Butterfly Cookies

5 from 27 votes

This decorated butterfly cookies are super easy to make, and have a perfect melt in your mouth, buttery and crispy texture. And eggless too!

Prep Time40

Cook Time15

Total Time55

Course: Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: American

Servings: cookies

Calories: 71kcal

Author: Priya Maha

Ingredients

Cookie Dough

100 g granulated sugar
200 g butter salted
300 g all purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Colored Sanding Sugar for Decoration

140 g coarse sugar
green and turquoise food color gel based

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Preheat oven to 175°Celsius. Line baking trays with parchment paper.
Start by making the sanding sugar. Divide the coarse sugar equally into 2 bowls. Add a drop of the turquoise food color in one bowl and the green food color in another (see Note 1).
Mix the sugar with a spoon until the color is all well distributed. Add more color if you wish to have a deeper color. Leave the colored sugar aside to dry.
In a separate medium sized bowl, add the butter (see Note 2). Sift in the flour and mix both on low speed until it turns crumbly. You can also use a pastry cutter to cut in the butter into the flour or rub it in with the tips of your fingers.
Stir in the sugar and mix well, followed by the vanilla extract. The mixture would still be crumbly at this stage.
Turn the dough onto a clean workspace and press it together to form a ball (see Note 3).
Divide the dough into smaller sections and roll each section between 2 parchment sheets. Use 2 dowel rods on either side of the dough when rolling for consistent thickness (see Notes 4 & 5)
Peel off the top parchment sheet and cut out the cookie dough with a cookie cutter. Carefully lift the cut cookies, with a flat spatula, neaten the edges and transfer onto the baking tray (see Note 6).
Sprinkle the colored sanding sugar on top of each cookie and press it in softly with your fingertips.
Bake the butterfly cookies for approximately 12 to 15 minutes until the sides of the cookies start to turn light gold.
Remove cookies from oven. Let them rest in the tray for a few minutes before transfering them onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Store the decorated butterfly cookies in an airtight container.

Notes

Use a gel-based food color so that the sugar does not turn too wet. If you use liquid based colors, spread the sugar onto a tray and let it dry completely before using.
The butter must be soft but firm. It should soft enough to poke your finger in but still hold its shape. If too soft, return to refrigerator to firm it up. Too soft butter will cause the cookies to be greasy and hard.
Take note to not overwork the dough once it comes together. Suffice if you press it together to form a ball. When kneaded for long, the gluten in the flour becomes stretchy, and there is a tendency for your cookies to become hard.
Rolling between parchment sheets will prevent the dough from sticking to the rolling pin and a lot easier to work with.
You can also use rolling pin guide rings to help produce cookies that are of a consistent thickness.
When lifting the cut butterfly cookies onto baking trays, it is really helpful to use a flat spatula or an icing scraper. These tools help in retaining the shape of the cookies as they are transferred to the baking tray.

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