BUTTERFLY SUGAR COOKIE RECIPES

Steps:

• Combine butter and sugar in bowl; beat at medium speed until creamy. Add egg, milk and almond extract; continue beating until well mixed. Add flour and baking powder; beat at low speed until well mixed.
• Divide dough into thirds; place each portion into separate bowl. Tint each portion with desired gel food color.
• Shape each dough into a ball; flatten to 1/2-inch thickness. Wrap each in plastic food wrap; refrigerate 2-3 hours or until firm.
• Heat oven to 400°F.
• Roll out dough, one-third at a time, on lightly floured surface (keeping remaining dough refrigerated) to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut with 2-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter.
• Form butterflies by placing 2 cookies with tips slightly overlapping onto ungreased cookie sheets. Sprinkle with decorator sugar. Decorate as desired. Repeat with remaining cookies. Bake 6-8 minutes or until cookies are lightly browned. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to cooling rack.

Steps:

• For the cookies: Combine the butter, granulated sugar and orange zest in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on medium speed until smooth, then add the eggs and vanilla. Beat again, scraping down the sides of the bowl halfway through. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt into a separate bowl. With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, alternating with the milk, until the dough comes together. Divide the dough in half, then flatten both halves into disks and place them in separate resealable plastic bags. Refrigerate the dough until firm, about 2 hours. Preheat the oven to 350°. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll out both pieces of dough until about 1/4 inch thick and cut out as many cookies as you can with 2- to 3-inch butterfly cookie cutters. Place the cookies on the baking sheets and bake until they’re just set but not browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool 5 minutes on the baking sheets, then remove to racks to cool completely before decorating. For the icing: Combine the powdered sugar, milk and egg whites in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat on medium-high speed until thick and glossy. Add more powdered sugar if the icing seems too thin. Just play with it until it’s right. The icing should be stiff enough to dip the top side of the cookie and get a thick, even layer. Divide the icing among 3 or 4 smaller bowls. Add 2 to 3 drops each of red and orange food coloring to each bowl, scattering it over the surface of the icing. Drag a toothpick through the drops a few times to make swirls. Dip the top side of each cookie in the icing and let the excess drip off, then let dry on a rack. When the first bowl of icing becomes too muddled, move on to the next. Let the icing dry completely, about 1 hour.