Easter Egg Sugar Cookies Recipe

Course: cookie, Dessert

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 1

Cook Time: 12

Chill Time: 20

Total Time: 1 32

Servings: cookies

Calories: 400kcal

Author: Becky Hardin

These Easter egg sugar cookies are the perfect family activity. A simple sugar cookie decorated for Easter with buttercream.

Print Recipe

US Customary - Metric

Equipment

Kitchen Scale (optional)
Hand Mixer or Stand Mixer
2 Baking Sheet(s)
Rolling Pin
Piping Tip Set (optional)

Ingredients

For the Sugar Cookies

1 cup vegetable shortening (1 stick)
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs room temperature
2 tablespoons milk room temperature
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
3½ cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon kosher salt

For the Buttercream

1 cup unsalted butter slightly melted (2 sticks)
2½ cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
gel food coloring

Instructions

For the Sugar Cookies

In a large bowl, using a hand mixer, beat the shortening, sugar, eggs, milk and vanilla extract together until smooth, about 1-2 minutes.
1 cup vegetable shortening, 1 cup granulated sugar, 2 large eggs, 2 tablespoons milk, 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, and salt.
3½ cups all-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, 2 teaspoons baking powder
Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and beat just until well combined and the dough starts to stick together, about 1–2 minutes. Do not overmix.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
Sprinkle a clean work surface lightly with flour, then place about ⅓ of the dough onto the prepared surface to roll out. Sprinkle the top of the dough with flour to prevent the dough from sticking to the rolling pin.
For soft and thick cookies, it’s recommended to use a rolling pin with thickness rings and use the ⅜-inch thickness ring. If you aren’t cutting these cookies out thick, you’ll want to reduce your baking time to reflect that (start checking cookies after 8 minutes instead of 12 minutes).
Cut the cookies out using egg-shaped cookie cutters. The eggs shown here are about 3 inches in size, but slightly larger works just fine.
Place the cut-out cookies onto the prepared baking sheet. The cookies can be placed close together on the baking sheet for this step. Place sugar cookies in the freezer for 20 minutes to chill before baking.
While the cookies chill, preheat oven to 350°F.
Line a second baking sheet with parchment paper. Place some cookies onto the baking sheet (about 2 inches apart) and bake for 12-14 minutes for thick-cut cookies, 8-10 minutes for thinner cookies, or until tops of cookies look set (no longer wet but not yet brown) and the bottoms of cookies are slightly brown. The middle of cookies will still be slightly soft to the touch but will continue baking once removed from the oven. Only bake one tray of cookies at a time to ensure even baking time for all cookies.
Repeat baking steps with remaining cookies.
Let cookies cool completely before frosting.

For the Buttercream

In a large bowl, using a hand mixer, beat the butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla together until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. If the frosting seems too thick, beat in a tablespoon of water.
1 cup unsalted butter, 2½ cups powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

Decorating Steps

Separate the frosting into separate smaller bowls. Use food coloring to color icings in desired colors. Stir completely to make sure all color is worked into the icing.
gel food coloring
Place icings into tipless piping bags and close the ends (the side you were putting the icing in) using clips or elastics. Cut small openings in the tips of each icing bag. For background colors, the tips can be cut larger. For icings you’ll be printing with or doing finer details with, keep the tip cut small.
Start decorating with background colors on all cookies (like the brown of the basket and the blue of the sky). Simply start by lining the outside of the cookie then continue filling in following the shape of the cookie. If icings are not squeezing out of the bags smoothly, roll piping bags between hands to warm icing a bit making it easier to squeeze out. Do not microwave icing – even 5 seconds in the microwave can turn the icing into a melted mess.
Work on decorating cookies in layers – first the background color, then finer details like the carrot top or eggs in basket. Lay cookies out in a single layer to dry.

Notes

Roll out the dough to ⅜-inch thickness for soft, thick cookies. Use a rolling pin with thickness rings for accuracy.
For thinner cookies, roll the dough out thinner and adjust the baking time down by a few minutes.
Don't skip chilling the cookies! They will spread out and become misshapen if you don't chill them.
Be careful not to overbake the cookies! Bake until just beginning to brown on the bottom.
Make sure the cookies are completely cool before frosting them; otherwise, the frosting will melt and slide off.
Divide the frosting into as many bowls as you'd like colors. Be sure to add extra frosting to the colors you think you'll use a lot, and be sure to leave one bowl white!
For richer, darker frosting colors, use more gel food coloring. For pastel colors, use just a drop.
Cut wider tips in the icing bags for backgrounds and flooding, and cut smaller tips for details and text.
Start with simpler designs first until you get the hang of piping; then, move on to more complicated designs.
Always work from the background to the foreground, piping the sky and ground, for example, before piping any food or figures.
Don't worry if you make a mistake. This frosting is easy to scrape off with a butter knife and start again!

To make royal icing: Mix 4 cups of powdered sugar with 3 tablespoons of meringue powder (or 2 egg whites) and 10 tablespoons of water, adding more water or powdered sugar as needed until you reach your desired consistency. Divide and color the frosting. Be sure to work quickly, as royal icing sets up fast!

Storage: Store Easter egg sugar cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days, in the refrigerator for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 1 month.

Nutrition