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Fall Cookie Ideas

The Graceful Baker
How to decorate these adorable Fall Cookie Ideas with royal icing.
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Ingredients
  

Sugar Cookie Ingredients

Royal Icing Ingredients

Food Coloring

Cookie Cutters

Tools & Decorations

Instructions
 

Sugar Cookie Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 C)
  • In a large bowl, whisk together flour, corn starch and salt.
  • In a medium bowl, measure out the sugar.
  • In a small bowl, crack in the eggs.
  • In a small bowl, measure out the vanilla bean paste.
  • Using paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugar. Beat on medium high until mixture is well-incorporated and is slightly lighter in color. It should be airy and fluffy.
  • Add in the eggs one at a time, just barely incorporating the mixture after each egg.
  • Add in the vanilla. Mix on low first to incorporate until the mixture is viscous, then beat on medium high until the mixture is fluffy again. Do not over mix!
  • Add in the flour mixture. Be careful not to over mix the dough. The dough is done when it starts to clumb on the paddle and pulls away from the sides.
  • Roll dough out to 5/16", cut out shapes and plan on pan (I prefer to use perforated silicone baking mats).
  • Bake for 8-12 minutes at 375 degrees F (bake time depends on size of cookies & how closely placed together)

Royal Icing Instructions (yield 35-37 ounces of icing)

    STEP 1: Using a paddle attachment (or whisk if you prefer), beat meringue powder (45 grams) and 1/2 cup + 2 TBSP lemon juice on medium high (speed 6) until a beer-like foam forms (approx. 1-2 minutes). Scrape down the sides at least once. More detailed breakdown for the 1-2 minutes:

    • Beat on medium (speed 4) for 30 seconds
    • Scrape the bowl
    • Beat on medium high (speed 6) for 1 minute
    • At this point you have reached 1.5 minutes of beating. It is OK to beat for longer if needed! Almost impossible to over mix at this stage.

    STEP 2: Add in the powdered sugar and mix on lowest speed until incorporated. Scrape down the sides.

      STEP 3: Mix icing on medium speed for 2-4 minutes until a fluffy icing forms at either a stiff or medium peak, depending on yours needs (depending on your environment and desired consistency, you may need to add some or all of the additional 2 TBSP lemon juice). More detailed breakdown of the 2-4 minutes:

      • Stir on low for 30 seconds
      • Beat on medium (speed 4) for 30 seconds
      • Scrape the bowl
      • Beat on medium (speed 4) for 1 minute
      • Scrape the bowl - if you need more liquid, now is the best time to add any or all of the remaining 2 TBSP of lemon juice
      • Beat on medium (speed 4) for 30 seconds (either for one final spin or to incorporate the additional liquid)
      • At this point you have reached 2.5 minutes of mixing. If you added additional liquid, you may want to beat for another 30 seconds to more fully incorporate. If you need to continue to adjust liquid, you still have more time to beat the icing before it is over mixed. Icing should either be at a stiff peak piping consistency or medium peak piping consistency (if it's much stiffer than a fluffy stick peak, then add more water).

      All indicated speeds are for a KitchenAid stand mixer

        ***Icing Prep and Decorating Instructions in the Notes Section Below

          Notes

          Cookie Recipe Notes:

          • Use an oven thermometer: It wasn't until just a few years ago that I learned that not all ovens heat to the temperature on the dial. In fact, most of them don't! That's why I always use an oven thermometer and recommend that everyone do! If you want to go next level you can even put one in the front and one in the back as sometimes these temps can vary.
          • Cream together the butter and sugar enough: You want to make sure you've incorporated enough air into the butter and sugar. This is indicated by the mixture turning a slightly lighter color and appearing fluffy.
          • Don't over work your dough: you'll want to mix the dough at the final stage JUST ENOUGH. It will be done when the dough sticks to the paddle/comes off the sides of the bowl. You ALSO do not want to over work your dough as you're rolling it out. It is for this reason many cookiers only roll out twice. I personally roll as many times as I have dough, but I make sure to barely incorporate the scraps of dough (I let the rolling pin do all the work).
          • Roll your dough to a consistent thickness: by rolling your dough to a consistent thickness, you'll make it much easier to bake your cookies evenly. I roll my dough to 5/16".
          • Use powdered sugar instead of flour to roll your dough: if you're like me and use every bit of your dough, I recommend using powdered sugar instead of flour to roll your dough. When I use flour it adds too much flour to the dough and makes it drier.
          • Roll out your dough on parchment paper: I always roll out my dough on parchment paper, which makes transferring the cookies to the pan a dream (I peel the dough off the parchment paper before transferring to the pan)! I like to use these precut parchment paper sheets.
          • Bake with perforated baking mats: I find that perforated baking mats give the most even bake because air is allowed to flow under the cookie. Baking with perforated baking mats can take some getting used to. Make sure you read the instructions on the product website. For example, do NOT use a scented soap to clean them and make sure ALL of the soap is cleaned off (because of the perforations soap can get caught and make your cookies taste like soap). Alternatively, you can use standard silicone baking mats or parchment paper.
          • Don't over bake your cookies: every recipe is different, but I've found with my recipe that the cookies are done when they are JUST set on the edges and cooked through the center. A tiny bit of golden brown is usually ok, but any more and they're overcooked.
          • Flatten the cookies with a spatula after baking: this can get out an bubbles that formed while baking AND gives you a little extra peace of mind that the surfaces are actually flat 🙂

          Royal Icing Recipe Notes:

          I recommend 1 batch of icing per 1 batch of cookie dough (you'll have extra icing, but it's better than running out).
          Be careful not to over mix, as that can cause air bubbles or ruin the icing (it will crumble when dry). Watch the mixer carefully in this last stage as the mixing time can vary greatly. I always recommend setting a timer once you have added all of the ingredients to the bowl to avoid over-mixing (once you reach 5 minutes+ you risk over-mixing).
          This recipe makes about 35-37 ounces of icing. A standard 3.5" cookie typically requires 1-1.25 ounces icing/cookie. Of course this depends on the design! I like to budget 1.5 ounces icing/cookie just to be safe. So this recipe makes enough icing for 24 (2 dozen) cookies.
          **Additional meringue powder options:
          Wilton listing 1
          Wilton listing 2
          Chefmaster
          Genie's Dream 1
          Genie's Dream 2

          Prep the Icing for Decorating

          Start this process up to 24-48 hours before decorating.
          I recommend breaking up the icing prep into two days:
          1. Day before: make fresh icing, divide the icing into bowls labeled for each color, and do an initial phase of coloring the icing (keeping in mind that color develops/darkens over time--read here for more specifics on color development to prevent color bleed)
          2. Morning of (no more than a couple hours before decorating): final adjustments to color and thin the icing to desired consistencies

           

          Colors & consistencies that you'll need for this set:

          Click here for a post on how to figure out how much royal icing you need.
          To achieve a more harmonious set of colors: after mixing all of the colors, make sure you add a small amount (start with a pea-sized or smaller) amount of each color to each color (except for the white). This will create a unified color harmony and will take away a tiny bit of the starkness/brightness as you'll be adding colors from the opposite side of the color wheel to each other. Just make sure not to add too much! Start with a small amount and go from there.
          ***For this set, we are using a two-consistency outline and flood. Meaning, we are outlining with a soft peak and flooding with a thin flood. 
          ***Since we are using red for this set, I recommend starting the icing process at least 24 hours in advance (if not 48 hours) to give the color ample time to develop (to prevent using too much food coloring). Check out this post for tips & tricks on how to achieve the best red icing.
          • White - just white
            • Medium peak piping consistency - err on the THICKER side if unsure
            • Soft peak piping consistency - err on the THICKER side if unsure
            • Thin flood - err on the THINNER side if unsure
          • Black - black from the bottle
            • Soft peak piping consistency - err on the THICKER side if unsure
            • Thin flood - err on the THINNER side if unsure
          • Tan - ivory + a TINY bit of (chocolate) brown gel coloring
            • Medium peak piping consistency - err on the THICKER side if unsure
          • Brown- just brown
            • Soft peak piping consistency - err on the THICKER side if unsure
            • Thin flood - err on the THINNER side if unsure
          • Teal - royal blue + lemon yellow until desired color is reached
            • Soft peak piping consistency - err on the THICKER side if unsure
            • Thin flood - err on the THINNER side if unsure
          • Green - leaf green + extra lemon yellow (for a green on the yellow side)
            • Medium peak piping consistency - err on the THICKER side if unsure
          • Yellow - lemon yellow + a tiny bit of brown icing (or just use golden yellow straight from the bottle)
            • Medium peak piping consistency - err on the THICKER side if unsure
            • Soft peak piping consistency - err on the THICKER side if unsure
            • Thin flood - err on the THINNER side if unsure
          • Gold - lemon yellow + more brown icing than used for the yellow to darken it
            • Thin flood - err on the THINNER side if unsure
          • Orange - orange + a little bit of brown icing to deepen it (or a tiny bit of ivory gel coloring)
            • Medium peak piping consistency - err on the THICKER side if unsure
            • Soft peak piping consistency - err on the THICKER side if unsure
            • Thin flood - err on the THINNER side if unsure
          • Red - red from the bottle
            • Soft peak piping consistency - err on the THICKER side if unsure
            • Thin flood - err on the THINNER side if unsure

          Decorating these Fall Cookie Ideas:

          Click here for a sped-up satisfying video of the entire set (helpful when you just want a more condensed visual of how to decorate each cookie).

          Please refer to the following pages for step-by-step decorating instructions for each cookie in this set:

          Cookie Decorating Notes

          Helpful posts on tools, equipment + decorations:

           

          Helpful posts when baking the cookies:

           

          Helpful resources on the basics of royal icing:

           

          Helpful resources for icing consistency:

           

          Helpful resources for coloring icing:

           

          Helpful resources for bagging and cutting tipless bags:

           

          Helpful resources for the decorating process:

           

          Helpful resources when you're done decorating:

          Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!