Butterfly Sugar Cookies

I made these butterfly sugar cookies for Claire and Gabi and hand delivered them during my trip to Calgary earlier this month. So far, I think they are the most complex cookies I've made, but if you have enough patience, and you don't mind staining your fingertips black (oh, the joys of food colouring), these cookies are surprisingly easy to make! First of all, the recipes for these cookies can be found here. Like I've probably mentioned in the past, this dough freezes very well so you can always make a double batch, use only the dough you need (I only made 12 cookies) and freeze the rest in plastic wrap.

The tie-dye effect on the black/blue and tricolour butterflies was very simple to achieve. You need to prepare all your icing colours, making them all virtually the same consistency (liquid, but not too liquid that it can't hold its own shape. Pipe in the outlines and work your way in. I piped the black edges as well as the body in black, then I piped in the blue, and lastly piped in the yellow. Once all the colours were on and there were no gaps, I used a toothpick (a butter knife edge would work as well) and dragged the black icing inwards. At first it didn't look like much, but as the icing sets, the colours sink in to create the cool effect.

I think the only really important part about making these, or any sugar cookies for that matter, is really just being patient and not forcing any of the icing to set or hold its shape until it is very dry. If you get tired, just leave the cookies out for a few hours and come back to them when you're ready. Enjoy!

Bonne Chance!