Hanukkah Star Cookies

I made Hanukkah Star Cookies to help celebrate the Festival of Lights at a local Jewish School.

updated from 2010

HOW TO MAKE DECORATED HANUKKAH STAR COOKIES

In this cookie decorating tutorial, I share how to make two simple Star of David Cookies.

STAR OF DAVID COOKIE CUTTER

To make Hanukkah Star Cookies, I used my cut-out sugar cookie recipe and a six-point star cookie cutter. If you don’t have a star cutter, you can make a cookie cutter template from cardstock.

ROYAL ICING

To decorate Star of David cookies I used meringue/egg white-based royal icing. If follow a vegan diet, you can use my eggless vegan royal icing recipe instead.

Royal Icing Colors and Consistencies

• In this project I used these colors and consistencies:
• Sky Blue, Royal Blue: 15-second consistency
• Ivory, Yellow, Orange: 20-second consistency
• White, Ivory: piping consistency

MENORAH STAR OF DAVID COOKIES

Outline and flood star cookies with sky blue 15-second consistency royal icing. Let the icing dry (steps 1-8).

HANUKKAH MENORAH

The traditional Hanukkah Menorah is a nine-branched candelabrum. I wanted to include a Hanukkah candlestick design on my star cookies, but I thought piping nine candlesticks was too much. Instead, I designed this cookies with a center candlestick and I think it turned out so beautiful.

First, I wanted to ensure the piped candle would be even with the star points. This step is unnecessary; however, if you are unsure where to pipe icing, it’s helpful to have a guide.

• With a piece of paper or a ruler, align to star arms and make a short line into the icing using a scribe. This line should appear no more than a light scratch (step 1).
• With 20-second consistency ivory icing pipe the candlestick and smooth icing with a scribe (steps 2-4).
• Then, use a fine tip black edible marker to draw a candle wick (steps 5-6).

Flame is super easy to make. Pipe a small teardrop shape with yellow icing of 20-second consistency (steps 1-2). Immediately pipe a small dot with orange icing at the bottom of the yellow teardrop (steps 4-5). Use a tip of a scribe to drag orange icing into the yellow icing, shape icing in the point (step 6). Let icing dry for 2 hours.

SANDING SUGAR

In this next step, you need to use piping consistency white icing. Pipe two triangles (steps 1-6). After, pour white sanding sugar onto the freshly piped white lines. Lift the cookie and gently shake off the excess sugar (steps 7-8).

TIP: When you use sanding sugar or sprinkles, place a cookie onto a paper towel, coffee filter, or bead tray. They keep sprinkles and sugar from rolling over your table, and pouring them back into a bottle is easier.

EASY STAR OF DAVID COOKIES

This second design is the same as the previous one, minus the candlestick, and I used ivory/gold instead of light blue and white.

Outline and flood cookie with 15-second consistency royal icing. Use a scribe to smooth the icing and accentuate corners (steps 1-8). Let icing dry overnight.

Pipe two opposite triangles with ivory or gold royal icing of piping consistency.

Immediately after you pipe triangles, place the cookie onto a bead tray and pour gold sanding sugar onto the piped lines (steps 1-3). Carefully lift the cookie and shake off the excess sugar (steps 4-6).

TIP: I used ivory-colored icing to achieve better gold sanding sugar coverage.

I hope that with my step-by-step tutorial, you’ll be able to create beautiful cookies to celebrate Hanukkah Holiday.

• Cookie Decorating Guide
• Ultimate Guide to Cut-Out Cookies (tips, tricks, troubleshooting)
• Royal Icing Recipe
• Small Batch Royal Icing Recipe
• 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

TO MAKE STAR OF DAVID COOKIES YOU NEED

• TOOLS
• Six-point star cookie cutter
• Tipless Piping Bags
• Gel Food Colors: Sky Blue, Royal Blue, Ivory or Gold
• White Sanding Sugar
• Gold Sanding Sugar
• Fine Tip Black Edible Marker
• Scribe Tool

This post contains Amazon affiliate links that earn me a small commission, at no cost to you. I only recommend products that I use and love. Learn more about my affiliate policy here.

This cookie decorating tutorial was originally published on December 6th, 2010. On September 7th, 2022 I updated this post with new step-by-step pictures, written text and a video.