Last Updated April 4th, 2024 at 08:59 am by Lisa
Bake these Easter Cookies with classic sugar cookie dough, drizzled with easy buttercream vanilla icing, and lots of cute pastel sprinkles on top!
You will love this frosting. This wet icing sets up fast once chilled in the fridge. So you decorate quickly and can stack the iced cookies on a platter or pack them into boxes to share. These cute Spring cookies are so happy and bright...
How To Make Easter Sugar Cookies
For years every time I make these butter cookies for Easter brunch, people go crazy. I honestly use the same recipe for Christmas too, these Easter egg cookies are soooo soft and chewy. And make a nice gift for friends and family, you can wrap them in little pastry containers or cookie bags.
And for all, you avid cookie decorators, take a look at my royal icing using edible pens for more decorated cookie inspiration! You can make royal icing with meringue powder or egg whites and flood the surface of cookies with white royal icing. Let it dry, then kids can write sweet notes to the Easter bunny and have a little bit of fun creating their own designs.
Happy decorating your Easter egg sugar cookies!
Cut Out Sugar Cookie Ingredients
- butter
- granulated sugar
- EggBeaters or an Egg
- baking powder
- orange juice freshly squeezed from an orange
- good vanilla extract
- all-purpose flour
Vanilla Buttercream Icing Ingredients
- powdered sugar
- butter softened, room temperature
- vanilla extract (or swap in almond extract)
- milk
- Easter sprinkles
Cookie Recipe Instructions
- In a large bowl or an electric mixer, add sugar and softened butter. Mix until combined on medium speed.
- Next add egg, baking powder, orange juice, vanilla, and mix. Next, add flour gradually, and mix until the dry ingredients are well combined.
- Wrap cookie dough in plastic food wrap and chill dough until firm for 1-2 hours.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll dough out to ¼ thickness using a rolling pin and a pastry mat for easy cleanup.
- Use Easter shaped cutter to cut out the cookies from the rolled-out dough. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet or cookie sheets at least 1-2 inches apart.
- Heat oven to 400 degrees, and bake for 10-12 minutes until edges are lightly browned.
- Cool the cookies completely on their baking tray or a wire rack, and then decorate. Leave on the cooling rack for 8-10 minutes.
- Spread the frosting with a small offset spatula, use Ziploc bag, or piping bag to pipe out curvy squiggle patterns, white dots, or your own design.
PRO TIP: Chilling the dough really helps the cookies to cut easier and hold their shape while baking.
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Make The Vanilla Buttercream Icing
- Cream room temperature butter with a hand mixer, the paddle attachment of a stand mixer, or a wooden spoon until smooth and fluffy. Next, slowly add the powdered sugar until fully incorporated.
- Add milk and the vanilla extract, then beat for an additional 3 to 4 minutes.
- Add more milk if necessary to make it soft to ice the cookies.
Cookie Decorating
- Fill a strong ziptop bag and snip the end or, fill a pastry bag fitted with a small tip, and pipe a zig-zag line back and forth over each cookie going back and forth.
- Next, add sprinkles on top of the frosting.
- Chill the cookies in a single layer in the refrigerator to set the icing.
- Stack on a plate and enjoy!
PRO BAKING TIP: Load frosting in a zip-top or pastry bag, snip a small corner off, and use a back and forth motion to ice your cookies then add colorful sprinkles. This is the easiest way to decorate a lot of cookies fast!
Easter Cookie Cutters & Shapes
A great way to celebrate Spring and Easter is with different-shaped cookies. Here are some inspiring ideas for you to try, or why not make one huge giant sugar cookie and decorate it as a family!
Another great option if you are short on time is to buy cookie kits at your local supermarket or grocery store. They will have pre-baked cookies and frosting ready to go!
- Carrot Cookie Cutter ~ use orange and green icing
- Bunny Cookies
- Bunny Head
- Flowers - daisies, tulips, and roses
- Easter eggs ~ use egg cookie cutters
- Baby Chicks
- Easter Baskets
- Spring Shapes (flowers, ducks, bunnies)
- Egg Shapes ~ add squiggles, lines, and dots!
Easter Designs
Sugar cookies are great, if you want to make another recipe try my Simple Shortbread Cookies with different spring flavors like mint, lemon, or orange to make them your own creation and put your fun twists on them.
- Order some Easter Sprinkles with carrots, eggs, and bunnies
- Try Edible Markers to write on the surface of the sugar cookies!
- Color Icing: liquid food colouring will color any white icing
- Drizzle Icing: sprinkle mini white or chocolate chips, crushed candy, or jelly beans
- Flavor Additions: add some lemon, lime, or orange zest to your cookie dough or icing for great fresh flavor. Or add lemon or orange extract.
- Melted Chocolate: gel food colouring works great to color white chocolate to make it pastel colors, or orange and green for carrots
- Pastel Sprinkles: mix your own with sprinkles at home; mix pink, green, pastel blue, and yellow sprinkles and use up some things you have on hand
- Chocolate Eggs: bake egg shape cookies, spread chocolate brown icing, and add chocolate sprinkles with color dots and squiggle lines
- Color Sugars: white sanding sugar or even regular sugar can be colored with drops of food coloring in a zip bag
- Homemade Frosting Recipes: Add my White Frosting, Chocolate Frosting, or cream cheese frosting to your cookies.
Sugar Cookies & Frosting FAQ
The best way to keep them fresh for at least two weeks is wrapped in plastic wrap in an airtight container or sealed plastic bag.
Yes, a good way to store them is in a sealed container or on a paper plate covered with a zip-top bag.
You can freeze buttercream frosting. When ready to use it, simply place it on the kitchen counter and bring it to room temperature. Remix or whip if too stiff. You can add a bit more milk to thin out the frosting to the right consistency.
Easter Dinner Recipes
Take a look at dozens of 80+ Easter Menu Ideas included in this collection of recipes. You will find all the traditional Easter Dinner classics like Glazed Ham, a grilled Rack of Lamb, sides like glazed carrots, Roasted Baby Potatoes, or Mashed Potatoes, and scrumptious desserts like an adorable Bunny Cake.
There are also inspiring non-traditional Easter dishes, fresh new appetizers like Deviled Eggs that look like little Spring baskets, drinks, cocktails, potluck sides, and more for your celebration after Easter egg hunts.
More Easter Desserts
Some of my favorite easy Easter treats are these adorable Easter Bunny Cupcakes that are all so easy you won't believe it. Or this adorable Easter Bunny Cake, which is made from two 9" round cakes.
Or bake up these elegant Coconut Macaroon Cookies, they are so pretty on the Easter dinner table. Take a look at my collection of Easter Desserts for your Easter Celebration.
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Easy Easter Sugar Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
Cookie Recipe
- 1 cup butter softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg I used EggBeaters, it works perfectly!
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 tablespoons orange juice freshly squeezed from an orange
- 1 tablespoon good vanilla extract
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
Vanilla Buttercream Icing
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- ½ cup butter softened, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 4-6 tablespoons milk add more milk if necessary until icing is easy to decorate on cookies
- festive Easter sprinkles
Instructions
Cookie Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl or an electric mixer, add sugar and softened butter. Mix until combined on medium speed.
- Next add egg, baking powder, orange juice, vanilla, and mix. Next, add flour gradually, and mix until the dry ingredients are well combined.
- Wrap cookie dough in plastic food wrap and chill dough until firm for 1-2 hours.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to ¼ thickness using a rolling pin and a pastry mat for easy cleanup.
- Use Easter shaped cutter to cut out the cookies from the rolled-out dough. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet or cookie sheets at least 1-2 inches apart.
- Heat oven to 400 degrees, and bake 10-12 minutes until edges are lightly browned.
- Cool the cookies completely on their baking tray or a wire rack, and then decorate.
Vanilla Buttercream
- Cream room temperature butter with a hand mixer, the paddle attachment of a stand mixer, or a wooden spoon until smooth and fluffy. Next, slowly add the powder sugar until fully incorporated.
- Add milk and the vanilla extract, then beat for an additional 3 to 4 minutes. Add more tablespoons of milk if necessary to make it soft and the correct consistency to ice the cookies.
Decorate The Cookies
- Fill a strong zip top bag and snip the end or, fill a pastry bag fitted with a small tip, and pipe a zig zag line back and forth over each cookie going back and forth.
- Next, add sprinkles on top of the icing. Enjoy!
- Chill the cookies in a single layer on a piece of wax paper in the refrigerator to set the icing quickly.
- Then stack in a container, keep chilled. Will stay good in fridge up to two weeks.
Such a good sugar cookie recipe, they are soft! Cute way to decorate them too.