How to Make Coffee To-Go Cup Cookies

When it comes to coffee, I usually need 3 cups before noon just to get through the rest of the day. (And that’s just me on the weekends, chilling on the couch, waiting for the laundry to finish.)

As for teachers, I don’t know how they do it. I imagine it’s with a lot more coffee and pure willpower to fuel them through those hectic school days.

That’s why I thought these coffee to-go cup cookies seemed appropriate for a back-to-school gift. I bet getting these cookies, with maybe a Starbucks gift car, would “perk” up any teacher’s mood!

Coffee To-Go Cup Cookie Cutter

Recently added to the shop is this new coffee to-go cup cookie cutter design.

This cookie cutter comes in a number of different sizes. However, for this tutorial and in all the example images, I’ll be decorating the LARGE-sized cookie.

Template for the Coffee To-Go Cup Cookies

To help with the decorating process, I made a PDF template of all the designs of my 2019 Back-to-School cookie collection, including this coffee to-go cup cookie design.

Click the link below for the downloadable template PDF file.

• 2019 Back-to-School Cookie Templates

This file is 2 pages long and is rather large in data size. Just a warning, it might take a moment before the file opens in your browser.

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 Decorating Process

For these coffee cup cookies, you will need the following suggested colors:

• White piping and flood royal icing. (I used Americolor Bright White.)
• Cardboard Brown piping and flood icing. (I mixed Americolor Taupe with a touch of Americolor Warm Brown.)
• Green Flood icing. (I used Americolor Mint.)
• Black piping icing (I used Americolor Super Black.)
• Pink icing. (I used just a touch of Americolor Tulip Red.)

Step 1

For those without a projector, begin by making guidelines for each of the cup 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.

Then brush on a thin layer of black icing for the mouth. Be sure to use a paintbrush that you only use for food.

Step 2

Begin by filling in alternating sections, as shown. I added the green icing detail, then quickly added the surrounding white icing. Shake the cookie to create a smooth surface. Let this icing set for 15 minutes.

Once the icing had time to set, fill the remaining sections. I outlined a bean-shaped mouth before filling in the brown icing section. Let this icing dry for about an hour.

Step 3

Next, add the frames of the eyeglasses. I used my projector to get it just right on the cookie.

Lastly, add the eye details, tongue, and cup outlines.

Video Tutorial

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

Here are the finished cookies along side a plaque cookie (I used this icon plaque cookie cutter.) to get the message across.

For gift set ideas, these two cookies would fit nicely as a boxed set. Just a reminder, this is the LARGE-sized coffee cup cookie. The box shown below is a 5 3/8″ x 7 1/2” box from Clearbags.com.

(On the ClearBags website, use the discount code “SEMISWEET10” to get 10% off your total purchase!)

The coffee cup cookies also work great as a single cookie option as well. I wrote “teacher fuel” directly on the cup instead of a nerdy face, just to show a different way of decorating. The single boxes are these 4″ square boxes from Clearbags.com.

To help complete the look, we also added fun coffee-themed circle tags and bag toppers to the shop.

Hopefully, these coffee to-go cup cookies will lift your kid’s teacher’s spirits as the new school year begins. If coffee isn’t their thing, here are more back-to-school ideas you might consider.