Hey Besties! I’ve been receiving an influx of requests for this, so I busted out my cookie airbrush for you! We’ll cover the basics here and you can be airbrushing your own cookies in no time. Airbrushing can be fabulous for adding patterns, designs and all kinds of character to your cookies, cakes and other baked treats! And fortunately, stencils and stencil holders serve dual purpose for both scraping royal icing or airbrushing. So there is a lot of versatility and options in creating amazing designs. Let’s jump in!
Delicious cookie canvas
For these sweet Valentine designs, I used my red velvet cutout cookie recipe which is SO popular during Valentines and Christmas due to the beautiful color! The color contrast between the cookie and icing is so fun to play with! And the flavor? It’s really popular among fellow cookiers and customers for good reason! Like all of my cutout cookie recipes, no chilling is needed, so these are super simple, quick and fun to make!
My go-to Royal Icing Recipe
If you have a royal icing recipe you love, I love that for you! But if you need a fabulous one or if your current recipe is giving you any grief, THIS walks you through exactly how I make my icing. Even veteran cookiers are shocked at the consistency, flavor and results with this recipe. Not all royal icing is the same and this recipe proves that!
cookie airbrushing Supplies
If you’ve been here before, you might know that I don’t use my airbrush often, but I sure am glad I have it for certain kinds of designs! It really just depends on your style and the designs you like to make. I do love it for fun patterns, backgrounds and ombre effects. And it is a super simple way to turn a basic flooded cookie into something beautiful!

Cookie Airbrushes I Recommend!
I have a couple different airbrushes and honestly recommend both. THIS one is probably what I reach for most often. It’s great quality and they have wonderful customer service should you ever need anything. I also have a separate 0.5 size gun, which you can find HERE which works beautifully with this airbrush system for airbrushing metallics. Metallics are slightly thicker than non-metallic colors and can quickly clog a standard 0.4 size airbrush gun.
As a slightly cheaper option, THIS is the other airbrush system I have and is a very popular model among cookiers. It’s a fabulous price point, including the set of colors. I’ve used it for years and haven’t ever had any issues with it. That said, I do always clean my airbrush after each use. All I do is fill the reservoir with water and spray my airbrush until it’s spraying straight water. Simple enough!
Airbrush Colors I use!
I always use colors meant to for airbrushing. Some cookiers thin their gel colors for airbrushing, but I have found that messing with gel colors too much can be a headache when it comes to drying times. It’s just simpler to buy airbrush colors and know I’m going to get great results. The U.S. Bake Supply airbrush system comes with colors and there is a larger assortment of colors HERE as well.
I also love using Cookie Countess airbrush colors, which you can find HERE.
Stencil Holder I LOVE!
If you’re going to use stencils with your airbrush, you’re definitely going to want a stencil holder. I use the same stencil holder for my airbrushing that I use for scraping royal icing with stencils. Love a tool that pulls double duty!
THIS is the stencil holder I use and LOVE. You can see how I use this when scraping royal icing for all kinds of other cookie designs HERE. I will admit, it is more expensive than a basic stencil holder, but it’s worth its weight in gold. It has features that basic stencil holders don’t and that is why it costs more. The biggest advantage this holder has is the hinged design. Regardless of whether you’re airbrushing or scraping royal icing, you can see your results on your cookie and continue working if needed. Basic stencil holders don’t allow for this and once you move the stencil holder to see your cookie, it can be very difficult (sometimes impossible) to line it back up. I can’t imagine not having this feature, especially when first starting to use stencils. You’ll see this feature in action in the demo video as well.
But I love to give you options! If you want a basic stencil holder that does the job of holding a stencil in place, THIS one will do just that! No bells or whistles, but that may be just what you need!
Airbrushing Screen
To achieve the cleanest, crispest airbrushed designs, you’ll want to use a screen on top of your stencil, as you’ll see in the demo video. Without a screen, your designs will be prone to overspray and muddled designs. I use THIS screen with my stencil holder and it works just fine for my needs.
The best part – stencils!!
There are literally endless design options for stencils! I always encourage cookiers to go with super affordable bundles like THESE to start your collection. While there are many different shops that offer super cute designs for stencils, they are usually at least $5 each. So do yourself a favor and get a few bundles in different themes to quickly grow a collection you can use for years. And you can supplement with specific designs from other shops or learn to make your own stencils! I’m actually using stencils from the heart bundle in today’s demo video! I watch out for your bank account like I watch out for mine, Bestie, and those bundles can save you a boatload.
Cookie Airbrushing Tips
Some helpful tips for your airbrushing journey!
- If I’m using a stencil, I always wait for my flood to be completely dried before using a stencil or any pressure on my icing.
- If you are freehand airbrushing (no stencil), you can airbrush once your icing has crusted. Move and treat with care so as not to mess up your icing.
- Light, even brushstrokes are the name of the game with airbrushing. If you’re spraying too close to your cookie or too heavy, you’ll get splattering or pooling of color. Work in layers to build the color lightly.
- Airbrushing does not take very long to dry. I put my cookies in the dehydrator to speed up the drying process. Airbrushing along does not need a full overnight to dry.
- I personally don’t dust my cookiers with cornstarch and haven’t been given a reason to start, but many cookiers do. Feel free to dust your cookies with cornstarch before bagging if you’re concerned about bleeding or if you’re in a very humid environment.
- You can absolutely free cookies that have been airbrushed. You can follow the same guidance as freezing decorated cookies in the guide HERE.
- Know that you will need to periodically wash off your stencil and screen when airbrushing.
Let’s Airbrush!
You can find a quick demo video HERE where I airbrushed a few sweet Valentines designs. You’ll see the stencil holder in action, as well as the screen and exactly how this all works together! I hope this is helpful for you to see how basic airbrushing can really add character to your cookies!
Share your work and follow along!
I hope this blog post all about cookie airbrushing has been helpful for you to get started! And in case you don’t already know, we have a community of thousands of Besties who would LOVE to see your work! Join our group here to get help, ask questions and share your cookie journey!
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