The Genius Trick To Achieving The Cutest Spring Flower Cookies

As soon as the weather starts warming up, it's easy to feel like everything's coming up roses. This new sunny disposition, like a superpower, can allow culinary creatives to look at something as simple as a cookie and think, "How can I make this more whimsical?" We found the answer to that question in 3D flower cookies.

While making 3D cookies may sound complicated, crafting 3D flower-shaped cookies is surprisingly easy. After mixing up your favorite shortbread cookie recipe, start by separating ¼ of the dough. You can then liven up the rest with a touch of food coloring or cocoa powder. Using gel food coloring rather than liquid may help preserve the dough's consistency.

After the dough spends a brief, 10-minute stint in the freezer to prevent it from spreading, you can divide it into teaspoons and roll it into uniform balls. To achieve the dreamy, bubbly flower shape that makes these a springtime favorite, place one ball at the center and arrange five balls of a contrasting color around it. Gently press the balls together to secure the flower's shape; the pieces will eventually fuse during baking.

Using this method to make 3D flower cookies creates a sweet and stunning visual, but you can't do it without the proper dough. Most cookie dough recipes contain eggs, which act as a leavening agent, causing the cookies to rise and expand. While this is ideal for airy sugar cookies, in the case of 3D flower cookies, adding eggs would likely turn your works of art into indecipherable blobs.

For that reason, it's best to use a shortbread cookie dough. Made with just butter, sugar, flour, and a touch of salt and vanilla for flavor, shortbread cookies are completely devoid of leavening agents. Although this results in a significantly denser product, it does prevent spreading, keeping the cookies in perfect flower form. While the food coloring provides a pop of color to your creations, you might also brighten up the flavor by incorporating citrus zest for a top-notch lemon shortbread cookie. Alternatively, you can add nuts, dried fruit, or chocolate chips to your shortbread dough for varied texture and flavor.