Decorate Beautiful Cookies In Record Time With This Simple Technique

While adding the frosting and sprinkles may be the most fun part of baking a batch of cookies, there is no question that it is extremely time consuming — especially with a particularly large batch. That is why some bakers have opted for a unique and little known method to save some time when preparing cookies. Instead of saving the sprinkles for when the cookies come out of the oven, try adding them beforehand.

After using a cookie cutter to shape the dough, place the cutter back on top of the raw cookie and use it as a guide to add a topping of your choice like sprinkles or sugar (however, stay away from pre-frosting to avoid a sheet of messy cookies covered in melted frosting). Then, once the cookies are baked like normal, they'll come out beautifully decorated and plate-ready for those in a hurry.

While this tip may be helpful for those who don't utilize frosting (or don't have time to frost cookies), there are also many more hacks to make the post-oven decorating much quicker and smoother.

One of the most common tips mentioned by various bakers on Reddit is to plan out each color of frosting before baking, especially if you're using food coloring to mix the colors. Not only will this save time in the decorating process, but also clear up any future confusion about how much frosting will be needed for each cookie. On top of this, far fewer bowls will need to be cleaned afterwards if the colors are thought out beforehand.

While sprinkles and various types of sugar can be baked on top of the raw cookies, frosting cannot! That is why it is so important to allow the cookies to cool (or, more efficiently, throw them in the freezer for a few minutes) before frosting the cookies. If the cookies are too warm, the frosting will melt right off. While this may be inconvenient for those looking for quick decorations including frosting, certain aspects of cookie decoration are unfortunately non-negotiable.