Welcoming Spring! (Lady Bug and Butterfly cookies)

Today I bring you a post to, hopefully, help ring in Spring!

We did get a little glimpse of Spring the past few weeks, but man did the cold rush right back in and re-freeze everything. Maybe that's a little dramatic, but I hate the cold! Seems odd that I'm not used to the cold by now, I've lived in Indiana my entire life, but there was something about this year that I just couldn't deal with.


Anyway, back to Spring talk! Sunshine and green grass (oh and flip flops!) are right around the corner. Let me tell you that I just can NOT wait for this Spring/Summer. I want to make it an amazing one. Bonfires with friends and family, chats on the patio with my dearest friends (adult beverages are always included), and the simple fun of taking the Cooperman out for walks/exercise. 


The highlight of my summer is going to be my trip to Nashville (will be my first time) and seeing Adele perform while we are there. I hope to be a total tourist while I'm there and experience everything. I know that's almost impossible but I want to, at the minimum, hit the best food places and take in what music/art scenes we can. Seriously excited for this trip, I'm sure I'll be tweeting away while I'm there! Let's hope the next 80 days, not that I'm counting, will be very good and productive, but FAST.


And now to the cookies...


I was asked to do some sugar cookies that would bring in the feeling of Spring. I instantly thought about lady bugs and butterflies. Of course I thought about some cute flowers too. However, as I have a horrible memory, I thought I had a cookie cutter and didn't. No big deal though, the lady bugs and butterflies worked out perfect. 


I went with a classic sugar cookie recipe with a touch of butter flavoring. The buttercream icing I used is my typical recipe also with a touch of butter flavoring. I normally use almond extract instead of butter flavor, but I was out of almond extract so I thought why not give butter a try! It was actually quite delicious. 


To make the lady bugs I used a round cookie cutter, I bent it slightly to an egg shape. Decorating was simple. I drew an outline for the body and then filled it in with the red frosting and smooth it out with a spatula. I then traced with the black frosting and added the head., antenna, and dots. The eyes are also buttercream just made little white dots and topped with a smaller black dot.

The butterflies were simply decorated. I tried out different icing techniques using different decorating tips. I ended up doing 3 different tips and just used a variety of sprinkles and edible glitter. Plenty of room to get creative with the decorating. If you want, grab a piece of wax paper and try out the different tips and techniques before applying to the cookies. 

Here are the recipes...Happy Baking!


Classic Sugar Cookie Cutouts    [Printable Recipe]

makes about 60 cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup Shortening

2 cups Granulated Sugar

2 Teaspoons Pure Vanilla

1 Teaspoon Butter Flavor

3 Eggs

⅓ cup Milk

5 ½ cups All Purpose Flour

1 Teaspoon Salt

3 Teaspoons Baking Powder

Directions:

1. Cream together shortening and sugar until smooth.

2. In a seperate bowl whisk together flour, salt, and baking powder, set aside.

3. Add vanilla and butter flavor to shortening/sugar mixture and mix until just combined.

4. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.

5. Into the shortening/sugar mixture slowly add about ⅓ of the flour, mix until combined.

6. Add about half of the milk and mix until combined. Continue to alternate ending with flour.

7. Finish mixing the dough by hand and cover and cool for at least 2 hours.

8. Preheat oven to 350. 

9. Lightly flour a flat surface and roll dough to about ¼ - ½ thickness. Use your favorite cookie cutters to cut cookies.

10. Place on parchment paper lined cookies sheets and bake 8-10 minutes until bottom is lightly browned.

11. Decorate with your favorite buttercream icing and sprinkles.

Buttercream Frosting       [Printable Recipe]

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups Shortening

2 Teaspoons Clear Vanilla

1 Teaspoon Clear Butter Flavoring

pinch of salt

2 lbs plus 2 cups Domino Powdered Sugar

1/2 Cold Water

Directions:

1. Cream shortening until smooth. 

2. Add flavorings and salt, mix until combined.

3. Mix in 1 cup of powdered sugar until smooth.

4. Continue to add alternately, powdered sugar and water until desired consistency is reached.