Once I was happy with my practice versions, I decorated the fondant-covered cookies. & Voila! But was this actually easier than piping & filling with royal icing? Actually NO! can you believe? You do save on some drying time, but it’s the same amount of effort in cutting & trimming the fondant shapes. The time-consuming part is in the detailed piping, which would take the same amount of time whether you use fondant or royal icing as the base.