How to Decorate Candy Cane Cookies

How to Decorate Candy Cane Cookies
These beautiful holiday cookies seem complicated, but the technique is amazingly simple—and all you need is a toothpick to create the look.

To decorate the ornament cookie: Using a bottle filled with red icing, outline the cookie, leaving a slight border from the edge of the cookie.

Tip: Using an icing bottle with a tip gives you more control. You can also buy pre-packaged tubes of icing at the supermarket.

Pipe icing onto the cookie to fill it in. Using an offset spatula, spread the icing evenly.

Tip: Shake the cookie after smoothing out the icing to eliminate bumps and allow the icing to settle.

Using a bottle filled with green icing, draw 3 curved lines on the cookie, following the shape of the ornament. Using a bottle filled with white icing, draw 3 curved lines on the cookie, alternating with the green lines.

Tip: Place the bottles upside down in a glass so that the icing stays in the tip.

With a clean toothpick, drag a straight line through the icing down the center of the cookie. Drag 2 curved lines downward following the shape of the ornament on either side of the first line towards the edge of the cookie. Drag 2 more curved lines upward on either side of the first line.

Tip: Clean your toothpick on a paper towel each time after you drag it through the icing.

To decorate the candy cane cookie: Using a bottle filled with white icing, outline the cookie, leaving a slight border from the edge.

Pipe icing onto the cookie to fill it in. Using an offset spatula, spread the icing evenly.

Using a bottle filled with green icing, draw lines on the cookie, following the shape of the candy cane. Using a bottle filled with red icing, draw lines on the cookie alternating with the red lines.

With a clean toothpick, drag a line through the icing down the center of the cookie. Drag 2 lines on either side of the first line, going in the opposite direction.

Let cookies dry for 12 hours before hanging on a tree.