Have you ever wanted to learn the secrets to making Pinterest worthy “bakery” cookies?  When I search Pinterest for baking recipes, I’m always amazed at the intricate desserts people create with royal icing.  It’s something I’ve always wanted to learn and I’ve talked about taking classes for years…but since that just hasn’t happened (and probably never will) I took to google instead. 

After a little research and a lot of YouTube watching, I came up with a plan to self educate and learn the basics of decorating with royal icing by just diving in and trying it.  Last month, I tested my “google” skills and I did my first “bake”. 

Watch the video below to see how it went!  Or you can see it on IGTV HERE.

The response I received on Instagram was so overwhelmingly positive and many people expressed interest in wanting to learn too.  I decided to make my personal challenge a group challenge instead.  Each month I’ll be baking along with my Instagram buddies!  We’ll collectively vote on a cookie design and then bake and decorate.  And using a group hashtag, #bakingwithjaclynjames, we will be able to see everyones creations.

Click HERE for the Better Homes & Gardens recipe that I follow to make my sugar cookie.  This recipe is technically for a shaped cookie but I refrigerate and roll the dough instead.  I just love the flavor of this cookie because it’s not overly sweet so I find it balances out the sweetness of the royal icing nicely.

I follow the mixing instructions of the recipe, refrigerate for 1hr, then roll the dough between two pieces of wax paper.  Once it’s about 1/4” thick, I use my cookie cutter and place on a baking sheet.  You know the cookie is done when it’s just barely golden.  Don’t let the edges get brown.

For the royal icing, HERE is the recipe I’m currently following from Sweet SugarBelle and had great success with last month!

For March, here’s the cookie we’ll be baking!  And of course it was found on Pinterest (SugarEd Productions). Isn’t it just the CUTEST!?!?  And so fun for St. Patrick’s Day!

In addition to your recipe ingredients here are a few items you’ll need to create this cookie:

1. Shamrock Cookie Cutter
2. Cookie Stencil
3. Green Color Mist
4. Piping Bags or Piping Bottles
5. Decorators tip size 2-4 for the royal icing outline
6. Decorators tip size 8-12 for filling in the cookie (optional as you could use the smaller tips, it will just take longer)

At the end of this post are a few other helpful items that you may want to add to your kitchen.

If we aren’t friends on Instagram and Pinterest yet, let’s get connected so we can join in this fun together!

See you in the kitchen soon buddies!

xoxo