How To Make Adorable Crab Cookies

This Crab Cookies post is courtesy of our contributor Amy…​Memorial Day is two weeks away and despite the official calendar date, all I can think of is SUMMER! I just can’t wait for beach weekends, BBQs, and warm summer nights. These quick and cute little crab cookies just SCREAM summer and would be the perfect addition to your Memorial Day buffet table!

Watch the cute Crab Cookies tutorial here & keep reading for the written instructions!

Crab Cookies Tutorial:

I realized I didn’t have a crab cookie cutter exactly two days before an order for crab cookies was due. There was no time to order one so I had to get creative. A quick Google search turned up this adorable set by Miss Cuit. I just love her creative use of a butterfly cutter for the project, and had to attempt my own version.

A dozen of these cuties took me less than 1 hour to make from start to finish – perfect for a last minute dessert sure to impress!

Bake up your favorite recipe and allow the cookies to cool while you make the royal icing.

I used just ONE bowl and just a few drops of food coloring for this project- Americolor Super Red. I have tried almost every red available and this one is my favorite hands down!

Start with your favorite royal icing recipe (I use Wilton’s available here). Thin your icing to medium consistency – looser than piping but not so thin that it runs off your spatula. Scoop out a little bit of this uncolored icing and fill either a tipless piping bag, or a traditional bag with a tip 2. Color the remaining icing using Super Red. Start with 3-4 drops of color and mix well. You want the icing to get past the pink stage, but don’t worry if its not a vivid dark red. The icing color will continue to develop once you fill your piping bag. Scoop out a few tablespoons of red icing and fill another piping bag. Thin down the remaining icing in your bowl to what we call “20 second icing”- meaning that it will take 20 seconds for a line drawn in your icing to smooth out again.

Now onto decorating – ready, set, GO!!

Using your 20 second red, draw a football shape in the center of your butterfly and immediately fill with icing.

Next, make two small half circles at the top inner portion of each wing. Do this on each of your cookies, so the icing has a chance to dry before you start the next step.

Next, make a larger half circle facing the opposite direction, on the outer portion of each wing. Use a toothpick or scribe tool to help shape your icing. You want these two segments to connect, but not overlap. Its important that your smaller half circle has at least 10 min to “crust” over, so you get a nice line of separation between the two claw segments.

Switch to your medium consistency icing and make two small circles at the top of your football shape. Immediately add a tiny drop of white icing to the center of each circle.

Next, pipe the legs in the lower wing portions of your cookie.. I made 3 legs per side, and used 4 dots on each leg. Angle a 5th dot of icing toward the center on the innermost legs.

Connect the claws to the body with 4 more dots. Finally add a little smile!

I had some black piping icing on hand from another project so I cheated and used that for the pupils. You could also use these sugar pearls, and drop in right after you add the white icing, or even allow the eyes to dry and draw on a pupil with a black edible ink marker.

How cute are these little crabs? I’m already dreaming of sandy toes and ocean breezes!!

We’d like to extend a big THANK YOU to Amy for sharing this crab cookies tutorial with us. Be sure to follow her on Facebook & Instagram for adorable cookie decorating ideas. You will LOVE her designs! Have a special celebration coming up? You can also order cookies from her! Check out the FAQ section of her website for more information.