These are the 10 things I could NEVER decorate sugar cookies without!

Hi there! Interested in decorating sugar cookies? I am going to share with you my most beloved items that I MUST have when I sit down with a set of cookies to decorate. Now, all cookie decorators are different and have their specific preferences for items, but after decorating for over 10 years, these specific items are what make my life easier and I hope it helps make yours, too! I share little nuggets of information along the way in hopes to make sugar cookie decorating a little less like scary and more fun! So whether you are here because you want to start dabbling in cookie decorating or here because you've done it before and have found it to be daunting, I hope my blog brings you a little inspiration to keep you going! Please note that my blog does contain affiliate links and clicking some of these links will give me a very minuscule commission from sales.

10. Tabletop Fan

Having adequate air exchange in your decorating area is crucial for icing to dry. I love to have a small, simple desktop fan like this that can blow air on my cookies as they sit to dry overnight. I noticed when I don't have the fan on, my cookies tend to have less of a shine and more craters as the icing may have dried unevenly depending on the humidity and room temperature that day.

9. Decorating Mat

My decorating mat is a flexible, silicone mat that creates my designated work area. This mat allows me to keep my decorating space neat and clean. I only place my cookies and icing bags I am actively working with on this mat. I personally like the mat from Borderlands Bakery as it is super light-weight and easy to clean, but any small, food-grade silicone mat will do.

Borderlands Bakery Silicone Mat

8. Everclear or Vodka

Now, I know you must think I am crazy listing this as an item, but HEAR ME OUT! Everclear is a high-proof grain alcohol that evaporates fairly quickly.

If you know anything about royal icing, you will know that when water touches it, it starts to dissolve. When I was a newbie cookie decorator, I would make countless mistakes and attempt to correct them using water and end up with splotchy messes on my hard work.

Using a small amount of Everclear with a brush can erase small mistakes (think a black icing smudge on white icing) without causing a puddle to appear on your cookie surface. The Everclear evaporates almost instantly, leaving a nice, smooth surface. Try it out and thank me later! ;)

Everclear is also the medium I use to mix my metallic dusts to produce the perfect metallic shine on my cookies. The alcohol dries very quickly when painting with metallics, leaving a richer color behind on the cookie.

I like to keep my Everclear in a small dropper bottle on my decorator's cart so that I don't need to grab the large bottle and have that sitting on my workstation.

*I do have to note that Everclear at 190 proof (which is the one I use) is not available in every state. Check your local Bevmo and pick out the highest proof you can find, it should work nearly the same.*

7. Brushes

I have a set of brushes that I prefer to use while decorating. Brushes are used for multiple reasons. I can dab the cheeks of faces with a rounded brush dipped in luster dust. I can wipe stains from cookies where I might have piped a squiggly, imperfect line using Everclear mentioned above. I use a fan-style brush to do a final dusting of my cookies prior to heat sealing them. A kabuki brush is also great for dusting cornstarch on airbrushed cookies - this is a technique to ensure the airbrushed color does not smudge when the cookie is handled or bagged.

6. Cookie Turntable

I purchased a cookie turntable a little later in my decorating career when I started dabbling in 3D florals. This turntable is the one I use and I love that it is easy to take apart for washing with one simple screw holding it all together in the center. It also comes with a non-slip silicone mat to prevent your cookie from flying off the table when you spin the turntable (been there, done that!).

The turntable also helps when flooding a particularly curvy cookie. I like to turn the cookie as I flood to get into the crevices - this really helps get those nice, crisp edges with royal icing flood.

5. Phone and Projector Mount

When posting about cookies on social media, it's all about the decorating videos. This mount helps me keep my phone in place to record my work without falling over from the sheer weight of my phone.

I have used several in the past that clamp on the edge of the table or have a collapsable base, but I find the Arkon mount to be very flexible and holds the weight of my phone well without toppling over or dipping over time. I also use this mount to hold my projector in place (I will talk about my projector later in this post). I have a holder for my iPad that connects to my projector and everything is held together in ONE place on this mount - freeing up my table space for my cookies!

I have heard of other mounts that are now on the market, such as the Canvas lamp that are great as well, but I like that my mount can harbor 3 items (phone, tablet, and projector) all in one place.

4. Dehydrator

A dehydrator was my most recent investment for my cookie-decorating business. Imagine flooding a cookie with icing, then waiting 30 minutes of dry time under a fan for them to develop a crust before moving onto the next step. Now imagine that 30-minute dry time being cut to 10 minutes using a dehydrator. My dehydrator has literally been a game changer in terms of time management.

Another perk is that my cookies dry with a nice shine to them when they come out of the dehydrator. The key is to have the dehydrator heat set to the lowest setting (90-95 degrees F) and the total dry time for the cookies to not exceed 30 minutes. This is so that the cookies do not bleed butter into the royal icing and discolor the icing and dry the cookie out.

3. Projector

Once I started using a projector for decorating cookies, I have noticed a drastic difference in the outcome of my work. I originally purchased a projector to pipe names or words onto cookies.

Fast forward to today, I use it almost constantly from simple circles to lines to get uniformity in my cookie sets. It just helps give it that professional look! This is the first projector I purchased. When I first started decorating cookies, there really weren't that many options out there and it lasted me 2 years. Now I use this one and it has been great. The Kodak I use now is a little more savvy and user friendly, but the projection is essentially the same.

Using a projector for a PYO cookie

2. Scribe Tool

Now this may seem a little silly and you may be saying that I could simply just use a toothpick, but a scribe tool is made of metal, so the icing does not absorb into it. It can be washed and reused and some of them are really cute!

I have a couple scribe tools that I love. This type of scribe tool is very useful as it is double-sided. One side is useful for popping out bubbles from icing and the other side for scraping off larger mistakes. I like to use this type of scribe tool or this one from Borderlands Bakery to not only pop bubbles but push icing from one side of a cookie to the other for even flooding - plus it's super cute to look at! :P

1. Piping Bags

The number one item I absolutely need is a piping bag, of course! I like to use these piping bags when I am in a pinch and need them quick. They are disposable and easy to maneuver. I don't use these bags for florals however because I find that they cannot handle thick icing. They are perfect for flood consistency icing though!

For florals, I love to use the piping bags from Borderlands Bakery. I find these to be strong and will not burst under high pressure.

When I am not in a pinch, I prefer the piping bags from the Cookie Countess. I find the material of the bags to have a nice feel and is very comfortable to work with and the price extremely reasonable.

I hope you found this list of items to be helpful to you - whether you are considering starting out in cookie decorating or simply curious. I understand some terms may be confusing and I plan to make more blog posts to simplify all things cookie decorating related! I do have to say that I thought of several other items I use while decorating such as my baker's rack, baking pans, pan lids, etc., but these items were worth mentioning and have made my top ten!