Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C (160°C for a fan oven), and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat silicone baking mat. Set aside.
In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
In a separate mixing bowl, with a hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract, and beat again.
Add the flour mixture, a little at a time, mixing after each addition. If the dough gets too thick for your mixer, finish mixing the dough by hand.
Use a medium cookie scoop to drop the dough onto the lined baking sheet, leaving two inches between each cookie.
Bake for 9-11 minutes, or until the edges are lightly golden brown.
Allow the cookies to cool on the pan for 2 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
For the Frosting:
In a large bowl with a hand mixer, or in the bowl of your stand mixer, beat the butter at medium speed for 1 minute, or until creamy.
Decrease the speed to low, and gradually add in the powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and salt. Continue beating for 3 minutes until light and fluffy.
If needed, add a small amount of milk to the frosting to get it to the perfect piping consistency.
Divide the frosting in half into two separate bowls. Use food coloring to tint one bowl light blue, and the other a light teal.
To combine the frostings, lay out two pieces of plastic wrap. Add the frosting to the wrap, and then roll it up into a tube shape, twisting the ends to seal. Snip off one of the twisted ends from each tube.
Add a star tip to a large piping bag, then add both colors of frosting, with the open end of the rolls pointing down toward the tip.
Add a swirl of buttercream to each cookie, then top with a gummy shark.
Notes
Each cookie dough ball was around 28 grams, I used a medium OXO cookie scoop and made 34 cookies in total.
Use room temperature ingredients. It's important that the butter is soft for both the cookie dough and the frosting. Room-temperature eggs are also suggested, as they mix into the dough much better than cold ones.
Don't go too heavy with the food coloring. You want this ocean-hued frosting to be pastel.
Using two colors of frosting in one piping bag is super fun, and gives you a swirled effect that looks much more difficult than it actually is!
Store shark cookies in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
If you'd like to freeze these cookies, I'd suggest freezing them without the frosting. They'll keep in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw and frost as desired when you need them for your shark week festivities!