sugar cookie.  Would you like to try one?