This was my first attempt at decorated sugar cookies. Did I do something wrong? I thought the RI turned out fine and it flooded and piped nicely. I made them on Saturday night and noticed the pitting on Monday morning. No one else noticed it, just me but I had sprinkles over it so if it had not had the sprinkles it would have been more noticeable I think. Here is a pic, you can't see the pitting but I wanted to share my first attempt and get some feedback.

I can't see the pits too well...all I can think of is that they may be air bubbles, in which case you need to mix the royal at a low speed and stand by with a clean safety pin or toothpick to pop any bubbles then smooth them out (usually by tapping the cookie lightly on the countertop). They look good!

Didn't have any air bubbles, just tiny pits (can't see in the pic, too small and subtle) and over the entire surface.

I mixed at high speed, is that a no-no?

Hmm, if the pits were made after the cookies were flooded, maybe the problem was with the texture of the cookies themselves. Were the cookies bagged or left out?

Mix on high speed only when the recipe tells you, otherwise, yeah, you run the risk of bubbles and overbeaten icings for cake or cookies. Still a great first time with decorating!

Could be that the icing was too thick and didn't spread as smoothly-I aim for a pancake batter consistency to flood my cookies. Or that there wasn't enough royal to cover completely. After I flood and give my cookies a shake, I can look and see if there are any "pits" or "dimples" and then I can just add a little more royal.

I get pitted royal if I add too much water. It also dulls the color too

It's hard to tell by the picture but...sometimes if i add colored sugar crystals or sprinkles to my royal it pitts the icing too. Perhaps it's the sprinkle/sugar breaking down. Just a thought..try it again without the sprinkles and see if it happens again. I know if i use those flat circle sprinkles it doesn't happen, even the non perils nothing..just the colored sugar etc.. HTH

I also think that it was just too much water.

so if I add less water how do I get it to the proper flooding consistency?