Iced Butterfly Cookies

Okay, so here we go, my first real post. Here's how it works.. I've put Step by Step photos throughout each stage of the recipe so hopefully you can keep up easily. The idea is to make the hard part simpler so you get to enjoy the fun bits, so stick with me, and hopefully you'll still be here at the end..

Ingredients (Makes 18-24 cookies);

• 125g Unsalted Butter
• 125g Caster Sugar
• 1 medium egg
• 1tsp Vanilla Extract
• 250g Plain Flour
• Cookie Cutter

For the Icing;

• 150g Royal Icing 
• 3 Different Food Colourings
• Piping Bags and Thin Nozzles

OR

• 500g Icing Sugar
• 2 Medium Egg Whites
• 1tsp Lemon Juice

Okay, now we can get to the Cooking....

  First, beat the butter and sugar together in a bowl with an electric mixer until light and creamy.. I cut the Butter into cubes as it was still quite chilled, just so it didn't damage the mixer

It should look something like this after you've mixed them together

Next, add the egg and Vanilla Extract and mix well together 

 It should look like this

Sift one half of the flour into the mixture, and mix in. Then do the same with the other half, sifting and mixing it in until you get a dough

This is the dough after all the flour has been added

Knead the dough until it is smooth the roll into a ball, and wrap in cling film..

Put the dough in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to allow it to rest..

30 Minutes Later..............

After the time is up, put the dough on a lightly floured surface to stop it sticking. Also preheat your oven to Gas Mark 4 / 180'C / 350'F

Roll the dough out until it is evenly about 4mm thick, use more flour if the dough keeps sticking 

Use your Cookie Cutter to cut out shapes, re-rolling any leftover dough to make as many as possible. 

Lift Them carefully to avoid them being Distorted, I picked them up by the Top wings which seen to work quite well, as even using a spatula seemed to distort them

Use a baking tray lined with parchment to stop the cookies sticking to the tray, and bake for around 10-15 mins, or until they look golden brown.

To Make the Icing 

(If you're making your own); If you're using royal icing skip these steps and just add a little water to get the right consistancy

Sift the Icing Sugar into a bowl and add the Egg whites and lemon juice. Mix these together

Mix with an electric mixer for about 4-5 minutes on a low speed. 

The icing should look stiff-ish and shiny. If on a spoon it should not drip and be able to hold itself there. This will make the icing for the edging to your cookies, you may need to add a FEW DROPS of water, to make the icing easier to use

At this point, your Cookies should be near ready. When there are let them cool on a wire rack

Put some of the made icing in a bowl, and add a few drops of food colouring, and then mix it in to get  a subtle pastel colour

Put the icing into piping bag, and ice around the edge of your design making sure to leave the body area clear. At this point, before you make the icing more liquid, do alternating butterfly body colours on all the biscuits.  I had 18 biscuits and did 6 of each colour of icing. The outlines will take about 10 minutes to dry 

If they have dried, using about a teaspoon of water to make the icing runny then put into a piping bag and fill in the rest of the wings. Leave these to dry.

You can add simple dot patters or even do waves or lines, its up to you!