Spring cookies don’t need a special occasion. Sometimes you just want to make cute bee cookies because bees are adorable and you have a free afternoon.
That’s how this set came together. No baby shower request, no spring party order – just me thinking “bees would be fun to decorate” and running with it.
This set includes four designs: a beehive, honeycomb with a large bee, buzzing bees in flight, and a daisy pattern cookie.
Design Challenges
The honeycomb bee was my biggest struggle. I worried the honeycomb pattern would look too messy because my lines weren’t perfect – and if you’ve seen my cookies before, you know patterns are NOT my specialty. Yet for some reason, I keep coming back to them.
But here’s what saved it: the big bee on top. Once that icing transfer bee landed on the cookie, all the imperfect honeycomb lines just became background texture. The messiness got lost in a really nice way.
The bee icing transfers themselves? I was SUPER pleased with how those looked. They came together way easier than I expected, and now I’m wondering why I don’t use icing transfers more often.
The Mustard Yellow Situation
Can we talk about mixing mustard yellow icing? Ever since I made that burnt orange for the basketball cookies in last year’s Sports set, I’ve been slowly getting braver with color mixing. But adding blue to orange always makes me nervous – it looks TERRIBLEwhen you first start mixing it and I’m convinced the entire bowl of icing is about to fall apart.
The key, like with everything cookie decorating, is small steps. Keep mixing. Trust the process. Somehow it comes together. And this mustard yellow? Worth the stress.
The buzzing bees cookie won my heart. It’s a fairly simple design – solid mustard background with two small bee icing transfers and their “bee trails” drawn on – but it’s so dang cute! Sometimes the simplest cookies are the ones that make you smile the most.
Plus, once you add the fine-tipped edible marker details? Chef’s kiss.
Supplies
- Brown sugar cookie base
- Royal icing
- Gel food coloring: yellow, red, blue (alternatively just yellow and mustard yellow gel food coloring), white, black,
- Extra parchment paper for icing transfers
- Tipless piping bags
- Toothpick or scribe tool
- Fine-tipped edible marker (this is non-negotiable – it NEEDS to be fine tip)
- Printed template for icing transfers (included in the free guide)
- Beehive cookie cutter (I got mine from Frosted By Meagan years ago – recommend the 3.5″ medium size)
My Decorating Order Recommendation
Do these in this order and you’ll save yourself so much time:
- Make all the icing transfers first – I switch between big bees and little bees between drying steps. Make 2x as many transfers as you need cookies
- Start the beehive cookie, get the black step done
- Do the buzzing bees mustard base
- Go back to beehive, do the next stage
- Do the honeycomb base cookies
- Finish the beehive cookie
- Make the daisy pattern
- Let everything dry overnight (or 8 hours minimum – longer if you’re in a humid climate)
- Keep your mustard and yellow icing! You’ll need it for attaching transfers
- Peel off dried transfers and attach to cookies with fresh icing
- Grab your fine-tipped pen and add details to buzzing bee and daisy cookies
Key Takeaways
- Imperfect patterns can work when there’s a focal point on top
- Icing transfers are easier than they look (and you can avoid a projector with them)
- Mustard yellow is achievable – just trust the mixing process
- Sometimes the simplest cookie (buzzing bees) is the cutest one
- You don’t need a special occasion to make bee cookies
This is the type of set my friend and I would make just for fun. No baby shower invite required. No spring party on the calendar. Just cookies that make you happy to look at.
Make them for a spring celebration. Make them for a bee-loving friend. Make them just because you think bees are neat. The set doesn’t need a reason beyond “I wanted to make bee cookies today.”
Download the free guide and let’s make some bee cookies together!