Pretty Sunflower Cookies

November 6, 2011 | 113 Comments »

Besides autumn leaves, sunflowers are one of my favorite “fall” cookies.  They are simple to make, but pretty enough to impress.  They are also very versatile and allow plenty of room for you to add your own creative touches.

To make pretty sunflower cookies you will need:

  • golden yellow piping and flood icing {I mixed egg yolk yellow, ivory, and a touch of warm brown}
  • brown twenty-second icing
  • moss green piping icing
  • brown or clear sanding sugar

Begin with a flower shaped cookie.  I’ve found one that I like to use for sunflowers, but any flower cutter will do as long as it has several petals.  If it’s not quite as “sunflower-y” as you’d like, just use icing to correct the shape.  That’s what I did here…

You’ll get the best results by setting aside two days to work on these.  One for flooding, and the second for details.  It sounds like a long time, but between baking and decorating, it’s really only about three to four hours of work.

Every once in a while I like to break it down like that because people often shy away from decorated cookies because they have a reputation for taking FOREVER to make.

Often, it DOES take two days to finish a set of cookies, the majority is of that is DRYING time rather than work time.

That said, lets get back to cookies…

Outline the sunflower using a #2 tip, flood, and let them dry overnight.

The next day, use brown 20-second icing to add centers.  You can wing it, but if you’re after perfection, use something round {I chose a cookie cutter} to trace a circle onto your cookie with an edible marker.  This will give you a guide to follow so all your cookies will be uniform.  Let the icing set slightly, then sprinkle with sanding sugar.

A little tip from an old pro…if you don’t have brown sanding sugar, clear will work.

Actually, clear sanding sugar works for almost anything.  The base icing shows through the sugar, so as long as you have clear on hand, you pretty much always have the color you need.

To finish up, outline the petals to give them a little definition then go around the center with green dots.  Let the cookies dry.

Just an FYI, it is possible to make this project a one day job. If you plan ahead and pre-make flower centers, this is a three step, one day cookie project.

You can find out how to use leftover royal icing to pre-make perfect flower centers HERE.

Sunflowers are simple, pretty, and the perfect addition to your Thanksgiving spread.  They’re also a great cookie for beginners.  They look difficult, but they really aren’t.  And they don’t take a gazillion icing colors either!

Don’t be afraid to give these a try.  Your friends and family will rave, I promise.

Autumn Cookies, Cookies, Flower Cookies, Popular Cookies, Seasonal Cookies, Sweet Sugar Belle, Tutorials
113 Comments »