Holiday Cookie Workshop: Royal Icing & Bakery Black & White Cookies

Back by popular demand! Step into a sweet winter wonderland in this joyful holiday cookie workshop. Chef Tess will teach the foundations of decorating cookies with Royal Icing, along with a bakery-style favorite called Black-and-White Cookies. These classic treats are half-way between a cake and a cookie, and covered with glossy chocolate and vanilla ganache-style icing on top.

If you’re looking to start a new holiday tradition and add a truly special cookie to your repertoire, this festive family-friendly class is for you. Gather your family for a fun baking experience or enjoy a little creative time for yourself.

Participants will bake their own sugar cookies in advance so they are ready to decorate at the start of class. About five days prior to class, you will receive a PDF packet with two of the instructor’s personal sugar cookie recipes—one soft and chewy, one crisp—along with a full list of ingredients and supplies for Royal Icing to allow time for shopping and baking. Choose to bake one or both using festive cookie cutters of choice.

The packet will also include supplies needed to create the bakery-style Black & White cookies, which will be made during class. We will also create Royal Icing with the proper consistency, and learn the foundations of decorating with it on our pre-made sugar cookies. No fancy equipment needed.

The registration fee covers immediate family members living in the same household only. If children are participating, adult supervision is required.

Tess Georgakopoulos

Instructor

View Tess Georgakopoulos's Other Courses

Tess Georgakopoulos, creator of Dish it up Good also known as “Chef Tess—Culinary Artist”, brings over four decades of cooking and baking experience to her work as a culinary educator and Community Education instructor.

Raised in a Greek Family where food was a central expression of love and connection, Tess developed her passion for cooking at a young age alongside her father, a trained chef. Those early experiences continue to shape her approach today—blending tradition, creativity, and deep appreciation for the role food plays in bringing people together.

As an accomplished cook, baker, and recipe developer, Tess is continually expanding her culinary repertoire through ongoing experimentation in her test kitchen. She is known for creating thoughtfully designed “gold standard” culinary experiences that combine technique, creativity, and approachability.

She currently partners with over 60 public school districts across Minnesota, and additional programs in Wisconsin, Missouri, New York and Oklahoma, and has taught over 5,000 participants. Through her teaching, Tess empowers home cooks of all skill levels to build confidence, expand their abilities, and experience the joy of creating meaningful meals in their own kitchens

Her guiding philosophy is simple: to make cooking approachable, enjoyable, and rewarding—helping others “make dishing simple and delicious”.

Tess is currently working on her first cookbook, with a food blog in development. Her work can be found on Facebook at Dish it up Good, and on Instagram.