Decorated Sugar Cookie Tutorial: Cozy Sweater Sugar Cookies! -

Follow along with this decorated sugar cookie tutorial to learn how to make cozy cookies of your own!

A few weeks ago I was browsing through Pinterest when I fell in love with a cake that looked like a knitted sweater. It just looked so cozy!

I knew right away that I wanted to make one, or at least something similar. I just made a big wedding cake for one of my sisters last month and as yummy as cake is, I just couldn’t convince myself that we needed yet another cake already.

Then I realized that sugar cookies would be a perfect way to try out something new! They’re easier to give away than pieces of cake and freeze really well, too. Plus, they have a much smaller surface area to decorate, haha.

And it is Christmas time – only the most perfect time of year for sugar cookies—after all.

It turns out that it’s a little hard to get the same sweater feel with cookies as you can with something as big as a cake, but I still think they turned out really pretty and have that overall cozy texture that I wanted. I think they’re just perfect for a Christmas cookie party!

The texture in these cookies is achieved by piping the frosting, which I know can seem intimidating. But with a little practice, it’s actually pretty easy. That’s another benefit to decorating cookies instead of cake – if you mess up one cookie, it’s no big deal because you have a ton more. 😉

I’ll show you two ways you can make these cozy sweater-inspired sugar cookies. The first way is easier and makes a cute design.

The second way takes more patience but pulls off that knitted look nicely.

I used my Sugar Cookie Recipe found here.

Tips before we get started

Don’t fill your piping bag too full – about halfway should be good. If there’s too much frosting in it, it may get squished out the back of the bag. No one wants that.
Try to keep a steady pressure when squeezing the bag while piping. This will help the frosting come out evenly.
Do NOT pull your piping tip away from the cookie until AFTER you have completely stopped squeezing. Stop squeezing first, then gently drag the tip a little on the cookie to break the connection between the frosting you just piped and the frosting still in the piping bag. This may take some practice, and that’s fine. It will just help make sure you don’t accidentally pull off any frosting that you just piped so carefully.
This one is important: If you’re new to piping (or even if you’re not), don’t get discouraged! It does take practice, but you gotta start somewhere! And cookies are perfect to practice on.

I used piping tips #6 and #18 (I think #16 would’ve worked well, too, but I couldn’t find mine, haha) for the cookies pictured here and will be referring to those sizes in the tutorial. You’re welcome to use whatever sizes you like, though, of course.

Ok, let’s get started!

Cozy Decorated Sugar Cookie Design #1

First, spread a thin layer of frosting on your cookie. This is just to give the frosting you’re about to pipe something to hold on to. And it makes sure that no gaps in the frosting are visible since the “background” is now the same color as the piping will be.

With tip #6, make a small, diagonal line across the centerline of the cookie, starting at the left edge.

Then make another line crossing it, like an X.

Starting with the tip in between the top two points, make another diagonal line parallel to the first one.

Now, starting between the first two bottom points, make a line parallel to the second one you made.

Continue doing this until you reach the other edge of the cookie. You’ll end up with a row of overlapping Xs.

Using tip #18, pipe a straight line along the top and bottom edges of the Xs.

Make another row of Xs above and below what you just piped.

If there’s room left, pipe another line with tip #18 along the top and bottom.

Now you can make any kind of border you like. The easiest one to do is stars: you simple hold your piping bag with tip #18 a little above the cookie, squeeze some frosting out (without moving the tip away at all) until it starts to back up to the tip, release the pressure, and pull the bag away.

I like the look of piping a “rope” around the edges, too, which I’ll show you how to do in the next cozy cookie design.

Cozy Decorated Sugar Cookie Design #2

Start with a thinly frosted cookie, just like with the first design.

At the top, use tip #6 to pipe a sort of sideways question mark or backward S.

Then, stick the tip right in the curve of the squiggle you just piped, and make the same shape again overlapping the end of the old squiggle with the beginning of the new one. Aren’t you glad there are pictures? Haha!

Continue doing this until you reach the other edge of the cookie. See how it’s starting to look like a rope?

Now do another row the same way, right up against the first row.

And another.

And keep going until the center of the cookie is all the way covered.

Now just add any kind of border you want! You’re probably fairly decent at piping ropes by now, so why not give that a go? You can even do the rope piping with the #18 tip if you want to change it up a bit.