Unicorn sugar cookies are an easy way to make magical decorated unicorn cookies. Learn how to decorate these adorable treats with homemade royal icing.
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My 7 year old is absolutely obsessed with all things unicorn.
And she absolutely adores “icing cookies” at Panera.
Of course, by icing cookies she means the iced, seasonal sugar cookies.
These cookies are pretty much the stuff of her- and any unicorn lover’s!- dreams!
Adorable unicorn head cutouts with really sweet decor that you can get ultra creative with if you want.
Or keep it simple if that’s more your style.
Either way these easy unicorn cookies will be a magical treat for any little unicorn lover or at a unicorn themed party.
And older kiddos can help decorate them too for a fun activity to get them into the kitchen with you.
Ingredients and Kitchen Supplies
For the sugar cookies themselves, you only need two ingredients:
- Pillsbury sugar cookie dough– The refrigerated kind. You can make homemade sugar cookie dough if you prefer, but since these are all about the decorations I like to skip a step.
- Flour– For rolling out the dough and getting the dough to the right consistency.
For the royal icing you’ll need:
- Powdered sugar– Sometimes this is called icing or confectioner’s sugar.
- Meringue powder
- Water- At room temperature
- Gel food coloring– Gel food coloring gives the best colors. You’ll want pink, blue, green, purple, and any other colors you feel like decking your unicorns out with.
You’ll also need some baking supplies including:
- Stand mixer
- Mixing bowls
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Rolling Pin
- Baking sheet
- Wire rack
- Unicorn Face Cookie Cutter
- Icing bottles and icing tips
- Toothpick
- Food markers
How to Make Unicorn Sugar Cookies
1. Prep the dough.
Combine dough and flour. Roll to ¼” thickness.
2. Cut out the unicorns.
Cut out cookie shapes. Bake at 350 for 8 minutes or until the edges start to brown.
3. Let cool.
Remove the cookies from the oven and transfer from the baking sheet to a wire cooling rack. Let the cookies cool completely prior to decorating.
How to Make Royal Icing
1. Combine the ingredients.
In a stand mixer combine sugar and meringue powder. Add 8 tablespoons of water
2. Beat.
Using the whisk attachment, beat for 1 minute on low.
3. Adjust the consistency.
Continue to add water one tablespoon at a time until the icing slowly drizzles from the whisk when lifted.
4. Color the icing.
Separate the icing into small mixing bowls and add desired food coloring. Mix well. Scoop the icing into piping bags or icing bottles.
Decorating Unicorn Cookies
Once the cookies are cool and you’ve got several colors of royal icing made and ready to go, you are ready to decorate the unicorn cookies.
Of course, you can use your imagination and decorate them any way you like, but if you want them to look like this
Once prepared – if the icing is too hard, add more water one drop at a time. Too runny, add more icing sugar one teaspoon at a time.
1. Make the unicorn’s nose.
Use the pink icing and pipe an oval around the unicorn’s snout area. Fill the shape in with more pink icing, using a toothpick to smooth the icing out and pop any bubbles. Let it set while you fill their horns.
2. Fill in the unicorn’s horn.
Use whatever color you want- we use yellow- to outline the horn and fill it in.
3. Fill in the unicorn’s face.
At this point, pipe an outline around the areas of the unicorn’s face that you’d like to be white (or whatever color you choose). Fill the outline in with the same color and use a toothpick to smooth the icing out.
Before the icing sets, quickly pipe on a little bit of pink into the ears.
Then let the face set before piping on any extra details.
4. Pipe on the hair.
We piped on a stripe of blue, pink, and purple and swirled it together by gently dragging a toothpick through it for the hair.
For nostrils, we added two dollops of pink icing on top of the set pink snout area.
5. Add finishing touches.
Use the food marker to draw on eyes and if you want, use a little icing to glue on extras like sprinkles or candy. Let the icing dry completely before storing. Serve and enjoy!
Storing Royal Icing Cookies
Make sure you let the royal icing fully set, which can take 4 hours or sometimes even longer if you are in a humid environment.
Once the icing sets, you can transfer the cookies to an airtight container and arrange them in a single layer.
Add a layer of waxed paper or parchment paper on top before adding another layer to the container.
Cookies will stay fresh properly stored on your counter for about a week.
Unicorn Cookie- Ideas for Decorating
If you want to really get creative, you don’t have to follow the tutorial above or you can use it as a jumping off point.
Here are some other ideas for decorating unicorn cookies:
- Add polka dots: before the flooded area dries, add dots of different colored icing.
- Make zig zags: before the flooded area dries, add stripes of different colored icing and then drag a toothpick through the stripes.
- Sprinkle it up: before the flooded area dries, add sprinkles like these.
- Make a plaid pattern: allow the flooded icing to dry. Add stripes of icing to the cookie, creating a plaid pattern.
- Add candy: glue to the cookie with a drop of icing.
Tips and Tricks
- Use a toothpick to poke bubbles or direct icing into holes.
- Let each design area to dry before moving on unless you are doing something like swirling the colors for the hair or adding the pink details to the ears.
- The icing should completely dry, at room temperature for at least four hours, before adding piping details to the top.
- Before using on the icing, allow the icing to completely harden for at least four hours.
- Feel free to embellish the faces even more by drawing other details on using multicolor food markers.
Other Cookie Decorating Tutorials
Looking for other fun ways to decorate cookies? Here are some of my other favorites:
- How to Make Bumblebee Cookies
- Easy Pumpkin Oreos
- The Cutest St. Patrick’s Day Sugar Cookies
- Store Bought Sugar Cookie Dough Hacks: Dipped Sugar Cookies
- Easy Turkey Cookies
- The Best Cute and Easy Sprinkles Sugar Cookies
- Easy Giant Heart Shaped Chocolate Chip Cookie
And if you are looking for other ways to jazz up store bought cookie dough check out my Store Bought Sugar Cookie Dough Hacks: Dipped Sugar Cookies or Store Bought Cookie Dough Hacks Stuffed Cookies.
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Ingredients
- For the cookies
- 1 package Pillsbury refrigerated sugar cookie dough
- ¼ cup all purpose flour
- For the royal icing
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoons meringue powder
- 8-12 tablespoons room temperature water
- Gel food coloring
Instructions
- Directions:
Combine dough and flour. Roll to ¼” thickness. Cut out cookie shapes. Bake at 350 for 8 minutes or until the edges start to brown. - While the cookies cool, make the icing.
In a stand mixer combine sugar and meringue powder. Add 8 tablespoons of water, using the whisk attachment, beat for 1 minute on low. Continue to add water one tablespoon at a time until the icing slowly drizzles from the whisk when lifted.
Once prepared – if the icing is too hard, add more water one drop at a time. Too runny, add more icing sugar one teaspoon at a time.- Separate the icing into small mixing bowls and add desired food coloring. Mix well. Scoop the icing into piping bags or icing bottles.
- Decorating instructions:Line around the edge of the design with icing and fill the middle. Use a toothpick to poke bubbles or direct icing into holes.
- Allow each design area to dry before moving on. The icing should completely dry, at room temperature for at least four hours, before adding piping details to the top.
Notes
Nutrition
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