If you want to add colored sugar to the cookies, then after the cookies are baked and fully cooled, spread either royal icing or edible baking glue to the tops, then dip them in sugar.
Sugar: Cookies can be decorated with sugar before or after baking. To help the sugar stick before baking, brush each cookie with beaten egg white with a pastry brush, top with a light coating of sugar and bake. After baking, apply to sugar to wet icing or piping gel.
How do you add sugar after baking?
Put decorative sugar in a small bowl (one bowl per color). Shape dough into balls per recipe directions. Roll in the sugar, place on cookie sheet, and bake as directed. If cookies need to be flattened before baking, use the bottom of a drinking glass, a fork, or your thumb.
If you do not mind adding a form of flavor to your cookie, the best way that you can get the sprinkles to stick to the cookies is going to be to apply a glaze, syrup, or frosting to the cookies.
If you want to add sprinkles to cookies, cupcakes, breads, or cakes before baking, that is totally and completely ok. Add sprinkles to the tops of these baked goods right before they go into the oven. Adding sprinkles to “wet” batter is the only way to get them to stick without an additional “glue” like frosting.
Do sugar sprinkles melt in the oven?
The sprinkles will slightly melt, but will not melt entirely as they will only be in the oven for five to ten minutes to complete the baking process.
How do you make sprinkles stick without icing?
Our favorite way is to make a glaze with powdered sugar, lemon juice and warm water. Start with about 4 cups of powdered sugar, and about 1/3 cup of lemon juice (this helps it from being so painfully “straight-sugar” sweet. Then, add hot water very slowly, blending thoroughly with a wire whisk.
The easiest thing to do is to brush the tops of the cookies with a little bit of water or milk, using just enough to dampen the cookie dough and no more. This will help the sprinkles stick and won’t change the finished appearance of the cookie when you’re done baking.
Decorate cookies, cupcakes, and cakes with icing or frosting first, and then sprinkle with sanding sugar. To add sparkle to muffins and scones, sprinkle the sanding sugar over the tops just before baking. The sugar will stick to the dough, but won’t melt during baking, so the baked goods emerge warm and sparkling.
Bake for 11-12 minutes, until lightly browned around the edges. Make sure you rotate the baking sheet halfway through bake time. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before decorating.