These Frosted Sugar Cookies are delicious and simple. They practically melt in your mouth and are rich with sweetness without being too sugary. Make a batch of these simple, timeless cookies today!
Best Sugar Cookie Recipe
Who can resist a homemade sugar cookie? This tried and true recipe takes already beloved cookies and makes them even more irresistible.
The texture of these cookies is delightfully soft on the inside and crunchy on the outside, all while being perfectly sweetened with cane sugar and vanilla extract. The homemade icing is also delectable, like a beautiful bow on top of a delicious present!
Once you top these homemade cookies with the sprinkles of your choosing, they become picturesque on top of perfectly baked and scrumptious. You’re going to love these adorable, easy to make sugar cookies!
Note: This recipe is one of those few exceptions on our site that has more than 10 ingredients. We try to keep things VERY easy around here, and limiting ingredients and time spent is one of our favorite ways. That being said, this recipe is too delicious to leave out of our recipe box! It’s an exception that is so flavorful and worth the extra ingredients if you have the time and resources to make it.
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How to Make Sugar Cookies
Be sure to see the recipe card below for full ingredients & instructions!
- Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Cream together the butter, shortening, and sugar.
- Add eggs and vanilla to the butter mixture.
- Combine the wet and dry ingredients.
- Prepare the baking sheet.
- Place the rolled cookie dough balls on the sheet.
- Press the dough balls with the bottom of a glass.
- Chill for 1 hour.
- Bake the cookies in a preheated oven for 12 minutes.
- Cool completely before decorating.
- Make the icing by first creaming together the butter and shortening.
- Add the vanilla extract and powdered sugar to the mix.
- Add the heavy cream, mix, then the remaining powdered sugar.
- Ice the cookies and add sprinkles.
Once the cookies are fully cooled and iced, place them in an airtight container to avoid them drying out. To make sure the icing stays nice and pretty, allow it to set before placing sheets of wax or parchment paper between the layers of cookies. These cookies will keep for up to 3 days at room temperature, up to 5 days in the refrigerator, and up to 3 months in the freezer.
If you skip the chilling step of this recipe, the cookies will spread when they bake into large discs that will ultimately be thin and not the desired texture. While it may seem like a long time, an hour is the perfect amount of time to ensure the cookies are sturdy enough to bake and hold their shape.
For these sugar cookies, you do NOT want to wait until the edges brown like many other cookie recipes call for! At the 12-minute mark, these cookies should truly be fully baked. If the tops don’t seem firm to you at that point, allow them to bake for another minute or so, but avoid going over more time than that or you risk burning them.
Recipe Tips and Tricks
- Making these cookies for Easter or Christmas? Easily customize them by adding food coloring to the frosting or changing up the sprinkles for a festive flair! You can even add food coloring to the cookie dough to go all out with your theme.
- Use room temperature butter – not cold to melted butter – for best results when creaming the ingredients.
- Turn these cookies into cookie sandwiches by spreading the homemade icing on the underside of a cookie, then sandwich it with another cookie!
Homemade sugar cookies with sweet vanilla icing are a classic treat that’s hard to beat!
If you make this recipe be sure to leave us a comment or rating. Enjoy!
Frosted Sugar Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
For the Cookies
- 3 cups cake flour 360 grams, plus extra for dusting
- 2 teaspoons baking powder 8 grams
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter 113 grams (1 stick)
- ½ cup vegetable shortening 92 grams (½ stick)
- 1¼ cup granulated sugar 250 grams
- 2 large eggs 100 grams
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract 8 grams
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract 1 gram
For the Icing
- ½ cup salted butter 113 grams (1 stick)
- ½ cup vegetable shortening 92 grams (½ stick)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 4 grams
- 3 cups powdered sugar 339 grams
- 4 tablespoons heavy cream 57 grams
- 2 tablespoons rainbow sprinkles 24 grams, for decorating
Equipment
- Kitchen Scale (optional)
- Baking Sheet
- Stand Mixer
- Cookie Portion Scoop
Instructions
For the Cookies
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and lightly dust with flour. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.3 cups cake flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter, shortening, and sugar.½ cup vegetable shortening, ½ cup unsalted butter, 1¼ cup granulated sugar
- Add the eggs and extracts, scraping down the sides of the bowl if needed.2 large eggs, 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract, ¼ teaspoon almond extract
- Slowly add the flour mixture to the butter/sugar mixture. Mix to combine.
- Using a 2 tablespoon cookie scoop, make dough balls and place them 4 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet.
- Dust the top of the dough balls with flour and press flat with a flat-bottomed cup until all cookies are ¼-inch thick.
- Chill for 1 hour to prevent spreading while baking.
- While the cookies chill, preheat oven to 350°F.
- Bake the cookies for 12 minutes. Cookies are done when the tops are firm. You don’t want this type of sugar cookie to brown on the edges.
- Cool completely before icing and adding sprinkles.
For the Icing
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, cream together the butter and shortening until light and fluffy.½ cup salted butter, ½ cup vegetable shortening
- Add the vanilla extract and 2 cups of the powdered sugar. Mix to combine.1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, 3 cups powdered sugar
- Add the heavy cream and mix until the icing has reached a smooth consistency.4 tablespoons heavy cream
- Add remaining powdered sugar.
- Ice cooled cookies and add sprinkles!2 tablespoons rainbow sprinkles
Notes
- You can leave out the almond extract if you prefer.
- These cookies can easily be made to fit a theme or holiday with a little food coloring and festive sprinkles to match the occasion!
- Make sure butter is room temperature before beginning this recipe. Cold butter will not cream well and warm or melted butter will make a sticky mess!
- Store cookies in an airtight container to avoid them drying out. Once icing has set, place sheets of wax or parchment paper between layers of cookies for easy storage.
- A paddle attachment worked very well for both the dough and the icing for this recipe! I quickly washed the bowl and paddle while the dough was chilling so it would be ready to whip up the icing.
- Turn these cookies into cookie sandwiches by spreading the homemade icing on the underside of a cookie, then sandwich it with another cookie!
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