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Let me show you how to make graduation hat cookies. You don’t have to order your cookies you can make them yourself! So if you know a preschool, Kindergarten, high school, or college graduate you’re in luck these sugar cookies will be a perfect addition to your celebrations.
Graduation Hat candies are another fun treat for a grad party. Of course, you will need a graduation card for the grad. These cards are printable and have a clever way to include some cash! We made a DIY lighted marquee sign for our party. Here are more graduation ideas.
Sugar Cookie Decorating Tips and Resources
- sugar cookies and royal icing recipes and tips and tricks
- graduation cookie cutters can be found at craft stores or baking supply stores
- If you want to put your cookies on a stick, roll them out nice and thick, cut them out, then put them on your pan. Chill them on the pan for about 20 min or so. Take them out and insert the stick, centered in the thickness of the cookie. Chilling them will keep them from distorting when you put the stick in.
- Put a toothpick in the top of the frosting squeeze bottles to keep them from getting .clogged and dried out. Remember how fast royal icing dries.
- Bubbles in your frosting are the enemy to smooth cookies. After you fill a cookie with royal icing, you will notice slight bumps. Take a toothpick and pop em! But do this right away! As it starts to dry, it will leave a mark that won’t smooth over.
Graduation Cap Cookies Supplies
- sugar cookie dough
- rolling pin
- oven
- baking sheets
- graduation cap cookie cutter
- royal icing
- food coloring
- squeeze bottles
- pastry tips (#2 and #3)
How to decorate Graduation Hat Sugar Cookies
First thin royal icing out with a little water to make different consistencies. We are going to need a stiff (30 second or more) and thin consistency (about 8 seconds) in the same color. The stiff icing is used for piping and the thin icing for flooding. This frosting can be put is pastry bags or squeeze bottles. I love using squeeze bottles because, for me, they are really manageable.
You start by outlining your “hat” with the thicker icing.
Then immediately “fill” with the thinner consistency icing. You can use the tip of the bottle to spread it around. Then, if you see any air bubbles, pop them with a toothpick!
This layer of frosting will take about 12 hours to dry completely, but you can frost your detail on top after about 2 hours. You will use the same, thick consistency frosting to outline the hat. When you let the base layer dry, then frost on top, it creates dimension.
You will use the thick consistency icing to make the tassel. I do a few lines, then let it dry, then a few more lines, etc. Then you will make one more dot of color as the button that holds the tassel on.
You can see the final product here. If you notice a little variegation in the blue, it is because dark colors of royal icing can often take 24 hours to reach their full color. Patience is a virtue in cookie making!
If you draw a few lines, then come back to it here and there, you will get a nice 3D effect with your tassel. Drying between lines is the key to tassel success! Look at those awesome graduation cap cookies.
Cellophane and ribbon make everything better, so why not wrap them up for a little favor? I made these tags for my cookie gifts and you can download them too!
Here are graduation tags for you to use!
Thanks so much to Cindy for letting me share some cookie love with you today! You are welcome to check out my cookies and other DIY goodies on over on beeinourbonnet.com anytime!
Adam Curley says
I tried my best to recreate these but they did not come out as nearly as pretty as yours!
Cindy says
Adam, I bet they looked great!
Rosie says
Awesome cookie tutorial. Thanks a million!!!!
Clarisse says
Great tutorial and I love the tassel tips thanks. Super cute
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debbie jacobson says
where do i get the bottles. can find large ones but not small ones.
debbie jacobson says
still unable to download graduation tags. could really use them by the weekend. Do u know when this will be fixed?
Ashalia says
Love these and love “BEE in our Bonnet”! 🙂
Debra Kapellakis says
The tassles look almost real!
Sharon says
Would love to print the “go grad” tags, but the link didn’t work…please help! (the link goes to “an apple for the teacher” instead. Thank you!
cindylouh says
Working on the printable, we will get it fixed.
Ruth S. says
The link to download the graduation tags connected to an apple for the teacher tag instead.