Stain Glass Mini Butterflies

Hi. Here are some mini butterflies I made the other day while I was making Easter cookies. Just so it's clear, I think I have cookie ADD. When I make a collection of cookies, every cookie is different or maybe 3-4 are similar. I like variety and mismatch. So, here are four that match!

WHAT YOU NEED:

• sugar cookie dough
• mini butterfly cookie cutter
• royal icing tinted: multiple colors
• icing bags
• decorating squeeze bottles
• tips: #1, #2

** You can use any cookie recipe you like. My personal favorite sugar cookie recipe is from I AM BAKER found here in her rose cookie tutorial: http://iambaker.net/rose-cookie-tutorial

** My favorite royal icing recipe is from The Sweet Adventures of Sugarbelle: http://www.sweetsugarbelle.com/blog/2011/04/royal-icing-101-or-all-roads-lead-to-rome/

(PS Royal Icing can be your BFF or your worst enemy. The trickiest part is getting the correct consistency. I am still figuring it out.)

DIRECTIONS:

• Roll out dough, cut out butterflies and bake.
• Make and tint your royal icing.
• Once cookies have cooled, time to decorate!

1. Using a #2 tip and thick consistency royal icing, add a dot for the butterfly head

2. Pipe from side to side from head to bottom of cookie for butterfly body
Let icing dry for a few minutes.

3. Using a #1 tip and thick black consistency royal icing, outline the wings in any pattern you like. (We are using such a small tip because these cookies are TINY - maybe 2 inches long - small cookies are cute but more of a pain to decorate - you can use any size butterfly cutter you would like- a bigger one might be easier to use at first)

Let icing dry for a few minutes.

4. Fill up your squeeze bottles or a ziplock bag (don't forget to snip corner) with thin consistency icing. It is a good idea to FLOOD a section and than skip a section and than FLOOD. This gives the icing a little time to dry so it's less likely to run into the other sections. (If that makes sense. I should have taken another photo!)

5. Let cookies dry. Once dry, they can be stacked. I actually put these in the freezer. I have not had a problem in the past with decorating cookies with royal icing and then freezing them. They taste and usually look the same! Although, sometimes the colors don't look as vibrant. Also, if you use sanding sugar or little edible decorations -- these can fall off in the freezer. The best would be to freeze an undecorated cookie and then decorate it once it has thawed.

C'est fini!

xoxoxoxo