Description
Classic, easy-to-make sugar cookies with a soft, tender texture and sweet vanilla flavor, topped with a smooth, glossy sugar cookie frosting perfect for decorating with sprinkles and candies. This recipe includes tips for chilling dough, rolling, baking, and customizing frosting with food coloring for festive treats.
Ingredients
Scale
Sugar Cookies
- 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 2 ½ cups (315 g) all-purpose flour (plain flour)
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon table salt
Sugar Cookie Frosting
- 3 cups (375 g) powdered sugar, sifted (weigh before sifting)
- 3-4 Tablespoons milk (whole milk recommended)
- 2 Tablespoons light corn syrup
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Gel food coloring (optional)
- Additional candies and sprinkles for decorating (optional)
Instructions
- Prepare the cookie dough: In a stand mixer bowl or large bowl with a hand mixer, beat together softened butter and granulated sugar until creamy and well-combined.
- Add eggs and vanilla: Beat in the egg and vanilla extract until fully incorporated.
- Combine dry ingredients: In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Mix dry into wet: Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, stirring until a smooth, cohesive dough forms.
- Chill the dough: Divide dough into two portions and flatten each into a disk. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2-3 hours or up to 5 days to firm up.
- Preheat oven and prepare baking sheet: Heat oven to 350°F (175°C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or use ungreased baking sheet.
- Roll out dough: Lightly flour a clean surface and roll out one chilled dough disk to 1/8″ for thinner, crispier cookies or 1/4″ for thicker, softer cookies. If dough cracks, let soften at room temperature for 10-15 minutes before trying again.
- Cut shapes and bake: Use cookie cutters to cut shapes and transfer carefully to baking sheet spaced about 1″ apart. Optionally, sprinkle sanding sugar on uniced cookies before baking. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until edges just start to turn golden, adjusting time for cookie size.
- Cool cookies: Let cookies cool completely on the baking sheet before decorating.
- Make frosting: In a bowl, combine powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons milk, corn syrup, and vanilla extract. Stir until smooth. Add more milk 1 teaspoon at a time if too thick, or more powdered sugar if too thin, to reach a thick but pipeable consistency.
- Color frosting: Divide frosting into separate bowls if coloring and add gel food coloring as desired.
- Decorate cookies: Fill a piping bag or a Ziploc bag with frosting and pipe onto cooled cookies. Add candies or sprinkles as embellishments.
- Let frosting set: Allow decorated cookies to sit several hours until frosting hardens before stacking, storing, or serving.
Notes
- Flavoring and extracts: You can reduce vanilla extract to ¾ teaspoon and add ¼ to ½ teaspoon almond or lemon extract for variation.
- Corn syrup: Light corn syrup is recommended for a firm, glossy frosting finish. Omitting it will soften the frosting and may require additional milk to adjust consistency. Glucose syrup can be used as a substitute.
- Making frosting in advance: Store frosting in an airtight container with plastic wrap pressed on the surface. Keep at room temperature or refrigerated and stir again before use. Color before or after storing.
- Storing cookies: Store uneaten cookies in an airtight container at room temperature up to 10 days. Cookies can also be frozen for several months.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie (assuming 40 cookies per batch)
- Calories: 110
- Sugar: 10g
- Sodium: 70mg
- Fat: 6g
- Saturated Fat: 3.5g
- Unsaturated Fat: 2.5g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 14g
- Fiber: 0.3g
- Protein: 1g
- Cholesterol: 20mg
