SANTA HEAD CUTTER
The funny thing about this cutter is that when I began to turn it into different cookies, I had no idea I’d get four different holidays out of it. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter are covered—but you may find others.
For the turkey, feel free to take liberties with its feathers; you don’t have to make them three different colors. They can be all orange or red, too.
SANTA
beginner 
intermediate advanced
MAKES 16
what you need
TO MAKE THE COOKIES
4¼-inch Santa head cookie cutter
Cookie dough of choice (here), prepared, chilled, and rolled out
Cooling racks
TO DECORATE
3½ cups Royal Icing (here)
Pasteurized egg white or water
Gel food colors: copper (flesh), whitener, bright red, super black
Pink luster or petal dust
4 plastic or parchment paper piping bags (here)
4 #1 tips
Assorted paintbrushes
- 1. Make the cookies. Cut out 16 cookies from the dough. Bake and cool as directed.
- 2. Make pink flooding icing for Santa’s face and paint in. Mix 1 cup royal icing in a bowl with copper (flesh) and whitener gels to make pale pink for Santa’s face. Thin to flooding consistency. Using a paintbrush and the flooding icing, paint in Santa’s face, thinning out the icing into the areas where his hat, mustache, and beard overlap his face. Let set for 4 to 6 hours.
- 3. Make lining and flooding icings: white for the fur trim, pom-pom, mustache, and beard; and red for the hat and nose. Mix 1½ cups royal icing in a bowl with whitener gel to make bright white. Thin to lining consistency and spoon ¼ cup into a piping bag fitted with a #1 tip. Thin the remaining icing to flooding consistency and cover with plastic wrap. Mix ¾ cup royal icing with bright red gel to make red for the hat and nose. Thin to lining consistency and spoon ¼ cup into a piping bag fitted with a #1 tip. Thin the remaining icing to flooding consistency and cover with plastic wrap.
- 4. Outline the hat, nose, beard, mustache, and eyebrows. Using the red lining icing, outline Santa’s hat, excluding the parts where the fur and pom-pom overlap. Outline the nose. Let set for 5 minutes. Using the white lining icing, outline the beard and mustache. Do not outline the mustache where it overlaps the beard. Using the white lining icing, outline the eyebrows. Let set for 5 minutes. Reserve the red and the white lining icings.
- 5. Paint in the hat and nose; paint in the beard and eyebrows. Using a paintbrush and the red flooding icing, paint in the hat, thinning out the icing just beyond where the white fur trim overlaps the hat. Do not bleed the red icing into the pale pink icing. Paint in the nose. Using a paintbrush and the white flooding icing, paint in the beard, thinning out the icing where the white trim overlaps the sideburns. Carefully paint the area where the mustache overlaps the beard. Using a small paintbrush and the white flooding icing, paint in the eyebrows. Let set until hard, 6 to 8 hours or overnight.
- 6. Outline the fur trim, pom-pom, and mustache. Paint in the pom-pom and mustache. Using the reserved bag of white lining icing, outline the fur trim with a scalloped edge beginning at the top left, working across the top of the trim and touching down on the bottom right. Outline the bottom of the fur trim beginning at the top left side and working across the bottom, so that the trim covers half of the eyebrows, and touching down at the bottom right. Outline the pom-pom on the hat. Outline the mustache, butting (see here) the top of the mustache to the bottom of the nose; each wing of the mustache should extend over the beard and connect under the nose, leaving a tiny triangle of pale pink above the beard for the lip. Let set for 10 minutes. Using a medium paintbrush and the reserved bowl of white flooding icing, paint in the pom-pom and the mustache. Let set for 4 to 6 hours.
- 7. Make gray lining icing to re-outline the beard, mustache, fur, and pom-pom; make black lining icing for the eyes. Beat the royal icing on medium low for 30 seconds. Spoon ¼ cup royal icing into each of two bowls. Cover one with plastic wrap. To the remaining bowl, add super black and whitener gels to make light gray. Thin to lining consistency and spoon it all into a piping bag fitted with a #1 tip. To the second bowl, add super black to make black. Thin to lining consistency and spoon it all into a piping bag fitted with a #1 tip.
- 8. Re-outline the hat, nose, trim, beard, mustache, and pom-pom. Draw the eyes. Make blush for the cheeks. When the white flooding icing is set, use the reserved red lining icing to re-outline the top of the hat and the nose. Using the light gray lining icing, re-outline the white trim, beard, mustache, and pom-pom. Using the black lining icing, draw two half-moons for Santa’s eyes. To make blush for the cheeks, gently dip a paintbrush into pink luster or petal dust. Tap the brush over the jar to rid it of excess dust, then brush on the cheeks. Brush or blow off excess dust. Let set for 1 hour.
RABBIT
beginner intermediate advanced
MAKES 16
what you need
TO MAKE THE COOKIES
4¼-inch Santa head cookie cutter
Cookie dough of choice (here), prepared, chilled, and rolled out
Cooling racks
TO DECORATE
2½ cups Royal Icing (here)
Pasteurized egg white or water
Gel food colors: whitener, super black, electric pink
4 plastic or parchment paper piping bags (here)
4 #1 tips
Assorted paintbrushes
- 1. Make the cookies. Cut out 16 cookies from the dough. Bake and cool as directed.
- 2. Make white lining and flooding icing for the bunny and paint in. Mix 2 cups royal icing in a bowl with whitener gel to make white for the bunny. Thin to lining consistency and spoon ¼ cup into a piping bag fitted with a #1 tip. Thin the remaining icing to flooding consistency and cover with plastic wrap. Position the cookie so that Santa’s pom-pom is at the top. Using the lining icing, outline the silhouette of the bunny’s body, making two bumps for the ears and creating a bump for the tail. Let set for 5 minutes. Reserve the white lining icing. Using a paintbrush and the white flooding icing, paint in the bunny. Let set until hard, 6 to 8 hours or overnight.
- 3. Make lining icings: gray to re-outline the bunny, black for the eye, and pink for the nose and ear. Beat the royal icing on medium low for 30 seconds. Mix ¼ cup icing in a bowl with super black and whitener gels to make light gray to re-outline the bunny. Thin to lining consistency and spoon it all into a piping bag fitted with a #1 tip. Spoon 2 tablespoons royal icing into each of two bowls. Cover one with plastic wrap. To the other, add super black gel to make black for the bunny’s eye. Thin to lining consistency and spoon into a piping bag fitted with a #1 tip. To the second bowl, add electric pink and whitener to make light pink for the inside of the ear. Thin to lining consistency and spoon into a piping bag fitted with a #1 tip.
- 4. Make the nose, inner ear, and eye. Using the light pink lining icing, make the nose and inner ear. Using the black lining icing, outline the eye and fill in. Let set for 10 minutes.
- 5. Re-outline the bunny; make the ears, toes, back leg, whiskers, and pupil. As the black icing sets, use the light gray lining icing to re-outline the bunny. Make the ears, toes on the feet, and a large slanted “C” for the back leg. Make three lines across the face for whiskers. When the black icing of the eye is set, use the reserved white lining icing to pipe a dot on the eye. Let set for 1 hour.
TURKEY
beginner intermediate advanced
MAKES 16
what you need
TO MAKE THE COOKIES
4¼-inch Santa head cookie cutter
Cookie dough of choice (here), prepared, chilled, and rolled out
Cooling racks
TO DECORATE
4½ cups Royal Icing (here)
Pasteurized egg white or water
Gel food colors: chocolate brown, sunset orange, whitener, bright red, buckeye brown, lemon yellow
7 plastic or parchment paper piping bags (here)
7 #1 tips
Assorted paintbrushes
- 1. Make the cookies. Cut out 16 cookies from the dough. Bake and cool as directed.
- 2. Make lining and flooding icings: brown for the body and orange and white for the feathers. Mix 2 cups royal icing with chocolate brown gel to make rich brown for the turkey’s body. Thin the icing to lining consistency and spoon ¼ cup into a piping bag fitted with a #1 tip. Thin the remaining icing to flooding consistency, add whitener, and cover with plastic wrap. Mix ½ cup royal icing in a bowl with sunset orange gel to make orange for feathers. Thin to lining consistency and spoon ¼ cup into a piping bag fitted with a #1 tip. Thin the remaining icing to flooding consistency, add whitener, and cover with plastic wrap. Mix ½ cup royal icing in a bowl with whitener gel to make white for the feathers. Thin to lining consistency and spoon ¼ cup into a piping bag fitted with a #1 tip. Thin the remaining icing to flooding consistency and cover with plastic wrap.
- 3. Outline the body and feathers. Position the cookie so that Santa’s pom-pom is at the upper left to become the turkey’s head. Using the brown lining icing, outline the silhouette of the turkey, excluding the feathers and making a scalloped edge where the feathers are attached. Using the orange lining icing, outline the orange feathers, butting (see here) the line up to the brown outline where the feathers are attached to the turkey’s body and leaving a ⅛-inch edge for the white feathers. Using the white lining icing, outline the white feathers, making a scalloped pattern along the edge of the cookie. Let set for 5 minutes.
- 4. Paint in the body and feathers. Using a paintbrush and the brown flooding icing, paint in the body of the turkey. Using a paintbrush and the orange flooding icing, paint in the middle section of the tail feathers, butting the icing up to the piped brown lines. Using another paintbrush and the white flooding icing, paint in the white tail feathers, butting the icing up to the orange line. Let set until hard, 6 to 8 hours or overnight.
- 5. Make red lining and flooding icing for the top feathers and the wattle; make lining icings: dark brown for re-outlining the body and feathers and yellow for the beak and feet. Refresh the royal icing on medium low for 30 seconds. Spoon ½ cup icing into each of two bowls. Cover one with plastic wrap. To the remaining bowl, add bright red gel to make red for the wattle and top feathers. Thin to lining consistency and spoon ¼ cup into a piping bag fitted with a #1 tip. Thin the remaining icing to flooding consistency and cover with plastic wrap. To the second bowl, add chocolate brown and buckeye brown gels to make a darker brown for re-outlining the turkey and the orange feathers. Spoon all of it into a piping bag fitted with a #1 tip. Mix 2 tablespoons royal icing with lemon yellow gel to make golden yellow for the beak and feet. Thin to lining consistency and spoon all of it into a piping bag fitted with a #1 tip.
- 6. Outline and paint in the wattle. Re-outline the body and make details; re-outline the orange feathers. Outline and paint in the red feathers. Using the red lining icing, outline the turkey’s wattle. Let set for 5 minutes. Using a paintbrush and the red flooding icing, paint in the wattle, butting the red icing up to the brown lining icing on the head. Using the dark brown lining icing, re-outline the brown parts of the turkey’s body, adding the details for the neck, feathers, and wing. Re-outline the scalloped edges of the orange tail feathers. Pipe a brown dot for the eye. Using the red lining icing, outline the red feathers, making a wider scalloped edge on top of the orange feathers so that they cover about half of the orange icing. Let set for 10 minutes. Using a paintbrush and the red flooding icing, paint in the red feathers, butting up the icing to the dark brown outline. Let set for 4 to 6 hours.
- 7. Make the beak and feet. Re-outline the wattle. Make white lining icing and re-outline the tail feathers. As the red flooding icing sets, make the beak and feet with the yellow lining icing. Using the red lining icing, re-outline the wattle. Mix ¼ cup royal icing in a bowl with whitener gel to make white for re-outlining the red and white tail feathers. Thin to lining consistency and spoon it all into a piping bag fitted with a #1 tip. When the red flooding icing of the feathers is set, use the white lining icing to re-outline the outer edge of the red feathers and the outer edge of the white tail feathers.
WITCH
beginner intermediate advanced
MAKES 16
what you need
TO MAKE THE COOKIES
4¼-inch Santa head cookie cutter
Cookie dough of choice (here), prepared, chilled, and rolled out
Cooling racks
TO DECORATE
4¼ cups Royal Icing (here)
Pasteurized egg white or water
Gel food colors: violet, royal blue, chocolate brown, gold, whitener, super black, neon green, lemon yellow, neon orange
8 plastic or parchment paper piping bags (here)
8 #1 tips
Assorted paintbrushes
- 1. Make the cookies. Cut out 16 cookies from the dough. Bake and cool as directed.
- 2. Make blue flooding icing for the background and paint in. Mix 1 cup royal icing in a bowl with violet and royal blue gels to make indigo for the background. Thin the icing to loose flooding consistency. Using a paintbrush, paint a thin coat of icing on the entire cookie. Let set for 1 to 2 hours.
- 3. Make lining and flooding icings: brown for the broom handle and straw yellow for the bristles. Spoon ¼ cup royal icing into each of two small bowls. Cover one with plastic wrap. To the remaining bowl, add chocolate brown gel to make brown for the broom handle. Thin to lining consistency and spoon 2 tablespoons into a piping bag fitted with a #1 tip. Thin the remaining icing to flooding consistency and cover with plastic wrap. To the second bowl, add gold and whitener gels to make straw yellow for the broom bristles. Thin to lining consistency and spoon 2 tablespoons into a piping bag fitted with a #1 tip. Thin the remaining icing to flooding consistency and cover with plastic wrap.
- 4. Outline and paint in the broom. Position the cookie so Santa’s pom-pom is at the bottom. Using the brown lining icing, outline the witch’s broom handle. Using the straw yellow lining icing, outline the silhouette of the bristles on the broom. Let set for 5 minutes. Using a paintbrush and the brown flooding icing, paint in the broom handle. Using a paintbrush and the straw flooding icing, paint in the bristles for the broom. Let set for 1 hour.
- 5. Make lining and flooding icings for the clothing, face, and hand. As the straw flooding icing sets, mix 1¼ cups royal icing with super black gel to make black for the hat, cape, body, and shoe. Thin to lining consistency and spoon ¼ cup into a piping bag fitted with a #1 tip. Thin the remaining icing to flooding consistency and cover with plastic wrap. Mix ½ cup royal icing in a bowl with neon green, lemon yellow, and whitener gels to make yellow-green for the witch’s face and hand. Thin to lining consistency and spoon ¼ cup into a piping bag fitted with a #1 tip. Thin remaining icing to flooding consistency. Cover with plastic wrap. Mix ¼ cup royal icing in a bowl with neon orange gel to make orange for the stocking. Thin to lining consistency and spoon 2 tablespoons into a piping bag fitted with a #1 tip. Thin the remaining icing to flooding consistency and cover with plastic wrap.
- 6. Outline the cape, body, stocking, shoe, face, and hand. When the broom handle is set, use the black lining icing to outline the witch’s cape and body, going over the broom handle to make the arm and leg. Using the orange lining icing, outline the witch’s stocking, butting (see here) the lines up to the black outline at the bottom of the dress. Using the black lining icing, outline the shoe so that most of it is on top of the straw broom, butting the black lines up to the orange line at the bottom of the stocking. Reserve the bag of black lining icing. Using the yellow-green lining icing, outline the profile of the witch’s face with a hooked nose and protruding chin. Do not line the face where the hair overlaps. Outline the hand with the thumb on top of the broom handle, butting the yellow-green line up to the black sleeve of the dress. Let set for 5 minutes. Reserve the bag of yellow-green lining icing.
- 7. Paint in the cape, body, shoe, stocking, face, and hand. Using paintbrushes and the black flooding icing, paint in the cape, body, and shoe. Cover the black flooding icing and reserve. Using a paintbrush and the orange flooding icing, paint in the stocking, butting the icing up to the bottom of the dress and shoe. Using another paintbrush and the yellow-green flooding icing, paint in the face, butting the icing up to the top of the shoulder and thinning it into the areas where the hair and hat overlap the face. Paint in the hand.
- 8. Re-outline the hand. Make gray lining and flooding icing for the hair. Make lining icings: tan for the bristles and yellow for the buckle. Using the reserved yellow-green lining icing, re-outline the hand. Beat the royal icing on medium low for 30 seconds. Spoon ¼ cup icing into each of three bowls. Cover two with plastic wrap. To the remaining bowl, add super black and whitener gels to make light gray for the hair. Thin to lining consistency and spoon 2 tablespoons into a piping bag fitted with a #1 tip. Thin the remaining icing to flooding consistency and cover with plastic wrap. To the second bowl, add gold and whitener gel to make light tan for the bristles. Thin to lining consistency and spoon it all into a piping bag fitted with a #1 tip. To the third bowl, add gold and lemon yellow gels to make golden yellow for the shoe buckle. Thin to lining consistency and spoon it all into a piping bag fitted with a #1 tip.
- 9. Outline and paint in the hat and hair. Using the reserved black lining icing, outline the hat, following the edge of the cookie for the top of the hat and piping the brim over the face. Using the light gray lining icing, outline the hair, piping across the left side of the face and shoulder and making a zigzag across the top of the cape for the bottom of the hair. Butt the gray piped lines up to the black piped lines at the bottom edge of the hat. Let set for 10 minutes. Using a paintbrush and the reserved black flooding icing, paint in the hat. Using another paintbrush and the gray flooding icing, paint in the hair, butting the icing up to the edge of the hat. Let set for 4 to 6 hours. Reserve the light gray and the black lining icings.
- 10. Make the buckle, broom, and hair details; re-outline the hat, cape, body, and shoe; draw in details. Using the golden yellow lining icing, draw the buckle on the shoe. Using the light tan lining icing, draw lines along the length of the bristles to give texture. When the light gray flooding icing on the hair is set, use the reserved light gray lining icing to draw strands of hair to add texture. When the black flooding icing on the hat is set, use the reserved black lining icing to re-outline the hat. Re-outline the cape and make curved lines on the interior to indicate folds in the cape. Re-outline the body and shoe. Draw black stripes across the orange stocking. Use the tip of the black lining icing to re-outline the profile of the face, adding a mouth and nostril. Pipe a black dot for the eye. Let set for 1 hour.