Do you want a sweet patriotic project for the family to enjoy? Then these American flag-decorated sugar cookies are sure to engage everyone. These sugar cookies are delicious and easy to make but needs to be chilled before use. They are sure to be the hit at any patriotic party.
During the 4th of July, I try to engage my kids in activities that evolve the USA flag and the colors to commemorate the day. For this year we are making this sweet project and use them for our dessert table as well. I hope you give this recipe a try and have fun making them with your family and friends.
America Flag Sugar Cookies
Every decorated sugar cookie should start with a good sugar cookie recipe and cut into shapes. Any cookie cutter shape can work but I am using the American flag and circle cookie cutters. A decorated American flag cookie looks lovely, and the flag can also be created in any shape of a cookie. For this project, I am using royal icing to decorate these cookies because they work perfectly, dry well, and make shipping possible. Cookie decorating with royal icing can be intimidating, but with practice and this tutorial, you can do it. If you are a beginner then start with simple designs and use as few colors as possible.
Sugar Cookie Steps
- Prepare the dough by creaming the sugar and butter, add eggs, and finally the flour.
- Divide the dough into two for each rolling.
- Flatten each dough into a disk for easy rolling and chilling.
- Chill the dough for easy handling.
- Roll the dough and cut it into shapes using cookie cutters.
- Chill, bake and cool completely before storing or decorating.
- Decorate or store.
How To Make American Flag Sugar Cookies
My best go-to sugar cookie recipe produces soft cookies which stay fresh for a couple of weeks. The recipe starts with butter and sugar creamed together. Then the eggs and the extract are added and mixed until incorporated. Finally, the flour and salt mixture is added. This recipe comes together quickly and very easy to make. Chill the dough for about 1-2 hours. While the dough is chilling, you can use the time to plan your cookie design. For detailed information on how to bake the best sugar cookies with all the tips and tricks, then read more here.
Tips and Tricks for Successful Cookies
- Do not over mix the cookie dough or your cookies will not hold their shape when baked.
- Use ¼ inch rolling sticks on side of the cookie dough and then roll out dough to an even thickness.
- Always place parchment paper on top of the dough before rolling to prevent the dough from sticking onto the rolling pin. It also reduces the use of extra flour when rolling.
- Chill cookie dough in a small flat disc for easy rolling or roll the dough in between parchment paper before chilling them. This cookie dough recipe is soft when made fresh, so it does need chilling to make it easy for handling.
- Roll out the cookie dough directing on parchment paper for easy transfer to baking sheet.
- Bake cookies that are of the same size and shape for even baking.
- Another way to achieve even baking of cookies is to place only one cookie sheet at a time in the center of the oven. When you want to use more than one cookie sheet in the oven at a time, then you need to turn the baking sheets halfway through the baking time. Do the same thing when your oven has uneven heat distribution.
- Bake the cookies on a silicone mat or parchment paper for even baking and easy cleanup.
- Always cool baked cookies completely before storing or decorating them.
- When storing cookie dough in the refrigerator or freezer, put a box of baking soda in it to prevent cookies from absorbing other flavors.
What is Royal icing?
Royal icing is a type of icing made with slightly beaten egg white and powdered sugar with the addition of lemon juice and other flavors. This icing dries very hard which makes it easy to store and transport the cookies. Royal icing is traditionally made with raw egg white, most cookie decorators are now using meringue powder in place of the egg white. Meringue powder creates the same stability in the icing as egg white and hardens quickly when used on top of cookies. If you have any health concerns with the use of raw eggs then, meringue powder is the way to go.
Royal Icing Consistency
This royal icing is simple and uses few ingredients: powdered sugar, meringue powder, water, and flavoring. The most important aspect of the icing is consistency since that can lead to your success or failure. The general rule is to start with a thicker icing and adjust the water as needed. I like to start with piping consistency and adjust it for flooding. The good part of this icing is that you can adjust it to achieve the consistency you want by adding more powdered sugar or water.
How to Make royal icing
- Combine the meringue powder and warm water in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix at medium speed for about 2 minutes until fluffy and foamy.
- Add the powdered sugar and the extract to the meringue mixture. Start mixing at the lowest speed until all the powdered sugar is incorporated. Increase the speed to medium-high for 3 to 4 minutes until you achieve desired consistency. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula to ensure everything is mixed in and add the white food color. this helps to prevent color bleeding
- The amount of mixing time can vary from 3-5 minutes depending on the humidity. Beat icing until it changes from the ivory color to white. The longer you beat the icing the stiffer it becomes.
How to store the royal icing
- Royal icing made with meringue powder can be stored in an airtight container and keep it at room temperature for up to 2 weeks. When ready to use, beat well in a mixing bowl at low speed and to the desired consistency.
- You can also freeze the leftover icing for later use. Check out this article on how to freeze royal icing here.
- Leftover royal icing can be piped into designs, dry, and store in a non-airtight container for a couple of years. These decorations can be used for future use on cakes and cookies.
Helpful tips for successful decorating
- Use thicker icing to pipe the borders and fairly thin icing for flooding.
- Do not cover decorated cookies if they are drying. Allow them to try in front of a fan or room temperature overnight.
- Use gel food colors for coloring your royal icing for best results.
- Make enough colored icing for piping and flooding.
- Allow the decorated cookies to dry completely before packaging or stacking them.
Items To Make Decorated Amarican flag Sugar Cookies.
- Cut-out sugar cookies
- Cookie cutters
- Royal icing
- Wilton piping tip #2
- Squeeze bottle
- Piping bag
- toothpicks
- Food gel colors and I recommend AmeriColor set because it will last you a long time.
Decorating the flag Cookies
This cookie was decorated with no piping tip but if you need more control, then you can use Wilton piping tip #2 for the outline of the cookies.
Prepare the royal icing and color them in USA colors (red, blue, and white). Each color should have piping consistency and flooding consistency icing. Flooding consistency icing is achieved by adding a bit of water at a time until when a spatula runs through the center, it creates a line that disappears in about 10-12 seconds. Always cover the icing with a damp towel and allow the flooding icing to stand for a few minutes before pouring into a piping bag or squeeze bottle.
Steps for decorating the cookies
Outline the portions of the cookies with colors you will be flooding with. Use a food marker to draw lines for the white and red stripes in the flag as a guide.
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2 
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Flood or fill in the outlines and use a toothpick to guide the icing into tight edges and corners. Allow one color to dry for about 15-20 minutes before adding a second color.
For the fireworks cookies fill in the outline, and while the icing is still wet add the second color( this technique is called wet on wet). Use the toothpick to spread the color out to create the effect.
Let the icing dry before packaging and have a happy 4th July!
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If you have any questions about this recipe, I will love to hear about them in the comment section below. Did you make this recipe, then do not forget to rate the recipe, and let me know how it turned out in the comments below?
Thanks for reading. As always, know that God loves you and stay blessed!
Happy baking and decorating!!
Linda!!!
Royal Icing For Decorating American Flag Decorated Sugar Cookies
Equipment
- Piping bags
- Piping Tips
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons meringue powder
- ½ cup warm water
- 4 cups powdered sugar.
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon food colors (white for the entire icing )
- dash food colors(red and blue)
Instructions
- Combine the meringue powder and warm water in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix at medium speed for about 2 minutes until fluffy and foamy.
- Add the powdered sugar and the extract to the meringue mixture. Start stirring at the lowest speed until all the powdered sugar is incorporated. Increase the speed to medium-high for 3 to 4 minutes until you achieve desired consistency. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula to ensure everything is mixed in and add white food color.
- The amount of mixing time can vary from 3-5 minutes depending on the humidity. Beat icing until it changes from the ivory color to a white. The longer you beat the icing the stiffer it becomes so when you get the consistency you want you stop mixing.
- divide into small containers with an airtight cover and cover since uncovered icing will crust.
- Mix in the colors you are using and add a little color at a time (always use gel food colors since it will not alter the consistency of the icing).
- Remove a small portion for piping and use remaining for flood icing. Use a glass to hold icing bag while filling with icing. A damp paper towel helps keep the tips from drying out when decorating.
- To make flood consistency, slowly add water 1 tsp at a time, until icing thins to desired consistency. When a spatula run through the center, it creates a line that disappears in about 10-12 seconds. It should not be too thin or runny and not too thick too.
- Decorate the cookies following the video above if you are a beginner. Use the piping icing to outline all the cookies.
- Flood or fill in the outlines with flooding icing and use a toothpick to guide the icing into tight edges and corners. Allow one color to dry for about 15-20 minutes before adding a second color.
- For fireworks, fill in the outline and while the icing is still wet add the second color. Use the toothpick to spread the second color out to create the effect.
- Allow the cookies to set and enjoy or dry overnight before packaging.
Notes
Decorated sugar cookies will stay fresh for about 4 weeks when properly stored. Once the cookies are decorated and dried, package them in cello bags and seal them with a heat sealer. if you do not have a heat sealer, an airtight container will keep them fresh for some days. Or you can put cookies in cello bags and tie them with ribbon to help cookies stay fresh for a while.
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