How to Flood Sugar Cookies

For Easter this year I made sugar cookies to bring for dessert to our family dinner.  Flooding sugar cookies is a pretty easy cookie decorating technique but it is pretty time consuming so I usually save it for special gatherings.  I have shared this technique years ago but my photography has gotten a lot better so I thought I would share about it again today!

I use a Martha Stewart sugar cookie recipe and love this small technique book of hers that I have learned about flooding from.  For the icing I use a generic royal icing recipe that I will share at the end of this post.

For these cookies I used white and lavender for the icing.  I added a few drops of blue and red food coloring to part of the icing and mixed it up.  You want your first batch of icing to be thick enough to hold a straight line.  When you go in to "flood" or fill in your outline, you will use the same icing but slightly more watered down.

I like to use these little Wilton squeeze bottles (I got mine at Michael's but you can't beat this price on Amazon) to pipe the icing on and use a funnel to get the icing to drip down.  This usually takes a little while so I get it started and then go work on something else. 

Once all your cookies have been baked and cooled you can start icing them.  I like to use cookies with simple shapes that don't require a lot of detailing because I lack the patience and time that goes into a more intricate cookie.  So I have purged my cookie cutter collection to only shapes that are cute and simple on their own.

First you outline all of your cookies with a thick enough line of icing where it does not spread.  If you are using more than one color, leave space open for where you will fill in with them.

Once they are dry, you can then fill it in with icing that is slightly watered down (just add a little bit of water until you get the right consistency).  I just use a knife to dribble the icing on.  Then spread the icing around to fill it in with a knife or toothpick. 

 

Once dry, repeat the same process with the other color.

Mine were not completely dry when I added the second color and by far not perfect, but they still came out pretty for making at 8:00 the night before Easter!

They were a huge hit and are always wow worthy just to look at.  You can also check out a previous post I put together on flooding sugar cookies where I did wait until they were completely dry and the icing has a more layered effect.  :)

Royal Icing Recipe

3 ounces of egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups powdered sugar

Beat egg whites and vanilla until frothy.  Slowly add in sugar at low speed until mixed.  Turn on high and beat until icing forms thick, glossy peaks.