Creating Monogram Wedding Cookies: A Step-By-Step Guide

Monogrammed cookies are a beautiful and unique addition to any wedding celebration. They can be personalised to fit the colour scheme and theme of the wedding and can be made at home. The process is simple: make your favourite sugar cookies, create a stencil for your monogram, and decorate with icing. You can also add extra decorations like gold bakery paint or sprinkles to make your cookies stand out. Cookies can be decorated ahead of time and frozen, making them a convenient option for a DIY wedding.

Bake cut-out sugar cookies and let them cool

To make monogram wedding cookies, you'll first need to bake some cut-out sugar cookies and let them cool. You can use your favourite sugar cookie recipe, or find one online. Once you've made your dough, roll it out and use a cookie cutter to cut out your desired shapes. If you're making monogram cookies, a round cookie cutter is a good option, but you can choose any shape you like. After cutting out your shapes, be sure to freeze the dough before baking to help the cookies retain their shape.

When you're ready to bake, preheat your oven to the temperature specified in your cookie recipe. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place your cut-out dough shapes onto the prepared sheet. Bake the cookies according to your recipe instructions, or until they are lightly golden brown. Once they are baked, remove them from the oven and let them cool completely on a wire rack.

While your cookies are cooling, you can make your royal icing. You'll need about 3 cups of icing for a batch of cookies. Divide your icing into separate bowls and tint each bowl with your desired colours. For monograms, you may want to use more elegant or subtle colours, such as navy, gold, and white. You can adjust the colours by adding more food colouring or a touch of black to create a darker shade. Remember that icing, especially dark shades, will darken as it dries, so mix your icing to be a little lighter than your desired end colour.

Once your cookies are completely cool, you can begin decorating. First, outline the perimeter of each cookie with a border using a piping bag and a #2 tip. You can use a different colour for the border, such as white, to make it stand out. After outlining all the cookies, thin the remaining white icing with a small amount of water to create a glue-like consistency. This will be used to "flood" the cookies, creating a smooth base layer of icing.

Make royal icing and divide it into piping bags and squeeze bottles

To make royal icing, you'll need to prepare a royal icing recipe of your choice. Once you've made your icing, it's time to divide it into piping bags and squeeze bottles.

For monogram wedding cookies, you'll need to divide your icing into two portions: one for piping and one for flooding. The piping icing should be thicker, while the flooding icing should be thinner, with a consistency similar to glue. To thin the icing, simply add a small amount of water at a time until you achieve the desired consistency.

Use a piping tip, such as a #2 tip, with your piping bag. This tip will help you create precise outlines and borders on your cookies. Transfer the piping icing into the piping bag and secure it closed, ready for piping.

For the flooding icing, you'll use a squeeze bottle. Transfer the thinner icing into the squeeze bottle. The bottle will make it easier to control the flow of icing when filling in the cookie.

By having both the piping bag and the squeeze bottle prepared, you'll be able to efficiently outline and flood your cookies with icing. This process will create a beautiful base for your monogram designs.

Once your icing is in place, you can let it dry and harden before adding further decorations or personalising with monograms.

Outline a border around the perimeter of the cookie

To outline a border around the perimeter of the cookie, you will need to make a slightly thicker icing, called "border icing". This will act as a barrier to hold in the more liquidy flood icing, creating a smooth layer over the cookie. You can use royal icing or a simple 2-ingredient cookie icing made from powdered sugar and milk.

To make the border icing, place the powdered sugar, vanilla, and 2 tablespoons of milk or water in a bowl and stir until smooth. The icing should be thick, but still easily pourable. If you want, you can add food colouring to the border icing. Transfer the icing to a squeeze bottle using a small funnel.

When outlining the cookie, hold the bottle vertically with the tip slightly above the cookie. Squeeze gently and with consistent pressure so that the border is the same width all the way around. This step will be easier if you hold the tip away from the cookie and let the icing fall as you guide it. This will give you more control and help you avoid a wiggly outline.

If you are using royal icing, the most important elements are icing consistency and an offset spatula. The icing must be thin enough to flow but not so thin that it runs over the edge. The consistency should be similar to honey or shampoo.

If you are using a simple sugar icing, the border icing will act as a guide for the flood icing and help it stay on the cookie without oozing over the edge.

Flood the cookie with icing, allowing it to flow across the entire top

Flooding the cookie with icing is a crucial step in achieving a smooth, professional-looking finish. Here's a detailed guide on how to do it:

Before you begin flooding, ensure your cookies are completely cooled. You don't want to start decorating on warm cookies as it can affect the consistency and setting of the icing. Once they are cooled, you can start the process.

To flood the cookie, use a wide-mouth squeeze bottle. This will give you more control and precision than simply pouring the icing on. Squeeze the icing out onto the cookie in circles, starting from the centre and working your way outwards. This circular motion will help the icing spread evenly. Continue squeezing and guiding the icing until it reaches the border and flows across the entire top of the cookie. It is important to work relatively quickly as the icing will start to set once it is exposed to air.

If you find that your icing is too thick to flow smoothly, you can adjust its consistency by adding a small amount of water. However, be cautious not to add too much water, as this will result in a watery icing that won't set properly. Alternatively, you can use a stick, such as a boo boo stick, to help spread the icing evenly across the cookie.

Once you have flooded the cookie, set it aside and let the icing harden. This will take a couple of hours, depending on the thickness of your icing layer. While you wait, you can prepare the next steps of your cookie decoration, such as filling different piping bags with icing in various colours.

By following these steps, you will achieve a beautiful, smooth base for your monogram wedding cookies. This technique is essential for creating elegant and impressive decorated cookies.

Outline and fill in the monogram letters using a stencil and icing

Once your cookies have cooled, it's time to prepare your icing. Make your royal icing and divide it between a piping bag and a squeeze bottle. You will use the piping bag to outline the monogram letters and the squeeze bottle to fill them in.

For the outline, use a PME #2 tip, or a similar small tip, to create a precise border. You can choose any font you like for your stencil, but a simple, bold font will be the easiest to work with. Place your stencil under a sheet of parchment paper and carefully pipe along the edges of the letters with your prepared icing. Allow this outline to dry for a few minutes before filling.

To fill in the monogram letters, you can use the same #2 tip for precision. Squeeze the icing out in circles within the outlined letter, allowing it to flow and fill the entire space. You can use a stick, such as a boo boo stick, to help spread the icing evenly if needed.

Before the icing hardens, fix any mistakes or air bubbles. You can use a toothpick to guide the icing to the edges and pop any large air bubbles. Allow the monogram letters to harden completely before removing them from the parchment paper.

Frequently asked questions