Pioneer Woman Butterfly Sugar Cookies

Pioneer Woman butterfly sugar cookies take 4 hours and butter, orange zest and powdered sugar icing to make a soft, tender cutout cookie. It's an easy spring dessert idea for Easter, baby showers, bridal showers or a Mother's Day brunch, and it's a no-piping decorating trick.

Chill the dough for a full 2 hours until it's firm, because that's what lets the butterfly shapes hold their wings in the oven. Skip it and the soft dough spreads into blobs that lose every curve of the cutter.

Dipping the cookies in swirled red and orange icing gives you that marbled look with no piping bag and no steady hand. Orange zest in the dough also adds a bright citrus note that plain sugar cookies don't have, so each bite tastes like spring.

Pioneer Woman Butterfly Sugar Cookies

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Course: DessertCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Medium

Servings

48

servings

Prep time

1

hour 

20

minutes

Cooking time

10

minutes

Calories

170

kcal

Buttery orange-scented cookies bake up just set and pale, then get a thick, glossy coat of marbled icing. Once it dries, the shell turns crisp and smooth over a soft, tender center.

Ingredients

• 2 sticks plus 5 tablespoons salted butter, softened
  

• 1 1/2 c. granulated sugar
  

• Grated zest of 1 orange
  

• 2 large eggs
  

• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  

• 4 c. all-purpose flour
  

• 1 tbsp. baking powder
  

• 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
  

• 2 tbsp. whole milk
  

• 2 lb. powdered sugar, sifted, plus more if needed
  

• 1/3 c. whole milk
  

• 2 large pasteurized egg whites
  

• Red and orange food coloring
  

Directions

• Cream the butter: Combine 2 sticks plus 5 tablespoons salted butter, 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar and the grated zest of 1 orange in a mixer bowl. Beat on medium speed until smooth, then add 2 eggs and 1 teaspoon vanilla and beat again, scraping down the sides halfway through.
• Mix the dough: Sift 4 cups flour, 1 tablespoon baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt into a separate bowl. With the mixer on low, add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, alternating with 2 tablespoons milk, until the dough comes together.
• Chill the dough: Divide the dough in half and flatten both halves into disks, then place them in separate resealable plastic bags. Refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours.
• Cut the cookies: Preheat the oven to 350° and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll both pieces of dough about 1/4 inch thick, then cut out as many cookies as you can with 2- to 3-inch butterfly cutters.
• Bake and cool: Bake the cookies for 8 to 10 minutes, until they're just set but not browned. Let them cool 5 minutes on the baking sheets, then move them to racks to cool completely before decorating.
• Whip the icing: Combine 2 pounds sifted powdered sugar, 1/3 cup milk and 2 pasteurized egg whites in a mixer bowl and beat on medium-high until thick and glossy. Add more powdered sugar if it looks thin, because it should be stiff enough to leave a thick, even layer when you dip.
• Swirl the colors: Divide the icing among 3 or 4 smaller bowls, then add 2 to 3 drops each of red and orange food coloring to each bowl. Drag a toothpick through the drops a few times to make swirls.
• Dip and dry: Dip the top side of each cookie in the icing and let the excess drip off, then set it on a rack. When the first bowl gets muddled, move on to the next, and let the icing dry completely, about 1 hour.

Tools for this recipe

• KitchenAid Artisan 5-quart stand mixer, Ateco 11-piece round cutter set, Checkered Chef cooling racks, Nielsen-Massey Madagascar Bourbon vanilla extract, 8 oz. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

FAQs

Can I make the dough ahead of time?

Yes, the dough can stay in the fridge in its sealed bags until you're ready to roll it out. Since it needs at least 2 hours to firm up anyway, making it a day ahead is an easy way to split up the work.

How do I store the decorated cookies?

Let the icing dry completely first, then layer the cookies in an airtight container with parchment between the layers. Stacking them while the icing is tacky will smear the marbled swirls.

Can I skip the orange zest?

You can leave it out if you don't have an orange, and the cookies will taste like classic buttery sugar cookies. A bit of lemon zest works too, since it gives the same bright note.

Do I have to use raw egg whites in the icing?

The recipe calls for pasteurized egg whites, so look for those in a carton at the store. They're the safe choice here because the icing is never cooked.

Why did my butterfly cookies spread in the oven?

Dough that wasn't chilled long enough is the most common reason, since warm butter melts before the shape sets. Chill until it's firm, and keep the cut cookies cool if your kitchen is warm.