Step-by-Step Floral Buttercream Sugar Cookies for Mother’s Day

Mother’s Day is the perfect occasion to show love and appreciation with a sweet, homemade floral buttercream sugar cookies treat. In this tutorial, I will guide you through creating six beautiful buttercream sugar cookie designs that will impress you. Whether new to cookie decorating or a seasoned baker, this step-by-step free video tutorial will help you craft stunning Mother’s Day floral buttercream sugar cookies. Let’s get stared on making these darling gifts for the special moms in your life!

Video Tutorial for Floral Buttercream Sugar Cookies

Step One: Preparing the Perfect Sugar Cookie Base

The foundation of any decorated cookie is the cookie itself. I use my tried-and-true sugar cookie recipe, perfect for holding up under layers of buttercream frosting.

Sugar Cookie Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Sugar Cookie Instructions:

1. Place 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter & 1 1/2 cup granulated sugar in a standing mixer with the paddle attachment. Mix until combined, then whip on high for 1-2 minutes until the mixture is lighter in color
2. Add 1 tsp almond extract, 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, 2 eggs & 2 egg yolks. Mix until just combined
3. In a separate bowl combine the dry ingredients: 1/4 tsp fine sea salt, 1 1/2 tsp baking powder & 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
4. Turn standing mixer on low and slowly pour in dry ingredients. Stop mixing as soon as the dough comes together
5. Place dough on parchment paper, cover with plastic wrap and roll out
6. Place in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes, up to 3 days
7. Preheat oven to 375 degrees **Note: Convection setting is great for cookies**
8. Take out of fridge and cut with cookie cutter
9. Place on a light-colored metal cookie sheet, lined with parchment paper
10. Bake for 9 minutes
11. Take out of the oven and allow to sit on pan for 5-10 minutes. Remove from pan to finish cooling

These buttercream sugar cookies are a delicious and sturdy base for decorating. Once cooled. they’re ready for the next step.

Step Two: Making the Buttercream Frosting

Next, prepare the buttercream frosting to decorate the cookies. This frosting is rich and creamy and perfect for piping beautiful designs.

Ingredients for Sugar Cookie Frosting

• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 8 ounces cream cheese
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 1 tsp coconut extract
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 6 cups powdered sugar

Instructions for Sugar Cookie Frosting

1. In a standing mixer with the paddle attachment add 1 cup unsalted butter & 8 ounces cream cheese, mix until combined
2. Pour in 1 tsp coconut extract, 1 tsp almond extract and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract and 6 cups powdered sugar, mix until combined
3. Once combined, turn the mixer up to high and whip for 1-2 minutes until lighter in color.

This buttercream frosting is now ready to be used for decorating your Mother’s Day sugar cookies.

Step Three: Decorating Techniques for Mother’s Day Floral Buttercream Sugar Cookies

Now is the fun part- decorating your cookies! In this video, I cover six buttercream sugar cookie designs, each inspired by a favorite flower or a Mother’s Day theme.

Tools Needed for Floral Buttercream Sugar Cookies

• Piping Bags
• Wilton 13
• Wilton 3
• Wilton 16

Tiny Floral Buttercream Sugar Cookie Bouquet

1. Start by flat icing the cookie in white or natural buttercream color.
2. Use a Wilton 13 tiny star tip in various colors: pipe small circles, two or three in each color.
3. Then, use a Wilton 3 in green to make the stems. One stem from each rose, angled to a point.
4. Fill in the bouquet with a few more Wilton 13 tiny roses.
5. Tie the bouquet up with a bow using a Wilton 3 in any color other than green: pipe two small ovals and two small tails to look like a bow.
6. Border the cookie with Wilton 16, teeth side facing up. Squeeze pressure to make a ruffle and then even pressure to make a straight line. Repeat, more pressure for another ruffle, even pressure for a line. Continue around the entire border of the cookie.

Bow with Floral Border

1. Start by flat icing the cookie in white or natural buttercream color.
2. Using a Wilton 13, make tight circles to create roses. Use a variety of colors around the border of the cookie.
3. Using a Wilton 3 in green to make tiny leaves. Start with a little pressure and then release pressure and quickly pull away to create a point to the leaf.
4. With a Wilton 3 tip in a pink color, make a bow. Two ovals and then two tails to make the bow.

Three Rose Clusters

1. Start by flat icing the cookie in white or natural buttercream color.
2. Use Wilton 13 in various colors. Make three small circles clustered together, and use various colors for multiple clusters around the cookie.
3. Use a Wilton 3 in green to make leaves. Start with some pressure, then release the pressure and quickly pull away to make the pointed leaf. Add one or two leaves to each rose cluster
4. Add sporadic single roses around the empty white space to fill up the cookie.

Meadow of Flowers

1. Start by flat icing the cookie in white or natural buttercream color.
2. Using Wilton 13 in multiple colors, pipe tight circles all around the bottom half of the cookie.
3. With a Wilton 3, make three tiny V-shapes stacked on top of each other to make the longer flower.
4. Use green with another Wilton 3 to make stems, dragging it down from each flower.
5. Fill in the meadow with additional stems and flowers as needed.

Cascading Flower Vines

1. Start by flat icing the cookie in white or natural buttercream color.
2. Using a Wilton 3, make multiple stems dropping from the top of the cookie.
3. Create small V-shapes coming off of each stem to make a crawling vine look.
4. Use multiple Wilton 13’s in various colors to create tiny roses off each vine. To make a rose, pipe a tight circle.
5. Fill in more vines with the Wilton 3 in green as needed.
6. Add in more roses with the Wilton 13.
7. The video mysteriously got cut off. For the top border, use a Wilton 16, teeth side facing up. Squeeze pressure to make a ruffle and then even pressure to make a straight line. Repeat, more pressure for another ruffle, even pressure for a line. Continue around the top of the cookie.

Tiny Bows with Ruffled Border

Because of technical difficulties, this last tutorial was not filmed. Luckily, each design was covered in the video on a different cookie. Here are the step-by-step instructions

1. Using a Wilton 3 in multiple colors, pipe small bows around the center of the cookie. The bow design requires two small ovals with two small tails coming off the center of the ovals.
2. Border the cookie with Wilton 16, teeth side facing up. Squeeze pressure to make a ruffle and then even pressure to make a straight line. Repeat, more pressure for another ruffle, even pressure for a line. Continue around the entire border of the cookie.

Storage Tips for Floral Buttercream Sugar Cookies

After you’ve decorated your cookies, it’s essential to store them properly to keep them fresh and beautiful.

Airtight Container—Place the cookies in a single layer in an airtight container. I would not stack the decorated cookies, even with parchment paper between them. There is no way to prevent smudges when stacking.

Room Temperature– Store the cookies at room temperature for up to a week.

Refrigerating– You can refrigerate for more extended storage. Let the cookie come back to room temperature before eating.

Freezing– You can freeze the frosted cookies for up to 1 month. Let the cookies come back to room temperature before eating.

Packings Floral Buttercream Sugar Cookies as a Gift

To package these cookies as a darling Mother’s Day gift, consider placing them in a decorative box tied with a ribbon. For a personal touch, you should also include a Mother’s Day card.

Beautiful Tiny Floral Buttercream Sugar Cookies

Creating Mother’s Day floral buttercream sugar cookies with buttercream frosting is a great way to show your love and appreciation. With this step-by-step photo series and free video tutorial, you can craft stunning cookies that make a perfect gift for any mom. From the sugar cookie recipe to the final touches, I’ve covered everything you need to make these treats a success. So, gather your favorite round cookie cutter and Wilton tips to get started on creating something truly special!