How To Make Royal Icing Transfers | Toucan Cookies (2024)

Royal icing transfers are such a great way to decorate cookies because you can make these decorations months in advance! The leaves, beaks, wings, branches, and flowers on these toucan cookies are all made using the royal icing transfer technique. Watch the video and get the supply list below!

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Royal icing transfers are piped onto wax paper, parchment paper, or acetate. You can use any consistency royal icing, although it’s better to keep it on the thick side (at least 20 second count). Once they are dry, they can be removed from the backing and stored for several months at room temperature.

Read my Ultimate Guide To Royal Icing to learn all about royal icing consistencies.

How do you store royal icing transfers?

To store your royal icing transfers, make sure they are completely dry. I allow mine to dry overnight which is usually more than enough (read this post to find out why you’re royal icing isn’t drying).

Place the transfers into an airtight container and store them at room temperature away from direct sunlight. Royal icing transfers are shelf stable, so you can make them several months in advance.

Royal icing transfers are very fragile, so be sure to make extras in case of breakage.

Here’s what you’ll need to make these Toucan Cookies with Royal Icing Transfers

• Lime Coconut Cut-Out Cookie Recipe (available in the Cookie Art Club)
• Toucan templates (available in the Cookie Art Club)
• Knife to cut cookies
• Flood consistencyroyal icing (15-20 second count) in white, red, orange, golden yellow, dark green, light green, and blue
• Thick flood consistency royal icing (30 second count) in black
• Stiff consistency royal icing in white
• Slightly thinned stiff consistency royal icing in brown
• Medium consistency royal icing in black
• Scribe tool
• Decorating tip 3 for flooding
• Decorating tip 101 for piping flowers
• Couplers and Bag ties
• Flower nail
• Parchment paper or wax paper for royal icing transfers
• Parchment or wax paper squares for flowers
• 2 12″ decorating bags
• 7 Tipless decorating bags
• Pink matte color dust
• Decorator brushes
• Edible ink marker
• Paint palette or small dishes
• Vodka, grain alcohol, or any flavor extract for painting

Colors (I used Chefmaster)

• Coal Black
• Super Red
• Sunset Orange
• Lemon Yellow
• Golden Yellow
• Light green = Leaf Green + Lemon Yellow
• Dark green = Forest Green + Leaf Green
• Blue = Sky Blue + Royal Blue
• Buckeye Brown

See my tips on how to make black royal icing.

Instructions

1. Cut the cookies from a chilled sheet of cookie dough. Bake the cookies at 350˚ Fahrenheit for 12-14 minutes.
2. Fit a 12″ decorating bag with a coupler and a decorating tip 3. Fill the bag with white flood consistency royal icing.
3. Flood the cookie with the white icing. Use the scribe tool to help shape the icing. Set the cookie aside to dry.
4. Fill tipless decorating bags with black, red, orange, golden yellow, light green, dark green flood consistency icing and brown stiff consistency royal icing.
5. Place the wing, branch, beak, and leaf templates under parchment or wax paper.
6. Fill in the wing with black icing and use the scribe tool to help shape the icing.
7. Fill in the branch with brown icing and use the tip of the bag to add texture.
8. Fill in the beak with red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and black icing.
9. Fill in the leaves with dark green icing. Pipe veins with light green icing while the dark green icing is still wet. Use the scribe tool to help shape the icing. Set the royal icing transfers aside to dry.
10. Fit a 12″ decorating bag with a coupler and a decorating tip 101.
11. Place a square of parchment or wax paper on a flower nail with a little bit of icing.
12. With the wide end of the tip facing out, pipe 5 petals to create a plumeria. Allow all of the icing to dry overnight.
13. Place the toucan template on the cookie and trace it with an edible ink marker. Cut out each piece of the template and trace them.
14. Fill in the body with the black icing. Shake the cookie gently to help smooth the icing.
15. Fill in the head with white, golden yellow, orange, blue, and black icing.
16. Use the scribe tool to apply a tiny amount of white flood consistency icing in the eye to make reflections. Allow the icing to dry for about an hour.
17. Place Lemon Yellow gel food coloring, Golden Yellow gel food coloring, and pink powdered food coloring (matte color dust) into a paint palette or small dishes. Add a few drops of vodka, grain alcohol, or any flavor extract to the gel food coloring.
18. Paint the middle of the plumeria with the Lemon Yellow food coloring. Paint one edge of each petal with the Golden Yellow food coloring.
19. Dust the edges of the petals with dry pink color dust. Remove the flowers from the parchment paper.
20. Dust the edges of the cookie with the pink color dust.
21. Cut the paper around the royal icing transfers to make them easier to remove. Carefully peel the parchment paper away from the transfers to remove them.
22. Fill a tipless decorating bag with black medium consistency royal icing.
23. Attach the royal icing transfers to the cookie using the medium consistency icing.
24. Pipe medium consistency icing on the wing and brush the icing with a slightly damp brush to add texture. This is the brush embroidery technique.