The Frosting Mistake That's Ruining Your Fresh Batch Of Cookies

A little slather of sweet frosting can take your crank up the craveability factor of your favorite cookie. That said, there are some pitfalls to avoid if you want the icing on your treat to be perfect, and perhaps the most important tip is simply about sitting tight.

Although a fresh-from-the-oven cookie is undeniably delicious, if you opt to frost right away, you're making a critical mistake. A cookie that's too warm won't be an ideal surface for delicate frosting; the moment the spread meets the heat, it can melt, bleed color, or break, resulting in an ill-defined design or downright runny mess.

As far as how long you'll need to sit tight, 30 minutes (for applying royal icing to soft and chewy snickerdoodles, for example) is advised, but some say to wait until the next day to do your frosting. Generally, a good rule of thumb is to make sure your treats feel cool to the touch. And, while waiting is definitely not the fun part, if you want to present cookies that are beautiful to behold, evenly frosted for satisfaction in every bite (and will also make for a less frustrating frosting process), it helps to have patience.

There are a number of types of frosting, from traditional American buttercream to decadent ganache to shiny royal icing, but this cooling tip applies across the board. Some frostings also take time to set (color flow could take up to 3 days, for example), so you'll want to plan ahead to account for both cooling the cookies as well as allowing your topping to firm up.

Once your spread is selected and your cookies are cooled, you can finesse your frosting game. You can simply use the back of a spoon or a butterknife, or can also take a more methodical approach. For example, you can treat a soft buttercream like you would ice cream, using a cookie dropper to get a dialed-in and consistent scoop for each treat. Set this ball of frosting in the center of the cooled cookie and use a small offset spatula to swirl it around evenly, radiating out from the middle to the edges. For royal icing, you might want to work with a piping bag to create an outline and then flood the surface with the frosting. 

From there, you can embellish with sprinkles or sparkly sugars, or add detailed designs if you're artistically inclined. The possibilities are limited only by your imagination when you have a nice cool cookie to work with, so while it may be painful to put those treats aside for a beat, you can be sure it'll be worth it in the end.