Spring Cookies [tutorial]

I love spring. The flowers in our yard are all in bloom, the sun is setting at a more reasonable hour, and the weather is warm enough to where I can wear a light jacket or sweatshirt outside.

This cookie set turned out better than I originally thought. The birds were the hardest actually, with the trucks coming in second. (The issue I had was the nest, especially where it rested under the little bird.)

Circles are definitely not easy!

I made a few different versions of the birdhouses and flowers. For the flowers with the black center, I tried a new technique, which I’ll explain in more detail below.

If you’d like to decorate the flower cookies, here is a quick tutorial. These step-by-step instructions could work for any flower, not just this one.

1. Use a light edible marker to outline the flower center and individual petals. Pipe and flood the center black. Let dry in a dehydrator for 20 minutes or under a fan for 45 minutes. The top needs to set a bit.
2. Using the back of a paintbrush, gently press into the icing, creating small craters. Do this all over the flower center, but space out so you have clear definition. Don’t press down too much, or the icing that isn’t fully set, (underneath), will seep and ooze out.
3. Create the first petal with lilac icing, piping and then flooding. Wait at least 20 minutes before moving on to the last outer petals.
4. Add the two petals on either side. When flooding these petals, go gently to the center petal, pushing the flood icing to the edge. If you overfill the outer petals, you’ll lose the crease definition that distinguishes the separate petals. Using the cypress green color, pipe and flood the stem.
5. With the laurel color, pipe and flood the leaves. Wait at least 20 minutes in a dehydrator or 40 minutes under.
6. Using piping consistency, pipe a line down the center of the petals using the lilac color and down the center of the leaves using the laurel color. Let fully dry overnight before eating and enjoying. :)