How to Decorate a Graduation Cap and Gown Cookie Platter with Royal Icing

Celebrate your graduate with a cookie platter that’s just as sweet as their big achievement! In this tutorial, I’ll walk you step-by-step through decorating a graduation-themed cookie platter using royal icing.

This design features simple and classic grad caps and gowns arranged around a centerpiece cookie that reads “Congrats Grad,” making it perfect for parties, gifts, or dessert tables. Whether you’re a beginner or experienced decorator, you’ll find this design approachable and fun to recreate. Plus, you can find the exact cookie cutters and stencil used for this set right in our shop to make decorating even easier!

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Graduation Cap & Gown Platter Cookie Cutters

This Graduation Cap & Gown Platter cookie cutter set includes a grad cap cookie cutter, a grad gown cookie cutter, and a center circle cutter. You can purchase cookie cutters together as a 3-piece set, or as a 2-piece cutter set without the center circle.

(This is the same circle cutter used in all my platter sets, like this Wild Flower Cookie Platter, Gardening Cookie Platter, and Easter Bunny & Chick Cookie Platter, etc.)

There are two sizes available. When arranged as a platter, as shown in the example picture, the platter measures:

LARGE- 12 inches in diameter.

SMALL- 9 inches in diameter.

For this tutorial, I'll be decorating the LARGE size.

Template for the Graduation Cookie Platter

To help with the decorating process, I made a PDF template of graduation cookie platter design.

You can download all the 2025 platter cookie templates HERE.

If you have a Kopykake or Pico projector, just print it out (or pull it up on your mobile device) and you are good to go. For those without a projector, follow the suggested steps below by tracing the design onto the cookie with an edible food marker.

The Cookie Decorating Process

Decorating cookies always starts with a good royal icing recipe. This is my tried and true royal icing recipe that I always use.

For this graduation cookie platter, you will need the following suggested colors:

• Dark Blue icing (I mixed Americolor Royal Blue with Americolor Super Black.)
• Gold Yellow icing (I used Americolor Egg Yellow.)
• White icing (I used Americolor Bright White.)

Step 1

For the gown cookie, begin by first adding thick lines for where the folds of the gown would be, as shown. Let this icing set for about 15 minutes.

Then flood around the lines and fill the entire cookie with blue icing.

Step 2

Finish this gown by adding the gold details like the collar and the cuffs.

Step 3

For the grad cap cookie, begin by first filling in the lower cap section. Let that icing set.

Then fill in the top cap section and the lower part of the tassel.

Step 4

Next, add the button at the top of the cap and fill in the ball of the tassel.

Lastly, add the string line for the tassel.

Step 5

For the final, center message cookie, begin by flooding the entire cookie with white icing. Let this icing dry completely.

In the shop is a this Congrats Grad cookie stencil you can use for the center message. Just swipe thick white royal icing over it to apply it to the cookie. The video below better illustrates how I did this.

Graduation Cap & Gown Cookie Platter Video Tutorial

The steps above are summarized in this time-lapsed video I put together below.

Here's the final graduation cap and gown cookie platter all assembled. To create this entire platter required 11 cookies-- 5 grad cap cookies, 5 grad gown cookies, and 1 center circle cookie.

This is the large, 12" version. For the tray it's on, I like to use the 12" pizza pans from Dollar Tree. They are cheap and sturdy for transporting around.

One of the best things about this graduation platter design is how easy it is to customize! If you want a more simplified look, try decorating all grad caps instead of mixing caps and gowns. This creates a clean, cohesive design and can be a great option if you’re short on time.

Another fun option is to build out your centerpiece for extra impact. Instead of just one “Congrats Grad” cookie, consider adding a couple more cookies in the center that say “Congrats” and “Grad 2026.” This layered look adds more visual interest to your platter and makes it feel even more celebratory—perfect for larger parties or when you want your cookies to really stand out on the dessert table.