Easter Sugar Cookies

With Easter coming up next month, I decided to share these cute bird-shaped cookies I made last year. Not only are these cookies adorable, but they are delicious and perfect for an Easter celebration with family and friends. Here is what you'll need:

For the cookies:
Three colors of food coloring (I used red, violet and yellow)
2 (1 small and 1 large) bird-shaped cookie cutters
1 pouch Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie mix
1/3 cup softened butter
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup flour

For the icing:
3 pastry bags
Wilton decorating tip #5
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
3 cups confectioner's sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup warm water

Directions:
1) Heat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie mix, butter and milk. (The recipe on the pouch also calls for 1 egg, but I am allergic to eggs so I chose not to use the egg and the cookies turned out just as fine!) Combine until a soft dough forms.
2) Roll the dough into a ball and place between 2 sheets of wax paper, lightly coated with flour. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough to about 1/4 inch thick. Remove the top sheet of wax paper.
3) Using your cookie cutters, cut the dough and place on an ungreased cookie sheet about 1/2 inch apart.
4) Bake cookies for 8-9 minutes. Remove cookies and let sit until completely cooled.
5) Mix water, vanilla and corn syrup. Mix liquid ingredients into a separate bowl with confectioner's sugar. Beat on low with an electric mixer until icing is smooth.
6) Separate icing evenly into three cups. Drop 3-5 drops of food coloring into each cup. Using a knife, mix until food coloring is distributed evenly. You may also add morel/less food coloring until you have reached your desired color.
7) Put each color icing into a separate pastry bag. Using your pastry bag and #5 tip, first outline the shape of the bird. Then, fill in the inside of the bird. If the icing looks uneven, use a small spatula to evenly spread the icing. Repeat with each cookie. Using your darkest color icing, pipe a dot on each cookie to make the eye.
8) Once icing has dried completely, your cookies are ready to enjoy!