How to Make a 4th of July Bunting Cookie Platter

Written by Mike Tamplin • Jun 05, 2019

Seeing all the patriotic bunting banners on display for Memorial Day gave me a thought for the 4th of July. “Could I turn a bunting banner into a cookie?”

With all those pleats and folds, I wasn’t sure. I needed a way to recreate the impression of folded fabric with royal icing, while keeping it relatively easy to execute.

But I think I did it.

Here’s a fun, patriotic, and relatively easy bunting cookie platter design perfect for your next 4th of July get-together.

Bunting Platter Cookie Cutters

In the shop, you can find this bunting platter cookie cutter set.

This bunting platter cookie cutter set includes two separate pieces: a patriotic bunting cutter and a center circle cookie cutter. You can purchase both cookie cutters together, or a single piece without the circle cutter.

When arranged as a large repeated ring, as shown in the example picture, the platter measures 12 inches in diameter.

Template for the 4th of July Bunting Cookie Platter

All of the new 4th of July cookie designs has a template file you can download to help guide you through the decorating process.

Click the link below for the downloadable template PDF file.

2019 4th of July Cookie Templates

The Decorating Process

To decorate this 4th of July Bunting Cookie Platter, you will need the following suggested colors:

Navy Blue medium icing (I used Rainbow Dust Pro-Gel Navy.)
Red medium icing (I used Americolor Tulip Red.)
White medium icing (I used Americolor Bright White.)

Step 1

For those without a projector, begin by making guidelines of each of the colored sections, as shown. I made a template with template plastic from the PDF file above and used a food marker to draw the guidelines on the cookie.

Step 2

Begin by filling in alternating sections on the left side of the cookie, as shown.

The key is to only add a thin layer of royal icing to cover it smoothly. Use your piping tip to push the icing around. Let this icing set (about 15 minutes).

Step 3

Next, fill in the right side, alternating sections. However, this time add more icing than you did for the left side. Be sure your icing is around 15-seconds so it can remain in place but also look “puffy” as it dries.

Step 4

After the base layer of icing had time to dry, it’s time to add the star detail.

I made a star template and used a scribe tool to etch a star outline on the dried blue icing. Then I filled the star outline with white icing.

Step 5

Lastly, for a focal centerpiece, I used this 4th of July script cookie design.

I flooded the base layer in white icing, then used my pico projector to help hand pipe the script design.

Video Tutorial

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

The finished platter can be displayed in a few ways. One way is of a fully round platter with 12 outer pleated pieces around a center circle, as shown below.

Another way is to just do half of the design as you would normally see on display on buildings. For the center cookie, I just cut the middle circle in half before baking.