Love Birds

So before my oven caught fire last week, I had the opportunity to make some royal icing cookies for a friend from Paris.  They were for a birthday present so I'm not sure it would be cool to show them here....but along with those cookies I went ahead and made these:

I have been asked to do a tutorial for royal icing sugar cookies so I thought I'd give it a try.  Don't hate me if this post stinks okay?

So I asked my friend Ashley what valentines cookie I should do this year and she said "love birds."  I think I did some cookies with love birds on them last year but I couldnt find a picture and wanted to try something different anyway and this is what I came up with.

To start...I am not going to reinvent the wheel.  Use your favorite sugar cookie recipe.  Mine is on the not too sweet side and I like that but whatever you have will work.  I also use a chocolate sugar cookie recipe which is UHmazing too.  Just bake a cookie and let it cool.

Next, go to The Adventures of Sweet Sugarbelle for an awesome tutorial on icing.  She has her recipe on there as well as tons of tutorials tips and even VIDEO so you can really get it.  She is the bomb and her sight and youtube is where I learned this crazy cookie thing.

So once you have your cookies and you have prepared your icing, you will need:
*black piping icing (or small black sprinkles for eyes)
*white flood icing
*white piping icing
*pink flood icing
*pink piping icing
*yellow 20 second icing (In between flood and piping consistency)
*piping bags
*#2 tips
*icing bottles

So, I didnt have a bird shaped cutter (UNbelievable considering how my cutter collection has grown in the last two years) so I used a repeat tin heart cutter and sorta smooshed it.  Then bake your cookies.

I let them sit overnight (mostly because I was tired) and then began the next day by making and coloring my icing and then outlining the birds.

You don't have to wait for this to dry.  Totally up to you.  Next fill in your bird with your flood icing.  Use a toothpick to drag the icing into the tip of the tail.

It's totally okay if it looks clumpily right after you're done filling in.  The coolest part about this icing is that it flattens out and looks FABULOUS when it dries.  Give it half a minute and it goes from this:

to this:

It's like magic I tell ya!

While you're waiting for that to set, outline their little beaks and go ahead and fill them in.

At this point it's best to wait a few hours at least for the icing to set.  8 hours is best.  But I do it right away and I am just extra careful...whatever you like is fine.

It is time to add the details...my favorite part.  Up until now they look kind of lame honestly.  But lets add a few details.  A dot of black for an eye (you could totally use candy sprinkles if you don't want to make an entire tube of black icing for such a small detail).  Two little yellow feet.  Don't forget to use your piping icing in the color of your bird to pipe on feathers with.  It really gives it dimension.  I tried to make the wing look sort of like a heart (I'm lame and cheesy I know).

 And there you have it!  It is really a fairly simple cookie so if you're not a cookie-er don't be afraid.  This is a great do-able cookie to start with.  Stack them on a plate with some basic hearts and you now have a fun valentines day platter!

P.S. I am so totally thankful that I made these before my oven broke!  I popped them in the freezer and I can just thaw them out in a single layer the day I plan to use them and serve them to my sweet family without worrying about it.  I'm so glad God cares about my little details.