Decorated Panda Cookies

Panda cookies make fantastic party favors or thoughtful gifts to share with friends and your loved ones. Today I’ll show you, step-by-step, how to create these charming fluffy black and white bear cookies at home. Let’s go!

Decorated cookies displayed on a wood board.

updated from 2012

DECORATED PANDA COOKIES STEP-BY-STEP

Cookie Decorating Guide
Beginner’s Guide To Cookie Decorating
Ultimate Guide to Cut-Out Cookies (tips, tricks, troubleshooting)
Royal Icing Recipe
Small Batch Royal Icing Recipe
Cookie Icing Recipes (includes vegan royal icing, glaze, fondant)
Guide To Royal Icing Consistencies with Visual Help(what is stiff, flood icing, etc.)
How To Freeze Royal Icing
How To Make Royal Icing Transfers
Royal Icing FAQ ( for example: how to make black icing, color bleeding, storage, and more)
How To Make a Cookie Cutter Template
Ultimate Guide To Cookie Decorating Tools

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THINGS YOU NEED

Bear head cookie cutter
Nose and Panda Decorating Template
Gel Food Coloring: black, green, yellow, pink
Dark Pink Color Dust/Petal Dust
Gray Petal Dust (optional)
Food Only Paintbrushes
Edible Markers
Tipless Piping Bags
Scribe Tool

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Animal face decorated cookies with royal icing.

BAKE COOKIES

Use your favorite cut-out cookie recipes to prepare the cookies. Or you can use one of these tested cut-out cookie recipes. To cut out cookies use a bear shape head cutter or if you don’t have a specific cutter, you can make your shape using 2 round cookie cutters. Piece the head shape together, using 3-inch round cutter for the face and about 3/4 inch for the ears.

ROYAL ICING COLORS AND CONSISTENCIES

Black Icing: 20-25 second consistency (eyes, ears), piping consistency (eye outline)
White Icing: 20-25 second consistency (eyes), 15 second consistency (face), medium thick consistency (white daisies)
Pink Icing: 15 second consistency
Light and Dark Green Icing: medium consistency (leaves, headband)
Yellow Icing: 25-second consistency

Sugar cookies and piping bags filled with royal icing.

DECORATE PANDA COOKIES

Start by tracing the eye outlines onto the cookies. I used brown edible marker and my handy cardstock template (steps 1-2).

Cardstock template on a cookie, hand holding a marker tracing the eye outline onto a cookie.

HOW TO PIPE PANDA EYE WITH ROYAL ICING

Now get ready to make the eyes. Outline and fill the oval shape with black icing (20-25 seconds), and immediately pipe a large white dot near the top edge (steps 1- 3). Then, change the piping bag and pipe another black dot in the middle of the white dot (step 4). Finish the eye design by piping two reflection dots, one larger than the other (step 5). And after you are done with the first eye, decorate the second eye (steps 7-8).

Piping eyes with royal icing on a cookie.

DECORATE PANDA BEAR HEAD

There is no need to wait for the eyes to crust, you can outline and flood the cookie with white icing (15-seconds) immediately. Outline the cookie and then squeeze the piping bag a little more and pipe icing around the eyes and fill the area with icing (steps 1-3). Move the icing with the scribe and smooth out any dimples and spikes (steps 4-5). Then if using, pipe the pink cheeks – 2 large pink dots on the sides, by the bottom of the eyes (steps 6-8).

A hand holding a piping bag with royal icing, flooding a cookie with white icing.

Right after, you can outline and flood the ears with black icing (20-25 second consistency (steps 1-6). Let the icing dry.

Hand holding a piping bag and flooding the ear of the animal head cookie.

HOW TO MAKE PINK CHEEKS

To enhance the cheeks I decided to use deep pink color dust/petal dust. Apply a small amount of dry dust onto the cheeks with a dry food-only paintbrush (steps 1-3). Spread the dust with a paintbrush using circular motion (steps 3-4). To lift residue dust, use an empty decorating bottle and blow the dust away with air (steps 5-6).

Paintbrush dusting cookie with pink petal dust.

ROYAL ICING TRANSFERS-MAKE PANDA NOSES

To make the panda noses, I used a nose transfer sheet (view tools section at the top of the page for the template). Place the transfer sheet into a clear smooth protector sheet (step 1). To prevent cratering, pipe a squiggly line across the middle of each nose and let it crust for 10 minutes (steps 2-3). Then outline and fill each nose with white icing (20-seconds), and let dry on a flat surface overnight (steps 4-8).

Royal icing animal nose transfers on an acetate sheet.

Now, with black icing 20-25 second consistency, pipe the mouth and heart-shaped nose (steps 1-4). Pipe a small white reflection line onto the heart with 20-second white icing (step 5). Let dry for 2 hours.

And finally, shade the outer edge with gray color dust/petal dust. This is an optional step. Feel free to skip it. Dust the outer edge of each nose with dark dust. Run a dry food-only paintbrush around the edge. Remove excess dust with a decorating bottle (steps 1-8).

Paintbrush dipped in gray petal dust, shading the edge of the royal icing nose transfers.

Carefully remove noses from the acetate (steps 1-2). Learn more about Royal Icing Transfers.

Hand removing a royal icing transfer from the acetate sheet.

ATTACH NOSE TRANSFER

Outline each eye with piping consistency icing (steps 1-3). Pipe white icing onto the back of the nose and attach the nose between the eyes (steps 4-8).

Hand is holding royal icing transfer, gluing it onto a cookie.

HOW MAKE A LEAFED HEADBAND

To pipe the leaves, I used piping/medium consistency icing. Don’t use icing that is too runny. First, prepare piping bags. Cut the tip of the piping bag at an angle, as shown in the picture below (steps 1-3).

Hand is holding scissors, cutting a piping bag.

Hold the piping bag with the longer end facing up, pipe the stem (step 1). Then pipe the leaves – gently squeeze the piping bag and slowly pull away to pipe a leaf. Repeat. Pipe light green and dark green stems with leaves (steps 2-8).

Piping green headbands onto a head of animal a cookie.

To make the daisies, use thicker white icing that doesn’t spread and holds its shape. Pipe 5-6 teardrop shapes connected in the middle (steps 1-4). Then add a dot of yellow (25-second icing) to the center of the flower.

MORE ANIMAL DECORATED COOKIES

Panda bear cookies are mainly associated with baby showers and birthday parties, but with a creative spark they can be used at weddings and Valentine’s day.

PANDA COOKIES FROM THE PAST

Bellow are the pictures of panda cookies I created in the past.

Decorated panda and bamboo cookies on a light gray plate.

Cookies on a stick are perfect for cake decorating. You can use them as cake toppers – insert lollipop stick into the cake. How to make cookies on a stick/cookie pops.

Two decorated cookies with a lollipop stick inside.

This cookie decorating tutorial was published on February 13, 2012. On August 4, 2023, I updated this tutorial with new step-by-step pictures and written text, and a video.