Train Cookies-Tutorial and How to Video

This summer a friend asked me to make some cookies she could give away as her wedding favors. It’s a huge honor to be involved in helping make her big day special so I jumped at the chance. Since the reception was held at the historical Southern Depot (a well-known landmark in Downtown Knoxville) she requested train cookies.

As I talked to her, all I could think about was the amazing vintage building with the beautiful brick walls, gorgeous wood floors, and the view of the trains outside. After she told me the dates and the number of guests she was planning on having I started to get a little nervous. How in the world was I going to make train cookies that would compliment her wedding and the historical Southern Depot?

How to Make Vintage Train Cookies with How to Video and Step by Step Tutorial | The Bearfoot Baker

 

Planes, trains, and automobile cookies are fun to make but, I’ve always made them look like they belong at a baby shower. I never thought about making them use as wedding favors or to be handed out in an actual historical train depot. I didn’t want to disappoint the bride so I grabbed my cookie cutters and began sketching out designs. No matter what I drew it looked like it should come with a rattler and a pacifier.

It was time to walk away and let my brain rest for a while so I might hopefully come up with a good design that would complement the Southern Depot and fit the theme of the reception. Then the idea hit me. I could make vintage train cookies with a royal icing rose in the center and use a stamp to make them look like they belonged in a historical train depot. That’s it! Now it was time to get to work.

Supply List:
(may contain affiliate links)

Recipes:

Icing Color:

  • Light Gray-15 Second Royal Icing

Tools:

  • Airbrush System with Black AmeriMist Color
  • Stamp
  • Couplers
  • Piping Bags
  • #2 Decorating tip
  • #352 Decorating tip
  • Royal Icing Roses

How to Make Vintage Train Cookies:

In case you want to see this little old vintage train come to life, here’s a video for you to enjoy!

Outline and flood:

How to Make Rustic Train Cookies by Using a Stamp | The Bearfoot Baker

  • Begin by making a batch of your favorite roll-out cookies. Chocolate works well if you want to achieve a vintage look.
  • Next, make a batch of royal icing.
  • Tint white icing with a drop of black icing. Use one drop at a time until you get the gray you want.
  • Outline the cookies by using a #2 decorating tip.

How to Make Rustic Train Cookies with a How to Video | The Bearfoot Baker

  • Next, flood the cookies and keep in mind, if your cutters are a little on the larger side, you might want to use a larger decorating tip like a #2.5 or a #3 decorating tip.
  • Let the train cookies dry overnight.

Airbrush:

How to Make Rustic Train Cookies | The Bearfoot Baker

  • With Super Black AmeriMist Color, outline the edge of the train cookies and then spray a little color on the surface of the cookie. If you hold the airbrush gun about 6-8 inches away from the top of the cookie, you will cover it with a nice even mist that will make a great base for the letters on the stamp. This will also help blend the surface of the cookies with the airbrush color on the side.

Stamp:

How to Make Vintage Train Cookies by Using a Stamp | The Bearfoot Baker

  • I bought this stamp at Hobby Lobby for the sole purpose of using it on these cookies. Normally use the clear stamps but couldn’t find one with the look I wanted. I decided to use this one and I really liked the way it turned out.

Vintage Train Cookies | The Bearfoot Baker

If you want more information on how to stamp on a cookie you can check out my How to Stamp on a cookie tutorial.

After I made that tutorial I received an email from Belleissimo Cookies, who is an amazing decorator, where she shared a link to a video she made explaining how to stamp on a cookie with your airbrush system. It has been a while since she shared it but, I finally get to share her method with you. I fell in love with it as soon as I stamped the first cookie. It’s easy and almost mess-free! Check out her video here and look at all her other amazing tutorials and videos she has created for us. Thanks for the great info Belle and for sharing your talents with us!

  • Once you’ve picked out the stamp you want to use, spray the back with airbrush color.

Press it good!

How to Make Train Cookies with Video | The Bearfoot Baker

  • Then place it on your cookie to transfer the pattern. I know I mentioned it before but be sure the royal icing on the cookie is dry before you do this step or it can destroy your design.
  • Gently press the stamp on the cookie and pick the stamp straight up so you don’t smear the pattern.

How to Make Simple Train Cookies | The Bearfoot Baker

  • I know what your thinking. Your wondering why the cookies above don’t have a perfect stamp that covers all of the cookies. Right? I didn’t press the stamp very hard so it wouldn’t stamp the entire cookie. I thought the look was much more vintage if the writing was broken instead of a solid design. If you want your cookie covered completely, go for it. It’s your cookie and you should make it the way you want.

Time for a flower:

How to Make Train Cookies | The Bearfoot Baker

  • Once all the cookies have been stamped, apply a royal icing rose. I know I don’t have a royal icing rose tutorial on my blog right now but it’s coming soon. Until then, you can see a royal icing rose tutorial here.
  • Place a little royal icing on the center of the cookie and add the rose.

Now add a few leaves:

Easy Train Cookies with a How to Video | The Bearfoot Baker

  • With tip #352, also known as the leaf tip, pipe a few leaves around the rose. Three seem to work well with the size of these cookies.

Add shadows to the flower:

Simple Train Cookie Tutorial | The Bearfoot Baker

  • Since the train is vintage you can use a little petal dust to make the rose look a little more rustic.

How to Make Vintage Train Cookies with How to Video and Step by Step Tutorial | The Bearfoot Baker

So there you have it. Vintage train cookies that can be used as wedding favors. This cookie really took me out of my comfort zone but, it also taught me a lot. It taught me to look at cookie cutters from a different perspective. I don’t see train cookie cutters as just baby shower cookies or cookies for kid’s birthday parties because now I know they can be used for much more.

Do you ever look at your cookie cutters to see different designs? If so, is there a cutter you need to see with a different perspective? I’d love to hear about it.

Bear hugs,

Lisa