International Dot Day Custom Cookies
September 15th is International Dot Day – a day to celebrate creativity, courage and collaboration inspired by Peter H Reynold’s Children’s Book “The Dot”.
I was first introduced to “The Dot” at my son’s co-op and was instantly inspired. Like Vashti, I too suffer with feeling like I am not creative enough and get easily discouraged when I have nothing to fill my page.
When I found out that International Dot Day was a thing I knew I needed to celebrate with some custom cookies. And honestly what a great set for a beginner to start with. “The Dot” is all about having no rules – just start with something simple and see where it takes you – there is no such thing as a mistake because there are no expectations.
I found inspiration directly from the illustrations throughout “The Dot”. Follow along as I show you step by step how to create these designs in your own home. And if your cookies don’t turn out exactly like mine? That’s great! Start with me and see where the inspiration takes you!
Gather Supplies
Bake your cookies and get your icing ready! I used 5 medium sized cookie cutters and 1 mini sized (cookie cutters I used are linked at the end of this post). The amount to prepare depends on how many people who want to share your treats with!
I used 8 different colors:
- White – outline and flood consistency. (This was my most used color so I made a lot)
- Black – outline consistency.
- Red – outline and flood concistency.
- Orange – outline and flood consistency.
- Yellow/ Gold – outline consistency. (This will be painted gold, if you want to cut corners and use white instead – no shame).
- Green – outline and flood consistency.
- Purple – outline and flood consistency.
- Blue – outline and flood consistency.
Along with icing you need icing bags and something to keep your icing bags closed with, like this bag sealer and tape. *I like to write an “O” on my outline consistency bags to help me keep track of which bag has which consistency.*
Gold Dazzle Dust, vodka, food safe paint brush, and small dish.
Dehydrator or fan.
Damp paper towel (a few would be nice). * I like to put my opened icing bags on a damp paper towel to help keep them from drying out. Likewise, I also wipe my scribe off on a damp towel after each use to keep it clean*
Gel Food Coloring and small dish.
In addition, if you are new to decorating I recommend reading over this post to get acquainted with custom cookie tools and terms.
Let’s Start Decorating
Scalloped Frame
- Outline four scallops with gold outline consistency.
2. Next, with a food safe brush, brush the inner outline, while still keeping a ridge towards the outside, towards the inside of the cookie.
3. Continue outlining and brushing the remainder of the cookie’s border.
4. Let icing dry. Note: It does not need to be completely dry to move onto the next step but it should be dry enough that a thin outer crust is created so that the icing will not blend into the next layer.
5. Repeat steps 1 – 3 to create a second scalloped layer around the entire cookie.
6. Let the scalloped layers dry for several hours.
7. Prepare your gold Dazzle Dust by sprinkling some into a small bowl and adding a couple drops of clear alcohol – I use Vodka. Use a food safe brush to mix them together.
8. Gently paint over the golden scallops with the prepared Dazzle Dust.
9. With your white outline consistency royal icing create a circle around the middle of your scalloped cookie.
10. Fill in the circle with white flood icing.
11. Gently place a square bit of parchment over the flood icing. You can use your cookie scribe to make sure the parchment covers the whole circle.
** my husband thinks this cookie looks better without this step, I chose it to give the circle a more “paper like” look, do whatever you like best! **
12. Let the flood icing dry *completely* before gently removing the parchment. If the icing has not dried enough the parchment will take icing off with it.
13. With the parchment removed add a simple black dot with a food coloring marker. (Or you could use black icing to make the dot, I chose to use a marker because at this point the cookie had already been sitting out to dry for quite a while and I didn’t want to add anymore drying time to it.)
Multi Colored Dots
- Outline long hexagon cookie with outline consistency.
2. Use your white “flood” consistency icing to fill in the inside of your outlined hexagon.
{DO NOT LET THE ICING DRY BEFORE MOVING ONTO THE NEXT STEP}
4. With your blue “flood” icing add different sized dots randomly throughout your hexagon. {Known as “Wet on Wet” design}
5. Continue adding different colored/ sized dots into your white flooded cookie, leaving as much or as little white space as you feel creatively inclined 😉
6. Let your cookie dry. This will be a longer dry time because you don’t want your icing to crack under the weight of your food coloring pen. (Drying for 24 hours in front of a fan is recommended to secure your design, especially if sealing in a bag, or else you risk part of your design sticking to your bag. You will not need to wait the full 24 hours to move onto this next step but the longer the better.)
7. Use your food coloring pen to add random designs over multiple (or all, or none), of the dots. Try not to over think it.
Swirl Dot
- Outline square with “outline” consistency icing.
2. Fill in the outlined square with white flood icing.
3. Let dry. This is a quick dry – just 10ish minutes in front of a fan or in a dehydrator (lowest temp). *Letting it not dry completely helps lower the risk of this next step cratering.*
4. Use “outline” consistency to add a dime sized black dot to the center of your square.
5. Let dry – again not a complete dry – just enough to create a crust so that the rest of the design does not flood into your black dot. 10ish minutes in front of a fan or in a dehydrator will do the trick.
6. Swirl two – three colors of “outline” consistency around black dot – aiming to not cover back dot completely.
Painted Dot – Mini
- Outline mini circle cookie with “outline” consistency.
2. Fill in mini circle with white “flood” icing.
3. Let cookie dry – this needs to be a lengthy dry. Multiple hours at least.
4. Mix a small amount of gel food coloring to vodka – or a clear alcohol – in a small bowl. Use a food safe brush to paint a dot/ circle onto your dried mini cookie.
Dot Without a Dot
My daughter’s FAVORITE part of “The Dot” is when Vashti paints a dot by not painting a dot. They giggle every time! I knew I needed to include the design when creating this set and I am so glad I did – it’s my favorite!
- Outline elongated cookie using – you guessed it – your outline consistency.
2. Fill in your outline with white “flood” icing.
3. Dry time – short dry – just 10ish minutes in front of a fan or in your dehydrator.
4. Use your black outline icing to create a dashed dot on the side of your flooded cookie.
5. Use other outline consistency icing to create dashed lines surrounding your black dotted line. Create these streaks by adding and taking away pressure on your icing bag as you slowly go around your cookie. Leave as much or as little white space as you like.
Ringed Dot
- Outline large circle cookie with white outline icing.
2. Fill in large circle with white flood icing.
3. Quick Dry – again, ten minutes will be enough time for the icing to develop a crust and allow the next layer to sit on top of the flooded area.
4. Use orange outline icing to create a large oval over your flooded cookie.
5. Use red outline consistency to add a large dot to the inside of the orange oval.
6. Long Dry – the next step requires the flooded icing to be quite dry or else the pen will pierce through the icing.
7. Use a food coloring pen to write a dotted circle line in the middle of your dried cookie.
Time to Dry!
Now you wait! Some of your International Dot Day cookies are ready to go because you have already done your long dry time in order to use your food coloring pen. If your goal is to package your cookies they will need to dry in front of a fan for 24 hours. If your goal is to eat a delicious cookie – dive in. I love a freshly decorated cookie and having the icing melt in my mouth – actually I prefer to eat them without icing all together (soooo good).
Cookie Cutters I Use – or Recommend!
This post is not sponsored – I just love Brighton Cutters. I usually get medium sized cutters – about 3.5 inches.
Square –
Mini Circle – 2.25 inch.
{Let me know if this would be more helpful at the beginning of the post!}
You Did It!!
How did it go? Does cookie decorating seem much easier seeing the steps broken down into multiple steps? Please show me what you created! Comment below and tell me your favorite design or ways you like to celebrate International Dot Day!!
Pin It For Later!
