Love Bug Sugar Cookies Recipes

LOVE BUG SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• [b]For the cookie dough:[/b] With a stand or hand mixer, cream together the butter and granulated sugar until creamy and fluffy. Add the egg, vanilla and almond extract and mix until combined.
• In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Gradually add the dry ingredients (about 1 cup at a time) to the wet ingredients, stopping the mixer to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Dough will be thick. On a piece of plastic wrap, turn out the dough, shape into a disk, cover with the wrap, and refrigerate for at least one hour, or overnight.
• On a piece of waxed paper, unwrap the chilled dough, and roll out to approximately 1/4" thickness. Cut with a heart shaped cookie cutter. Place on lined baking sheet (lined with parchment paper or silicone baking mat). Bake for approximately 9-11 minutes, until just set. Don't let the cookies overly brown, or they will become dry and brittle. Let the cookies cool on the pan for about 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
• [b]Frosting:[/b] With a hand or stand mixer, cream the room temperature butter along with the vanilla and almond extract. Gradually begin adding the powdered sugar one cup at a time, stopping the mixer to scrape down the sides of the bowl. As the frosting gets stiffer, and the milk one Tbsp. at a time. Add the food coloring and mix until desired color is met.
• [b]Decorating the cookies:[/b] On the cooled cookies, spread a thin base layer of frosting with a knife or decorating spatula. Using a piping bag fitted with a grass tip (#233), decorate the cookies, by squeezing a bit of frosting and pulling up to create a "hair" like effect. Lastly, decorate with 2 candy eyes and 2 pretzels, cut in half) for the legs.

LOVEBUG COOKIES

Steps:

• Mix together 1/2 cup royal icing with the black or brown food coloring until desired shade is reached. Transfer to a small squirt bottle. To create the head of the ladybug, outline the area with black or brown icing (see template). Draw several zigzags across entire surface of the outlined area. If necessary, use a toothpick to spread evenly. Using tweezers, add silver dragees to create eyes. Sprinkle head with black or brown sanding sugar. Let dry.
• Mix together 1 cup royal icing with the red or pink food coloring until desired shade is reached. Set aside 1/4 cup red or pink icing and transfer remaining red or pink icing to a small squirt bottle. To create body, outline the area with red or pink icing (see template). Draw several zigzags across entire surface of the outlined area. If necessary, use a toothpick or offset spatula to spread evenly. Using tweezers, add white dragees to create spots. Let dry.
• To create black or brown spots on cookie, squeeze two 1/2-inch dots of black or brown icing about 1/2-inch apart from one another in the center of the body (see template). If necessary, use a toothpick to spread evenly. Using tweezers, add a heart candy to each spot. To create remaining black or brown spots on cookie, squeeze dots of black or brown icing about the same size as the white dragees over body (see template). If necessary, use a toothpick to spread evenly. Let dry.
• Add more red or pink food coloring to reserved 1/4 cup red or pink icing to create a darker shade of red or pink. Transfer to a small squirt bottle. Using dark red or pink icing, make an outline around the body of the ladybug and down the center (see template). Let dry.