These Butterfly Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing are so fun to make! I provide step by step instructions to make these beautiful butterflies.
After discovering the amazing blog Sweetopia and then making these fun Easter Cookies using the techniques I learned, I couldn't wait to take on another project using this method - Butterfly Cookies!
They are actually pretty simple to make, and I think the outcome is stunning. These may just be my favorite cookies I've made so far (though the Monkey Face Cookies and Easter Cookies are close!)
I definitely hope to make these again. I love the look of the pastels with the black; I'd also like to try some bolder colors in the future.
As far as the cookie recipe goes, use whatever recipe you like. I always like to try to top my favorite recipe, and I think the recipe I used this time does (shown in recipe card below).
UPDATE: My go to sugar cookie for Royal Icing cookies is now this Sugar Cookie Recipe! It's been in my family for years, and we keep coming back to it!
See my Royal Icing FAQ HERE and all of my Royal Icing Cookies HERE.
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Supplies
Other than the ingredients for the cookies, you will need:
- Butterfly cookie cutter (I used Wilton Comfort Grip Cutter)
- 1 batch Easy Royal Icing
- black, brown, pink, yellow, green, and blue food coloring gel
- disposable pastry bags
- plastic tip couplers (optional)
- small round piping tips such as #2 (you will need at least 3 round tips to use at the same time, ideally a tip for every color)
- piping tip covers (optional)
- twist ties or rubber bands
- tall drinking glasses or cups
- toothpicks
- paper towels
- wax paper
Make the Cookies
Here I used a Roll Out Sugar Cookie recipe with almond extract and lemon zest listed below in the recipe card. I also like this Cut Out Sugar Cookies recipe for basic flavors.
When rolling cut out cookies, I like to use dowel rods as guides for the cookie thickness. See this Monkey Face Cookies post for pictures.
Decorate the Cookies
When I originally made these cookies, I used brown food coloring gel to tint white royal icing, then added black get to achieve a black color. Making your own black icing requires a lot of food gel. I now like to use black royal icing powder, like I used on these Alice in Wonderland Petit Fours, which just requires water.
To decorate, first the black outline consistency is piped on the cookies.
TIP: Make sure to keep paper towels nearby to wipe the piping tip if icing leaks out, otherwise the tip can get messy. I also like to test each tip before piping by squirting out a little icing on the corner of the waxed paper or into the paper towel as I wipe the tip. Sometimes you'll find some of the moisture from the paper towel has gotten into the tip or that the bit of frosting at the tip has dried out a little and needs to be removed.
After the outline dries for at least 1 hour, it's time to flood. This is a wet-on-wet technique, which means multiple colors of icing will be added at the same time to create a design.
Working 1 section at a time (i.e. the top left wing), fill a color inside the black outline, using a toothpick to guide the icing to the edges if necessary. Immediately add lines or dots of other colors into the newly filled icing, then quickly and carefully run a toothpick through to create patterns.
Note: Dragging the toothpick through dots yields the heart-shapes. See this step-by-step tutorial for more information on how to make the patterns. Also see my Valentine's Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing to see more wet-on-wet technique patterns.
The reason you must only do 1 section at a time is because the icing sets rather quickly. How fast the icing sets will depend on the humidity of the room and whether there's a draft. My apartment was very hot and humid and the icing set FAST.
Making Ahead
I made the sugar cookie dough in advance and froze it. I then thawed it in the fridge overnight and set it on the counter until it reached room temperature before rolling and baking.
I baked the cookies a few days before icing them and stored them in an airtight container.
Although I did not do this, you can always prepare the royal icing in advance and even color it, as long as you store it in airtight containers.
Gluten Free Option
Use your favorite gluten free sugar cookie recipe. The royal icing is gluten free, but check your package instructions for possible contaminants.
Looking for More Royal Icing Cookies?
Check out my other Royal Icing Cookie posts:
Valentine's Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing
Butterfly and Dragonfly Cookies with Royal Icing
Penelope Bird Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing
Pastel Christmas Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing
Brown Sugar and Spice Winter Mitten Cookies
Snowflake Gingerbread Cookies with Royal Icing
Easter Cookies with Royal Icing
Halloween Cookies with Royal Icing
Monkey Cookies with Royal Icing
St. Patrick's Day Cookies with Royal Icing
Sugar Cookie Gender Reveal
Bridal Shower Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing
Baby Shower Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing
📖 Recipe
Butterfly Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing
Equipment
- butterfly cookie cutter
- 5 pastry bags 5 twist ties or rubber bands
- 5 plastic couplers
- 5 Small round piping tips such as #2
- 5 glasses or cups
- toothpicks
- Paper towels or tip covers
- Wax paper
Ingredients
For the Cookies:
- 2½ cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 egg
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract
- 16 tablespoons butter (at room temperature)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon lemon zest
For Decorating:
- 1 batch Easy Royal icing (see note)
- Gel icing colors (red, blue, yellow, green, black, brown)
Instructions
Make the Cookies:
- In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.2½ cups all purpose flour , 1 teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon salt
- In a measuring cup, lightly beat the egg with the extracts.1 egg, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract, ¼ teaspoon almond extract
- In the bowl of a standing mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until smooth. With the mixer running, gradually pour in the sugar; add the lemon zest. Beat on medium until fluffy, about 1 minute.16 tablespoons butter, 1 cup granulated sugar, ¼ teaspoon lemon zest
- With the mixer running, pour in the egg mixture and continue beating until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the mixer bowl. With the mixer on low, gradually add the flour and mix just until evenly blended.
- Lightly knead the dough to form a ball, press it into a disk 1-inch thick, and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight. You can also freeze the dough at this point.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 375°F. If you’ve chilled the dough overnight, it will need to sit at room temperature for half an hour or so to soften slightly. If you've frozen the dough, thaw it in the fridge overnight then allow it to soften at room temperature.
- On a very lightly floured sheet of wax paper with a sheet of plastic wrap on top of the dough, roll the dough out to ¼-inch thick. You can use rolling pin guides or wooden dowel rods as guides for achieving even cookie thickness. Cut cookies using a floured cookie cutter. Re-roll scraps, always using as little flour as necessary.
- Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, for 5-9 minutes, until they no longer look wet on top. The baking time will depend on the size of the cookies you’ve cut. You don’t want the bottoms to be browned, except for maybe just a bit on the edges. Let the cookies cool for a couple minutes on the sheets before transferring them to cooling racks to finish cooling to room temperature.
Decorate the Cookies:
- Prepare the black royal icing by adding brown food coloring gel to white royal icing base, then add black until desired color is achieved. Thin the icing to outline consistency using small amounts of warm water.
- Transfer the black icing to a pastry bag fitted with a small round #1 or #2 tip. The easiest way to do this is to fold over the top of the bag and place it in one of the glasses with a wet paper towel at the bottom. Fill the bag with icing, then unfold the top, push out any air, and twist the bag, securing with a twist tie or rubber band.
- Place the cookies in a single layer on a wax paper lined baking sheet.
- Pipe the body of the butterfly and the outline of the wings. TIP: Make sure to keep paper towels nearby to wipe the piping tip if icing leaks out, otherwise the tip can get messy. You can test each tip before piping by squirting out a little icing on the corner of the waxed paper or into the paper towel while wiping the tip. Sometimes you'll find some of the moisture from the paper towel has gotten into the tip or that the bit of frosting at the tip has dried out a little and needs to be removed.
- Allow the outlined icing to dry for at least 1 hour.
- Meanwhile, prepare each of the colors and add to pastry bags fitted with #2 size tips. Pastel colors might include: green, pink, yellow, and blue. Thin the icing to flood consistency icing using small amounts of warm water. Make sure to place each of the filled bags into a glass with a damp paper towel in the bottom.
- Working 1 section at a time (i.e. the top left wing), fill a color inside the black outline, using a toothpick to guide the icing to the edges if necessary. Immediately add lines or dots of other colors into the newly filled icing, then quickly and carefully run a toothpick through to create patterns. This is a wet-on-wet technique. Dragging the toothpick through dots yields the heart-shapes. The reason you must only do 1 section at a time is because the icing sets rather quickly. How fast the icing sets will depend on the humidity of the room and whether there's a draft.
- Allow the cookies to dry uncovered, at room temperature, at least overnight or up to 24 hours before packaging.
- Store the dry cookies in a single layer at room temperature in an airtight container.
CaSaundraLeigh says
Simply put--amazing!
Kerstin says
These are so pretty Meghan - better than anything you could find in a bakery! I'm eager to hear what your favorite sugar cookie recipe ends up being because I'm still trying to figure that out myself!
Maria says
Those are the coolest cookies EVER!
Unknown says
Meghan... wow!!! These are absolutely gorgeous. You did an amazing decorating job.
megan says
I love them! You did an excellent job. Your so inspiring!
Karen says
These are beautiful!
Leslie says
These are BEAUTIFUL!
Reeni says
These are breath taking! You did an awesome job on them!
Anonymous says
WOAH!! I have so much cookie envy right now girl!
I love butterflies and these look amazing. I can't stop staring. I want to try that!
Daniella says
Do you know what kind of cookie cutter you used, or what size you used? They are absolutely beautiful
Liz says
Awesome cookies!
Meghan says
Hi Daniella,
I used a Wilton Comfort Grip Butterfly Cookie Cutter - the body of the butterfly is approximately 2 inches long and the wings measure about 3 inches from top to bottom. I got the cutter in a 4-pack, but if you search online you can find it by itself. Really any butterfly shaped cookie cutter should work; a larger one will be easier to outline though 🙂
FOODESSA says
We nicknamed my Mom...Madame Butterfly (no relation to the movie). She just exemplifies the qualities of this beautiful creature.
I will be sending her this gorgeous post of your creativity. Thanks for sharing and flavourful wishes, Claudia
Andrea says
Awesome cookies! Beautiful.
Jessica says
Beautiful cookies!