Flower Power Sugar Cookies

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Can’t keep flowers alive for more than a few hours? Same. If you want to enjoy something pretty that won’t immediately wilt, these cookies will beat any botanical!

Every single time I’m gifted a bouquet of flowers, I’m always shocked by how quickly they start to droop into a wilted clump of faded sadness.

And it seems like as soon as I plant some beautiful flowers in my backyard, all kinds of woodland creatures are sniffing out their next snack.

But then again, I really don’t pay close attention to how I should be taking care of them.

Soooooo… I guess it is my fault. I should expect that this would happen to me. Gardening has never been a strength of mine.

I even avoided floral arrangements at my own wedding, and chose to use hardy eucalyptus leaves instead. Not one little flower petal in sight.

But what I severely lack in a green thumb, I make up for in a sweet tooth!

Luckily, these royal icing flower cookies mimic gorgeous fresh flora, but they will keep their beautiful appearance for far longer than any plucked petunia!

There is nothing too complicated about my technique for decorating them with royal icing – you only need one type of piping tip to create the petals, and just a few precisely placed sprinkles.

Instead of decorating them with just one flat coating of icing, you can layer the petals in three concentric tiers to achieve a look of realism with each flower.

And don’t be nervous about making mistakes! Since you’re working on a solid surface, it’s so easy to fix any slip-ups.

Just scrape off your boo-boo with a small offset spatula or butter knife when the icing is still wet. Any residual icing that remains on the surface will be covered up when you start over.

Because the royal icing sets dry and hard, the floral design on the cookies will look as beautiful as it did on the day you made them for weeks – though they should be eaten within about a week for maximum freshness.

Try doing that with a bouquet of real flowers!

While it is possible to munch on a few crunchy sugared flower petals, who could argue against the sweet satisfaction of enjoying an entire homemade cookie instead?

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Cooking by the Numbers…

Step 1 – Make the Cookies

Follow our recipe to make a classic sugar cookie cut-out dough. Be sure to not overmix the dough, to keep them soft and tender with minimal gluten development.

Make sure you use a cut-out dough recipe, and not a drop sugar cookie dough, as you want a perfectly flat surface for decorating.

Once you have mixed the dough, form it into a flat, compact disc by hand and wrap it tightly in plastic wrap to prevent the dough from drying out as it chills. Place it in the fridge for at least one hour to fully chill it.

This process helps to re-harden the unsalted butter, which makes it much easier to roll and cut the dough in the next step.

Place the chilled dough on a lightly floured work surface. With a rolling pin, roll out the dough into an even layer between 1/8 and 1/4 inch thick. You may need to lightly flour the top of the dough and the work surface to keep it from sticking.

For a thicker end result, roll out the dough closer to 1/4 inch thick. If you prefer something a little thinner, roll it out closer to 1/8 inch thick.

Using cookie cutters in the shapes of flowers, cut out shapes from the dough, dipping the cutter in flour to prevent sticking. Re-roll the dough once and cut again. Discard any excess dough.

You can use any variety of floral shape. For a yield of 24 cookies, use a cutter that is about 3 inches in diameter.

For the ones in these photos, I used a 3-inch round flower cutter with 10 petals like this option from Wilton, available on Amazon.

Place the cut-outs on two baking sheets lined with parchment paper or silicone mats, leaving about 1/2 inch of space between each to allow ample room for even baking. You should be able to fit 12 cookies on each baking sheet.

Place in the refrigerator to let the shaped dough re-chill and set.

While the cough is chilling, preheat the oven to 325°F.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, depending on the thickness of the dough. They will still look very white and puffy on top.

Remove from the oven and let cool on the pans for just one minute before removing and letting them cool completely on wire racks.

This short baking time will yield soft sugar cookies. If you prefer a crispier treat, bake them for an additional 5 to 10 minutes, until they start to brown around the edges.

Step 2 – Make the Royal Icing

Follow our recipe for a double batch of homemade royal icing to get all the details you need on this process.

This may seem like a lot of royal icing, but you will be adding the icing in layers on each cookie. And it is always a good idea to make a little extra for practice, and to allow for any mistakes.

Because we will be piping petal details, you want to work with a medium-stiff consistency – the icing should be very thick and it should be able to hold its shape. The texture should resemble that of a buttercream frosting.

Be sure you really take the time to whip the icing in your mixer to stiffen it as much as possible to achieve this texture – this will take about 7 to 10 minutes.

Add your desired food coloring.

Keep in mind that the more food coloring you add to the base, the more liquid you are adding. You may need to add more powdered sugar to the mixture to re-stiffen the icing.

If the icing is still on the runnier side, add 1/4 cup powdered sugar at a time and remix until it thickens.

Step 3 – Decorate

Prepare a pastry bag fitted with a #104 petal piping tip, available on Amazon. Fill the pastry bag with the prepared royal icing, covering any remaining icing in the bowl with plastic wrap. This is to prevent the icing from drying out, so make sure you tightly cover the bowl.

For more information on decorating tools, check out our lineup of essentials to buy for your home kitchen.

Position the piping bag so the thinnest end of the piping tip is facing the top when you are holding the bag. The thicker end of the tip should be facing the bottom.

This position will give you the exact shape you need when you are piping the individual petals, so double check the position of the piping tip regularly as you decorate!

Work with one cookie at a time. Starting with the outside border, pipe small individual petals in a complete circle following the curves of the cut-out.

Moving closer to the center of the cookie, pipe a layer of smaller individual petals in a complete circle, overlapping with the bottom half of the first layer.

You want to still be able to see the tops of the petals in the first layer to create that multidimensional floral look, so make sure you pipe the second row about halfway down from the bottom layer.

Moving to the center, pipe a layer of even smaller individual petals in a complete circle, covering the bottom half of the second layer and the center of the cookie.

You will now have three concentric layers of piped petals.

Carefully place nonpareil sprinkles in the center while the royal icing is still wet. This is when I whip out my kitchen tweezers!

You can use any number of sprinkles, but I like to use at least 3 for the center.

Repeat with the remaining cookies.

Step 4 – Set

Let the icing set at room temperature until it is completely set and hardened, for about 2 to 3 hours. You should be able to gently touch the petals with your fingertip, and feel that they are totally dry to the touch.

Serve when they are fully set, or store at room temperature in an airtight container for up to one week for maximum freshness.