Springy shortbread cookies with buttercream flowers

Made with Russian Piping tips!

Spring is almost here! The days are getting longer (thank you daylight savings), there are new leaves on the fig tree down the street and doves are nesting on my mom’s porch. Oh annnd I made these fun springy shortbread cookies with buttercream flowers using my trusty russian piping tips. If you are looking for a fun spring cookie decorating idea I think these are what you are looking for. These cookies are easy to make (just a simple shortbread cookie for the base), a simple 2-ingredient glaze and russian piping tips are a super easy way to create buttercream flowers.

To make the shortbread cookies

This is my basic shortbread dough. All you will need is: butter, flour, sugar, vanilla and salt. I added some orange zest to my dough but you don’t have to. It does add a nice bright flavor to the cookies though if you have it!

I used round cookie cutters. My round cutters were bought with the intention of making Christmas wreath cookies and since that didn’t happen I thought why not make spring wreath cookies instead? I made some wreaths and some just plain circles for variety and because I just can’t be consistent and uniform about things in life. The little ones are just so cute too.

I will share a few tips for using russian piping tips in this post but I go into more depth about them in this post. Definitely will be helpful to check out before you try making these springy cookies.

Am I going to have to refrigerate the shortbread cookie dough?

I don’t refrigerate! The reason I don’t have to refrigerate my shortbread cookie dough is this: I start with cold butter. Starting with cold butter means the dough will still be cool enough by the time it is mixed to roll out nicely so you can easily roll the dough out and cut shapes right away. The easiest way to mix the dough when you are using cold butter is to use a pastry blender. I’ve seen recipes that say to use two knives? But I just don’t think that sounds very easy or very fun. Using the pastry blender takes a bit of oomph but its sharp enough to where its not too hard and doesn’t take very long to get everything combined.

What if don’t want to use a pastry blender?

Don’t fret, you can still make these shortbread cookies if you don’t want to use a pastry blender. You can start with soft butter and use an electric mixer. BUT will need to refrigerate the dough until it becomes firm enough to roll out and use your cookie cutters.

If you use the soft butter method, I recommend that you separate the dough into two discs, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

What are russian piping tips?

Russian piping tips are large nozzles with a specially cut design that will produce a flower design when you press and squeeze buttercream frosting through. Again, I have a guide where I go into more detail about these!

Hints for using russian piping tips

• Practice on a piece of parchment paper before trying to directly pipe onto your cookie
• Make sure buttercream is the right consistency, it should leave a stiff peak when a spoon is dipped in and lifted out quickly and not flop over
• Check out this post all about russian piping tips!

Tried this recipe?

If you’ve made these springy shortbread cookies, let me know! I’d love to see how they turned out. You can tag me on instagram @thefigjar and/or leave a comment and rating below!

More shortbread recipes

Lemon Shortbread Cookies with Lemon Glaze

Earl Grey Shortbread with Vanilla Bean Icing

Springy Shortbread Cookies with Buttercream Flowers

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These cookies are fun spring cookie decorating idea to try if you want to try your hand at using russian piping tips!

• Author: Becky Schmieg
• Prep Time: 30 minutes
• Cook Time: 18 minutes
• Total Time: 48 minutes
• Yield: 15 Cookies (Approximately) 1x
• Category: Dessert
• Cuisine: American

Ingredients

Units USM Scale 1x2x3x

Shortbread cookies

• 1 cup unsalted butter, cold (2 sticks) (see notes for using room temperature butter)
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• zest from 1 orange (optional)

Glaze

• 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
• 3 tbsp milk (or you can use orange juice) (see notes on orange juice)
• pinch of salt

Buttercream frosting

• 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature (2 sticks)
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 tbsp milk
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• pinch of salt

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Instructions

Shortbread cookies

1. Place butter, granulated sugar and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Use a pastry blender combine butter and sugar until no large chunks of butter remain.
2. Add all-purpose flour, coconut flour, salt and orange zest (if using) and continue using the pastry blender to combine until the mixture begins to form a dough that you can press together easily with your hands.
3. Divide the dough mixture in half. Take one half and use your hands to form a ball. Do the same with the second half. Then place one ball on a lightly floured work surface and roll to 1/4 inch thick.
4. Use cookie cutters to cut desired shapes. Roll excess dough into a ball and roll out/cut out again until there is not more dough left. Repeat with the other half of the dough
5. Bake for 18-20 minutes until the edges are lightly browned. Let cool completely before adding the glaze.

Glazing

1. Mix powdered sugar, pinch of salt and milk (OR orange juice) using a fork. Combine until smooth. Gently pick up a cookie by the sides and place top-side down into the glaze to evenly coat. Allow excess to drip back into the bowl. Place cookies on a cooling rack with parchment underneath.
2. Allow the glaze to set. This will take about 30 minutes.

Buttercream

1. Place softened butter in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat butter on medium speed for 10 minutes, scraping down the bowl once or twice.
2. Add the powdered sugar, milk, salt, vanilla and beat on medium again for about 5 minutes, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl.

Decorating

1. Place desired nozzle in your piping bag and cut to fit.
2. For each color, I use between 1/3 – 1/2 cup of frosting. Place the this amount in a small bowl and add food coloring until desired color is reached. Add to piping bag and gently squeeze it down toward the nozzle (trying to get rid of any air bubbles).
3. Place nozzle very close to cookie surface, gently squeeze, press and quickly lift the nozzle away from the cookie. You might want to practice first on a piece on parchment to get the hang of it.
4. I really just wing the decorating, so this is a loose guide: Pipe 1-2 flowers on each large cookie and select a few of the tiny circles to add a flower to.
5. When you are ready to mix the next color, you can just keep mixing in the same bowl. A little bit of the remaining color is probably not going to be noticed unless you are going for a very specific color. Continue choosing places to put your next style/color of flower, placing come right next to the first flowers you piped and some further away.
6. If the buttercream begins to get too warm, place it in the freezer for about 3 minutes to firm it up.
7. Keep adding more flowers until you feel satisfied. Use small and large star tips (wilton no129 and 2D) to fill in around the flowers with green-colored frosting. Use the same technique as you do with the russian nozzles. You can also use a wilton tip no. 21 to make small rosettes.
8. Decorate with gold pearl sprinkles if desired.
9. Enjoy!

Notes

1. Number of cookies is approximate, I used different sizes of circles, It will depend on whether you make wreaths, then you end up with little tiny cirles which are super cute, but it’s kinda hard to put a number on these. 
2. If you don’t have a pastry blender and want to use an electric mixer, start with softened butter and follow the instructions, using the electric mixer where I say to use the pastry blender. Once mixed, divide the dough in half, separate into two discs, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
3. Using orange juice can leave bits of pulp–unless you strain it–which you will be able to see in the glaze. I didn’t care because I just covered any pulp bits with a flower. IF you care, strain the juice or just use milk.