How to Make Decorated Coffin Cookies – 13 Days of Halloween

It’s Day 13 of the 13 Days of Halloween cookie decorating tutorials! I hope you had fun decorating buttercream sugar cookies with me. For today’s tutorial, I’m making coffin cookies.

This tutorial is extra special, as I’m showing you how to make buttercream look like wood.

Whatever has been inside of these coffin cookies has been trying to get out. Thus, the coffins are boarded and nailed up for our protection.

Follow the beginner-friendly tutorial with step-by-step photos plus a video to decorate these casket cookies for Halloween. 

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Part 1: Gathering the Supplies for the Coffin Cookies

For how to make decorated coffin cookies with buttercream frosting, you will want to gather:

• 2 Icing bags
• 2 Couplers
• Wilton #1 and #4 tip sizes – buy these individually at a bake supply store or purchase this kit
• Coffin/casket cookie cutter – I used the one in this set which includes cookie cutters used for my other Halloween decorating tutorials as well
• Wilton black and Wilton brown gel food dyes, I’ve found the best price at Walmart
• Palette knife
• Toothpick
• Ingredients for a crusting buttercream, find my crusting buttercream icing recipe here
• Ingredients for sugar cookie dough, find my no spread sugar cookies recipe here
  • I used my chocolate cookie recipe, coming to you soon!

Part 2: Baking the Cookies and Setting up The Icing Bags

1. Roll, cut out, and bake your sugar cookies according to the recipe. You will be able to make about 24 sugar cookies with the cookie cutter & recipes linked above.
2. Make your buttercream icing and take out one & a half cups of frosting. Mix in the black gel color and place that into an icing bag with a coupler. Remember, the black will deepen as it sets, so you only need to get to a dark gray.
3. Color the remaining frosting brown. Add that frosting to an icing bag with a coupler in it until the frosting is to the max fill line.
   • If you don’t know how to set up icing bags, just hop over to my Getting Started: Learn How to Decorate Buttercream Cookies page for a detailed explanation.

Part 3: The Tutorial for How to Make Buttercream Look Like Wood For Coffin Cookies

Check out the video here to see how to decorate coffin cookies for Halloween. Then, check out the breakdown step-by-step photo series tutorial below. Both of the versions show how to make buttercream look like wood to give it that old-timey Halloween creepiness!

1. Attach the tip #4 to the black frosting. Fill in the center portion of the coffin cookie. It can be rough, as you will then smooth out the frosting with the palette knife.
2. Complete step 1 on all of the coffin/casket cookies before moving onto this step. Then, remove/rinse/dry the tip #4 from the black icing bag and place it onto the brown icing bag. Outline the coffin cookie as well as the holes where whatever-is-in-there has been attempting to break free.
3. Fill in the coffin area minus the holes with the brown frosting. You will keep the tip #4 on it for this. Then, smooth out the frosting.
4. Grab a bit of the brown gel food dye with a toothpick and place it onto the brown frosting. Try to not dig the dye into the frosting, as it will get buried in the next step. We want this to remain defined.

   

5. Use the palette knife to smooth the gel dye. Use a light hand when doing this, as you want the gel to stay on top and not mix into the frosting. This is how to make the buttercream look like wood. You can add waves or smooth it more straight, it’s up to you!
6. Remove the tip #4 from the brown frosting and attach the tip #1. Draw the two wooden planks that are boarding up the coffin. I did zig-zag lines along the short sides of the boards and straight lines along the long sides. Then, fill in the boards. In this case, the rougher the lines, the better.
7. Outline the outer edges of the coffin cookies with the same tip #1. I did zig-zag lines along the top and bottom and straight along the sides. Then, draw in vertical lines for the boards & outline the holes.
8. Once you’ve completed steps 6 & 7 on all of the casket cookies, remove/rinse/dry the tip #1 from the brown frosting. Then, attach it to the black frosting. Use the black frosting to squeeze out dots for the nails.

That’s it! I think these ones are my favorite out of the series. I loved trying a new technique for how to make buttercream look like wood.

For best results, wait until the buttercream frosting dries/crusts before serving. This makes sure that the brown gel is dried. If you can’t wait to eat these delicious cookies, that’s okay, too! You may just have an especially brown tongue.

Place these coffin cut out cookies next to some skeletons or zombies & your guests will be thoroughly impressed.

Have a very Happy Halloween and, as always, happy decorating!

Save the Tutorial for How to Make Buttercream Look Like Wood for Coffin Cookies

Use the image below to pin this Halloween cookie decorating tutorial to your Halloween party board on Pinterest. Alternatively, use any of the social share icons on the top of the page to share it to your favorite social media site.      

I’d love to know in the comments below which of the 13 Days of Halloween cookies you liked the best? Did you make one or a few of the designs for your Halloween celebration this year?