Mitten Sugar Cookies [tutorial]

Today is my 32nd birthday. I used to like getting older, but since I hit 30, I wish I didn’t have any more birthdays, that I could stay 30 forever.  Okay, maybe not forever, but at least longer than 364 days.  Since I turned 29, I’ve kind-of had a mini pity-party the morning of my birthday, all of about an hour, and then I get out of my funk and move on with life.  Besides, who has time to dwell on the fact that you’re getting older?  It’s inevitable.  You’re just wasting time.

So I thought today I’d stop dwelling on myself and share a step-by-step tutorial on how to make mitten sugar cookies.  You might remember seeing these cute little mittens when I posted about sugar cookie tips in late December.  I originally made these cookies for a cookie swap in mid-December, so that’s why they’re all Christmas-y.  (Yes, that is a word.  I should know, I’m an English teacher.)  To make the polka-dot mitten cookies, you need to make sure you have these “extra” items: white sanding sugar, toothpick, and a small paintbrush (that you only use in the kitchen).  In terms of basics, you’ll obviously want to have royal icing colors, flooding and piping, in red and white.

If you’re new at sugar cookie decorating, I highly suggest you try these. (Or, if you’ve decorated a little while, but never tried this technique, then I recommend it for sure!)  They always turn out beautiful and they’re fun to make.  The number one advice I can give you is to make sure you have a prepped work station.  It’s really frustrating (and a time-sink) running back and forth to the kitchen to get whatever you need.

Outline the base (or cuff) of the mitten in white using the piping icing.  I like to use a #2 tip, but you could use #3 or #1.5.  Outlining will create a dam to hold the thinner icing, called flood icing.  Once you’ve outlined the cuff, fill it in with flood icing.  I like this recipe for both flooding and icing.

While the cuff is wet, pour sanding sugar on it, coating it well.

Gently lift up the cookie, turn it on its side, and tap one end of the cookie onto the paper towel.  This allows any excess sanding sugar to fall off the cookie.  If you have any left around the cookie, use a small paintbrush and brush the sugar off.

Let the cookie dry at least 30 minutes before continuing.  If you don’t, you run the risk of having the two colors bleed into each other.

Once the cuff is dry, outline the mitten in red, first piping and then flooding.  Then, immediately using the white flood icing, squeeze out dots on the mitten.  (I like to make mine different sizes, but you can do whatever you like.)  This technique is called wet-on-wet.  You could also add some stars too, if you like.  I used the piping icing for the stars because it had a small tip.  (The squeeze bottle is a bit larger and I was afraid it’d look like a dot and not a star.)

And that’s it! I told you it was easy.  Let the cookie dry overnight before you package or transport your cookies.  And if you want to eat them, allow at least 3 hours, so the royal icing can fully set.  Enjoy baking and decorating some winter mittens today! xoxo