Rolled Buttercream

I have a friend who is trying to get pregnant - so I figured a little "bouquet" of sperm and egg cookies was in order! Also gave me the perfect excuse to try rolled buttercream on cookies.  Was a great success, I must say!

Recipe:
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup light corn syrup (I could only find golden syrup so I used that.  I think they recommend light so your rolled buttercream isn't tinted slightly brown.  I was dying mine so didn't really care)
about 4 cups sifted icing sugar
1 tsp extract (I used almond)
1 pkg instant pudding (I used white chocolate)

1.  Beat corn syrup and butter until combined (the picture is pre mixed)

2.  Add about 1/2 the icing sugar, pudding (not made, so you are adding the powder) and the extract.  Beat with hand mixer until it sounds like it is going to die (or use your fancy stand up mixer if you have one).  Don't worry if it seems like a crumbled mess - it will come together!

3.  Knead in the rest of the icing sugar by hand, adding a small amount at a time until at desired consistency.  (if I was using this on a cake, I would make it a bit "denser" so it would not rip)

(in this photo I had added the white food coloring which is why it is white)

4. Roll out and cut with cookie cutters...

Seems easy, right??  here's a trick I learned...

I rolled out the buttercream on parchment paper.  I then froze the cut out icing while my cookies were baking.  This made it easier to transfer them onto the cookies without losing their shape.

Once the cookies were done, I let them cool slightly (about 3 minutes) then put the buttercream on the warm cookies.  The heat from the cookies softened the icing enough I could push it into place (to the edges) of the cookie.

Then I let them cool and made into my "bouquet".  All in all, happy with the turnout! While making the buttercream was time consuming, it was way easier to decorate the cookies! I will definitely use this technique again (and again, and again, and again...)