How to Make Hot Dog and Hamburger Sugar Cookies
Happy National Hot Dog Day! Or is it Happy National Hamburger Day? July 23rd is the official National Hot Dog day, but National Hamburger has three different dates listed for celebrating. It’s an unofficial holiday and it’s observed on May 28, July 28, and December 21st. I don’t know which is the correct day to celebrate beautiful burgers, but I’m going to choose to celebrate it on July 28th. Makes sense since National French Fry Day and National Hot Dog Day are also in July. I mean all three foods go together so I think their holidays should be together, don’t you?
Hot dogs and hamburgers are a great quick meal we all love. I can’t think of a better way to celebrate than making a few sugar cookies to share with those we love. Hot dogs and hamburgers and the people we love sound like an amazing celebration! So let’s celebrate by making sugar cookies that resemble some of our favorite foods!
Supply List for Hot Dog and Hamburger Sugar Cookies:
(may contain affiliate links)
Recipes:
Cookie Cutters:
- Hamburger Cookie Cutter- almost any hamburger cookie cutter will work
- Hot Dog Cookie Cutter- almost any hot dog cookie cutter will work.
Royal Icing Colors:
(The colors listed below are all food gel colors )
- Ivory- Americolor Ivory and a touch of Americolor Chocolate Brown– outline and flood consistencies for the Hot Dog and Hamburger Buns
- Hamburger Bun is Americolor Chocolate Brown.
- Cheese on the Hamburger and the Mustard on the Hot Dog is Americolor Lemon Yellow and a touch of Americolor Gold
- Hot Dog Weenie Color is 4 Parts of Americolor Chocolate Brown, 1 drop of Americolor Super Red and 2 drops of Americolor Terra-cotta
- Lettuce is Americolor Electric Green with a touch of Americolor Leaf Green
- Tomato is Americolor Tulip Red
Tools:
- Leaf tip #352 for the lettuce on the hamburger. Of if you’re one of those amazing talented decorators all you need to do is cut a ‘v’ in the end of your tipless decorating bag.
- Turkey Lacer
- Tipless decorating bags from Truly Mad Plastic, Flour Box Bakery, or The Cookie Countess
- Detail paintbrush
Optional:
- Cookie Turntable Swivel for Cookies and the Mini Mat
- Food-Safe Marker
- Fan to dry your cookies
- A few sprinkles for the top of your hamburger bun. Don’t stress over this part because you can use a few tan and yellow sprinkles to make it look like a real hamburger bun. Or you can make some thick light ivory colored royal icing and pipe a few dots or teardrop shapes on the top of your bun to look like sesame seeds. The most important part is to have fun with it!
Airbrush System:
Airbrush Colors:
(The Cookie Countess Edible Airbrush Colors)
How to Make Hot Dog and Hamburger Sugar Cookies Video:
I hope you enjoy the video!
Outline & Flood:
How many hamburger cookie cutters do you have? Somehow I’ve collected three different cutters through the years, but the good thing is you can pretty much follow one tutorial to decorate them all. It’s a basic design that will work well with all of them so don’t stress. Just have fun making a sugar cookie hamburger.
Royal Icing Color:
- Begin by making some ivory colored royal icing. There are probably a million ways to make an ivory-colored icing so mix up the ivory color of your choice. For me, Americolor Ivory Food Gel with a very small amount of Americolor Chocolate Brown is how I’ve been making ivory for years, but you do what works for you.
Outline and Flood:
- Draw the buns with a food-safe marker.
- Outline the top and bottom part of the bun and let it dry for a few minutes before you start to flood those areas. Letting the outline dry for a few minutes will help hold the flood icing in place so it doesn’t fall off the side of the cookie as it settles.
- Also, if you have trouble with your royal icing sinking as it dries, pipe a few lines with the thicker outline icing right before you start to flood so it will help support the icing and make it look nice and smooth after it dries.
Sprinkles:
- While the royal icing on the top of the hamburger bun is wet, add a few sprinkles. If you don’t have sprinkles wait until the icing dries and airbrush or paint the top. Then, pipe a few teardrop shapes to resemble those sesame seeds we all love. Be sure to wait until after you airbrush the top so the seeds aren’t the same color as the bun when you’re finished decorating.
- Did I forget to mention to use a turkey lacer or a scribe tool to pop any air bubbles and help smooth the icing into place as soon as you finish flooding? Sorry about that.
Airbrush:
- Airbrushing will help make your burger cookies resemble a real burger even if you only flood the bun.
- Mix a little yellow airbrush color with a tiny drop of brown and outline the edge of the top and bottom buns. Your royal icing doesn’t have to be completely dry before you do this step but it is easier once the top of the icing has formed a crust.
- If you don’t have an airbrush gun you can mix a little yellow and brown food gel color with water and paint the edges to get that nice shadow we’re trying to achieve.
- Let your royal icing dry completely before you paint it or it might crack or sink.
- Also, be careful with the amount of water you add to the icing. Touching the wet brush to a paper towel before you add the color to your cookie will help keep your icing nice and firm.
Where’s the BEEF?
I’m really showing my age here because in the early 80’s there was a Wendy’s commercial with an older lady standing at the counter yelling, “Where’s the BEEF?” It was hilarious!
Anyway, back to the sugar cookies.
- Outline and flood an oval above the bottom bun on the burger with brown royal icing.
- Airbrush it with brown edible airbrush color. I used The Cookie Countess Totally Brown Airbrush Color and I love it!
Did You Say Cheeseburger?
Would you like cheese on your burger?
- If you’d like cheese on your burger you can add a large narrow ‘v’ shape with yellow royal icing. Just pipe it on the bun and you’re done with the cheesy part!
What Would You Like On Your Hamburger?
- It’s time for the topping so pipe a tomato with red royal icing.
- Let the icing dry for a few minutes and then add the lettuce by using green royal icing and a leaf tip. Pipe a squiggly line on the cheese just below the tomato. If your lettuce covers some of the tomatoes that will look wonderful so go for it!
- Add the grill marks to the bun by painting lines with brown food gel or edible brown airbrush color.
Hot Dog Sugar Cookies:
- Begin by drawing the bun on the hot dog cookies with a food-safe marker.
- Outline and flood the hot dog buns.
- Use a turkey lacer to pop any air bubbles and to help smooth the royal icing.
- Let the icing dry for a few minutes before you add the airbrush color.
- This is the same airbrush color mixture we used on the hamburger buns. Add a little Totally Brown with the Sunshine Yellow and airbrush the edges of the hot dog bun.
- Next, outline and flood the hot dog weenie.
- I’m not sure about you, but I think this color is pretty darn close to a real hot dog weenie. If you want to make it mix 4 Parts of Americolor Chocolate Brown, 1 drop of Americolor Super Red and 2 drops of Americolor Terra-cotta.
- Airbrush with Totally Brown Edible Airbrush Color and stand back! Doesn’t that look like a real hot dog? Let’s add a little mustard with the yellow royal icing to finish it off.
You’ve got yourself a fun set of sugar cookies that are ready for a BBQ, Father’s Day, or any kind of fun celebration. Oh yeah, if you want to make the french fries to go with it you can find my How to Make Simple French Fry Cookies here. I hope you all have a great National French Fry, Hot Dog, and Hamburger celebration! While you’re at it, eat a sugar cookie or two!
Bear hugs,
