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    Home » Cookie Decorating

    How to Decorate Cut-Out Football Sugar Cookies 

    Published: Sep 7, 2023 · Modified: Oct 23, 2023 by Courtney Karl · This post may contain affiliate links ·

    Kick off this football season with this ultimate guide to decorating football cut out cookies! As the NFL season approaches, what better way to gear up for game day than by whipping up a batch of adorable football cookies? Whether you're a die-hard fan preparing for game day parties or simply seeking a creative baking project, we've got you covered. In this blog post, we'll walk you through the step-by-step process of creating these cookies using royal icing. Show off your decorating skills and impress your fellow football fans with these irresistibly cute game day treats. 

    Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I may get a small commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links at no cost to you.

    Football cookies on a plate with brown and white royal icing bags.

    While I'm making these for the NFL season kickoff and my favorite team (Go Bills!), these football cookies are also great for Super Bowl Sunday, college football parties, tailgate parties, or even a football themed birthday party. 

    In this post we'll go over how to make and decorate these cookies with royal icing. If you are new to royal icing start here with my Ultimate Guide to Royal Icing Cookie Decorating. 

    Though I will be using my Classic No Spread Sugar Cookie Recipe, I have many other cut out recipes you can use including these Chocolate Chip Cut Out Cookies, these Pumpkin Sugar Cookies, or even these No Spread Cookies and Cream Cut Out Cookies. 

    Jump to:
    • Ingredients & Supplies 
    • Instructions
    • Decorating the Cookies
    • Variations
    • Storage
    • Video Tutorial
    • Related
    • Other Royal Icing Tutorials

    Ingredients & Supplies 

    Picture of ingredients and supplies used in cookie tutorial.
    • Sugar Cookie Recipe 
    • Football Cookie Cutter
    • Royal Icing 
    • Piping Bags
    • Brown Gel Food Coloring 
    • Bright White Food Coloring (optional)
    • Cookie Scribe or Toothpick

    Instructions

    Making the Sugar Cookies

    Follow the recipe for your preferred cut out sugar cookies. If you are going to use the royal icing decorating method, make sure that you use a recipe where the cookie is flat after it is baked. If the center is higher and then slopes down towards the edges, your royal icing will do the same. 

    After baking, allow the cookies to rest until completely cool. 

    Decorating with Royal Icing

    Following your favorite royal icing recipe (here is my royal icing recipe), make one batch of royal icing in a large bowl, keeping it at a very thick consistency, and cover it with a wet paper towel to keep the icing moist while you mix the colors. Here are the combinations you need to make:

    • Brown Detail Consistency
    • Brown Flood Consistency
    • White Detail Consistency 

    Detail consistency can sometimes be referred to as outline consistency. 

    You can easily decorate the football in your team colors as well! 

    White and brown royal icing bags and blank football sugar cookies.

    Making the White Icing

    Take a few tablespoons of icing out of the bowl and place into a very small bowl. Add white coloring to make the icing very bright white (if you don't have bright white food coloring, you can leave as is). Make sure the consistency of this icing is thick, similar to toothpaste. If it's too thick, add a little bit of water at a time until you reach the right consistency. Add to a piping bag, sealing with a knot.

    Making the Brown Icing 

    With the remaining portion of royal icing, add brown gel food coloring until you reach your desired shade of brown. Add water very slowly, no more than approximately ¼ teaspoon at a time and stir with a small spatula between additions. Continue adding water until the icing reaches detail consistency, like toothpaste. Once you reach detail consistency, add a few tablespoons of icing to a piping bag and tie a knot to seal.

    Now you will continue to add more water, vey slowly, no more than ¼ teaspoon at a time. You can even use a spray bottle to add water to make sure you don't add too much too quickly! Continue to add water and stir with a spatula between additions until you reach flood consistency. It will have a similar thickness as honey. If you lift up some of the icing and drizzle it back into the bowl, it should take somewhere between 5-15 seconds to disappear back into itself. Once you've achieved a good flood consistency, add the rest of the brown icing into a large piping bag.

    Pro Tip: Keep in mind the color in royal icing will deepen over the next hour, so be careful not to make the color too dark initially. 

    Decorating the Cookies

    Football cookie with brown royal icing outline.

    With the detail brown royal icing icing, outline along the edges of the football and draw a curved line through the cookie diving the top ⅔ and the bottom ⅓. 

    Football cookie with top portion of cookie filled with royal icing.

    Fill the top of the football with brown flood icing and let it sit until it begins to form a crust (usually around 15 minutes). It's important that the crust is formed to allow for the look of where the leather of a football is sewn together. 

    Football cookie fully filled with brown royal icing.

    Flood the bottom half of the football with brown icing and allow the entire cookie to set for another 15+ minutes until crust forms on the top.

    Football cookie completed with white royal icing accents.

    With the white royal icing, draw a thin curved line across the upper-middle portion of the cookie and add small white lines perpendicular to the line to create the laces of the football. Draw curved lines down each side of the football. 

    Once complete, place your decorated cookies on a wire rack or a baking sheet and allow them to sit for at least 8 hours or overnight to fully set and harden. 

    Pro Tip: Place a small fan next to your cookies between steps to help the cookies dry faster. 

    Variations

    To make this design a bit easier, you can simply outline the football cookie and fill the entire center in with the brown flood icing. Once the top has crusted over, add the laces and the white stripes of the football. 

    Storage

    Store for up to 5 days in an airtight container. You can freeze for up to 3 months in an airtight container as well. When you remove the cookies from the freezer, allow them to defrost and come to room temperature before opening the top of the container. I love using these Rubbermaid Containers because they are wide and flat so you don't have to stack too many layers of cookies when storing.  

    Once the cookies are completely dry, you can package them or transport them. 

    For more information on storage, check out my full guide on storing decorated cookies and extra royal icing!

    For other fun football related designs, try making football royal icing transfers! 

    Now that you are ready for the big game, get to baking and happy decorating! If you enjoyed this tutorial, rating it would help me tremendously. Thank you! 

    Video Tutorial

    Related

    Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:

    • orange and black sugar cookie with a small football made of royal icing on it
      Football Sugar Cookies
    • Stack of 6 chocolate chip cookie cutouts next to 3 bags of royal icing
      The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Cut Out Recipe
    • pumpkin flavored sugar cookies cut out in shape of pumpkins
      Pumpkin Cut-Out Sugar Cookies
    • Frosted almond sugar cookies on a plate.
      The Perfect Easy Almond Sugar Cookie Recipe

    Other Royal Icing Tutorials

    More tips and tricks for decorating cookies with royal icing:

    • desktop with computer and coffee
      How to Price Decorated Sugar Cookies
    • bowls full of different sprinkles types
      How to Add Sprinkles and Sanding Sugar to Cookies
    • Cooking Decorating Supplies for Baking and Decorating
      The Best Cookie Decorating Supplies
    • 5 royal icing bags on a drying rack
      How to Make Royal Icing Shiny 

    More Cookie Decorating

    • Heart cookies on a wire rack with royal icing.
      Valentine's Day Heart Cookie Decorating Ideas (Royal Icing)
    • Airtight containers filled with cookies
      How to Freeze Decorated Sugar Cookies
    • Red velvet and chocolate cake pieces stacked on a plate.
      Red Velvet vs Chocolate: What is the Difference? 
    • Royal icing cookies stored in glass container.
      How to Store Royal Icing and Decorated Cookies

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    Hi, I'm Courtney! I have been baking and decorating cookies for over 10 years. I love turning sweets into works of art and can't wait to show you all my favorite tips, tricks, and recipes!

    More about me →

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