Make these cute Butterfly Cookies for spring using sugar cookies, candy, coconut and frosting. They make a beautiful centerpiece for a baby shower, party, or gathering and are so fun to eat.
Spring is still here for a little while longer and there is still time to make these adorable butterfly cookies. You don’t need any special skills to make these as it’s just decorating if you use pre-made store bought sugar cookies to save on time. Or you choose to make and bake your own sugar cookies.
The dyed coconut gives the cookies a fun spring grass look while the pretzels, candy and licorice transform them into beautiful butterflies that are almost too cute to eat.
If you like these easy decorated cookies also try my crab cookies for a beach party or vampire teeth cookies for Halloween.
Recipe At A Glance
- Skill Level: Easy
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Decorating Time: 20 minutes
- Freezer Friendly: Yes, before decorating
- Method: No Bake
- Best For: Baby showers, spring parties, Mother’s day, classroom treats and birthday parties
Ingredients
- Cookies: I used pre-made store bought sugar cookies, but homemade sugar cookies work too
- Green food coloring: for tinting the frosting and coconut
- Coconut flakes: sweetened shredded coconut works best
- White chocolate pretzels: used for the butterfly wings
- Skittles: for the butterfly bodies
- Black licorice: cut into strips for the antennas
- Frosting: white frosting, store bought or homemade
How to Decorate Butterfly Cookies
Add a few drop of green food coloring to the frosting and mix until combined. Spread a layer of frosting onto each sugar cookie.
Place the coconut flaked into a bowl, add a few drops of green food coloring and mix until coated to create “grass”.
Sprinkle the green coconut over each frosted cookie.
Add a row of Skittles down the center for the butterfly body. Add a white pretzel on each side of the body to form the wings.
Cut small strips of black licorice for the antennas and gently press them into the frosting above the candy body.
Let the cookies sit for about 10 minutes to harden a bit before serving.
Recipe Variations
- Use pastel colors of M&M’s instead of Skittles.
- Swap white chocolate pretzels for hand drawn wings made with candy melts.
- Add edible glitter for extra sparkle.
- Make rainbow butterflies using different candy colors.
Recipe Tips
- If the coconut isn’t coloring evenly, add the food coloring gradually and shake well between additions.
- Let kids decorate their own cookies for a fun party activity.
- Pre-arrange the butterfly pieces before placing them onto the cookies to make decorating quicker.
- Use parchment paper underneath the cookies while decorating for easier cleanup.
- Decorate the cookies the night before your party to save time the day of.
How to Store Butterfly Cookies
Place leftover cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. If stacking the cookies, place parchment paper between layers to keep the decorations in tact and prevent from sticking to each other.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, these cookies can be decorated up to 24 hours in advance.
You can freeze the plain sugar cookies for up to 3 months before decorating. I do not recommend freezing decorated cookies as the coconut can get soggy. Thaw in fridge overnight and decorate the next day.
Absolutely! Homemade buttercream frosting also works great for these cookies.
Recipe
Butterfly Cookies
Ingredients
- 12 Sugar Cookies, use pre-made store bought or bake your own
- 6 Drops Green Food Coloring
- 1 ½ Cups Shredded Coconut Flakes
- 24 White Chocolate Pretzels
- 48 Skittles
- 3 Black Licorice, cut down the middle and then into 8 pieces for antennas
- 1 Tub Vanilla Frosting
Instructions
- Add a few drop of green food coloring to the frosting and mix until combined.
- Spread a layer of frosting onto each sugar cookie.
- Place the coconut flaked into a bowl, add a few drops of green food coloring and mix until coated to create "grass".
- Sprinkle the green coconut over each frosted cookie.
- Add a row of Skittles down the center for the butterfly body.
- Cut small strips of black licorice for the antennas and gently press them into the frosting above the candy body.
- Add a white pretzel on each side of the body to form the wings.
- Let the cookies sit for about 10 minutes to harden a bit before serving.
Nutrition Disclosure
Nutritional facts are estimates and are provided as a courtesy to the reader. Please utilize your own brand nutritional values to double check against our estimates. Nutritional values are calculated via a third party. Changing ingredients, amounts or cooking technique will alter the estimated nutritional calculations.
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