How to Make Edible Egg Yolk Paint on Cookies

Sugar cookies are a popular Christmas treat, but you can make them year-round. You can make hearts for Valentine's Day, shamrocks for St. Patrick's Day, flowers for spring, stars for Independence Day and leaves for Fall. One way to decorate your sugar cookies is to paint them in bright colors before baking. Edible egg yolk paint is glossy and bright and makes every cookie a special occasion. It has little taste and does not add extra sugar.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Sugar cookies, rolled and cut but not baked
• Egg yolks (2 eggs for an average sugar cookie batch)
• Food coloring
• Small dishes or cups, one per color
• Clean, small paintbrushes or pastry brushes

1. Separate egg yolks from whites. Beat egg yolks well in a cup.
2. Pour a small amount of yolk into a separate cup, one for each color you wish to use.
3. Add a few drops of food coloring to each cup. Mix well. This is your edible paint.
4. Paint the cookies. For quickest results, use a pastry brush and make each cookie only one color. Or use small brushes and take more time to create detailed, multi-color designs. Leave a thin area of unpainted cookie between colors, to prevent colors from bleeding into each other.
5. Bake cookies as directed by recipe. Egg yolk paint will dry and become glossy and bright.

Tips & Warnings

• Gingerbread Man cookie cutters make lovely painted sugar cookies. Kids love to give their men shirts, pants and faces.
• Be careful not to let colors run together.
• Blue is not an easy color with egg yolk paint. Egg yolk has a natural yellow tint that blends well with yellow-based colors like orange and green, and it does not affect red. Blue, however, will often have a greenish tint.