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How to Make Decorated RIP Coffin Cookies

ByHani Updated on

These eerie little RIP coffin cookies are a Halloween classic, instantly adding a playful touch of fright to any dessert table.

Several cookies in as a shaped of a coffin decorated with icing, displayed on black cloth netting.

updated from 2013

RIP COFFIN COOKIES STEP-BY-STEP

In this step-by-step tutorial, I’ll show you how to decorate RIP coffin cookies with just one icing consistency and two colors (brown and gray).

Undecorated cookies along with piping bags filled with icing on a white kitchen counter.
In this tutorial, I skipped the white icing altogether!

THINGS YOU NEED

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A close-up of a cookie decorated with icing.

ROYAL ICING COLORS AND CONSISTENCIES

I used royal icing to decorate cookies. You can use standard royal icing made with egg whites (there are 3 recipes using meringue, fresh egg whites, and pasteurized egg whites in a carton recipe), vegan icing (using aquafaba), or glaze icing.

  • Brown Icing: thick consistency
  • Gray Icing: piping to a thick consistency

RIP IMPRESSION TOOL

  • To make the impression tool, you can use a set of three letters: RIP.
  • Instead of using them individually, you can secure them onto a double-layered packaging tape (steps 1-6).
  • Trim the excess rhe tape and voila, you have an impression tool you can use to create RIP in royal icing or fondant (steps 7-8).
Attaching impression letters on a tape.

CREATE ROYAL ICING WOOD PLANKS

  • Start by spreading thick-consistency brown icing across the cookie (step 1-2).
  • Use a palette knife or a spatula to spread the icing evenly (steps 3-5).
  • Then, to create wood planks, use a toothpick or a thick-style scribe tool and run the scribe through the icing in vertical lines (step 6).
  • Wipe the tip of the tool after each time you run it through the icing. Don’t allow icing to crust. Move on to the next step (step 7).
Spreading thick icing over a cookie, using a scribe tool to create wood planks.

RIP IMPRESSION

  • To create a RIP impression in royal, you have two options:
  • 1. Use a toothpick to write the letters in the soft icing – If you decide to write, be sure to use a toothpick or the pointy end of a thick bamboo stick. Wipe the tip of the toothpick after each line you make in the icing, to make sure that the letters are clearly visible.
  • 2. Use the alphabet impression tool – When using the impression tool with alphabet letters, you can use cornstarch or cocoa powder. Using cornstarch or cocoa powder helps prevent your impression tool from sticking to royal icing. It acts as a barrier between the icing, and so it leaves you with a clear impression RIP in royal icing.
  • How to use the Alphabet Impression Tool with Royal Icing
  • Dip the letters in cornstarch or cocoa powder. Cocoa powder gives a darker appearance.
  • Make sure that all three letters are evenly coated.
  • Turn the impression tool over and gently push it into the icing, and then immediately lift it up to reveal the RIP impression.
  • When using cornstarch, you will have some white powder residue on the letters. You can use a decorating bottle or a rubber air duster to remove the excess cornstarch.
  • Let the icing dry for about 2 hours before continuing with the next stenciling step.
Dipping an impression tool into a corn starch.
Impressio tool dipped in cornstarch
Making RIP impression in royal icing.
Impression tool dipped in cocoa powder

COFFIN PLAQUE

  • To create the coffin plaque, you can use a simple stencil made out of Mylar sheet. If you don’t have a Myler sheet, you can also utilize a lid from sour cream or yogurt. Cut out a small rectangle with an exacto knife, and you can use it to create the plaque on your RIP coffin cookie.
  • Position the stencil over the bottom of the cookie and spread a thin layer of thick consistency gray icing over the stencil, and then carefully lift the stencil up (steps 1-6).
Spreading a thin layer of gray icing over a small mylar stencil.
  • While the icing is soft, you can put four “nails” in the corners of the plaque.
  • To make the nails, you can use broken up silver button sprinkles. Or you can make your own sprinkles or you can use cylindrical Jimmy sprinkles. pick up a small piece of a Sprinkle using tweezers and push it down into the icing in the corner of the rectangle
Chipping a small silver round sprinkle into smaller pieces.

Pick up a small piece of a broken button sprinkles using tweezers and push it down into the icing in each corner of the rectangle (steps 1-4).

Tweezer hold a small piece of silver sprinkles pushing it into royal icing.
  • Allow the gray sign to crust for about 5 minutes.
  • Then, with a dull tool, make subtle indentations in the icing to create a hammered look – this can be a fondant shaping tool, or you can use a toothpick wrapped in food wrap (steps 1-3).
With a fondant tool making small indentations into royal icing.

PIPED WOOD PLANK WITH NAILS

  • To make the single wood plank with nails, I used a thick consistency brown icing and a basketweave piping tip #47.
  • You can see that I turned the piping tip over so the side with teeth is facing down and the smooth side is facing up.
  • Pipe a line of icing across the cookie. Clean up the edge with a palette knife (steps 1-3).
  • And with a scribe tool or a toothpick, create impression lines in icing while it’s still soft to mimic woodgrain (steps 4-5).
  • Gently push a small round silver button sprinkles into each end of the wood plank (steps 6-8).
  • Allow icign to fully dry for 5 hours.
Piping a line of icing across the cookie.

PAINT WITH EDIBLE SILVER PAINT

  • If you have edible metallic paint, you can paint the plaque with silver paint. Or you can use dry form Silver Luster Dust mixed with Everclear or Vodka and paint the plaque with this mixture, using a food-only paintbrush (steps 1-5).
Painting gray icing with silver edible paint.

WEATHERED ICING LOOK WITH PETAL DUST

  • You can create a weathered look by using chocolate or brown edible pedal dust and a dry food-only paintbrush.
  • Sparingly apply the dust on the letters, around the wood plank with nails, and across the cookie to achieve the weathered look.
  • Below, you can see what it looks like when applied to a RIP coffin cookie, where the rest in peace impression was made using cornstarch and cocoa powder.
  • You can choose which one you prefer.
Using brown edible petal dust to shade dry icing.
RIP impression made using cornstarch
Dusting dry icing with brown edible dust.
RIP impression made using cocoa powder

WRITE WITH EDIBLE MARKER

And lastly, put a finishing touch on RIP coffin cookie! Use a black edible marker and write the year on the gray-silver plaque.

Writing on icing with edible marker.

I’ve seen RIP coffin cookies surface usually around October Halloween festivities, but also for cheeky occasions like “RIP birthdays” (a milestone celebration that pokes fun at getting older).

A close-up of a cookie decorated with icing.

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FROM THE PAST

Back in 2013, I decorated coffin cookies with marshmallow fondant. I used a woodgrain impression mat to achieve the textured look.

Cookies decorated with fondant.

MORE HALLOWEEN RECIPE IDEAS

COOKIE DECORATING TOOLBOX

I published this cookie decorating tutorial on October 6, 2013. On August 19, 2025, I updated this tutorial with new step-by-step photos, written instructions, and a video tutorial.

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