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This easy recipe for decorated Easter cookies starts with a simple sugar cookie dough cut out into egg shapes and decorated with royal icing. The perfect treat for Easter baskets or spring gatherings!
Easter Sugar Cookies
These adorable Easter cookies decorated with easy royal icing are the perfect addition to any Easter celebration. This easy Easter cookies recipe starts out with the same basic sugar cookie recipe we use for Christmas cut outs. The cookies are soft and flavored with a mix of vanilla and almond extracts for that classic sugar cookie flavor everyone loves. For the taste of a frosted sugar cookie without the work, try these easy cookie bars.
Ingredient Notes
Here’s what you need to make the cookies. Full amounts are in the printable recipe card below.
- Butter — Let it soften at room temperature until it’s soft enough to work with. Don’t melt the butter. I use salted butter, but you can use unsalted butter.
- White sugar — for sweetness
- Almond and vanilla extracts — for flavor. If you’re not a fan of almond, you can use only vanilla.
- Egg — to help bind the ingredients
- Sea salt — or kosher salt
- Baking powder — as a leavening agent
- All purpose flour — for the dough
How to Make Decorated Easter Cookies
Start out by creaming the butter and sugar with a hand mixer or stand mixer along with a paddle attachment. Add the remaining wet ingredients, and gradually mix in the dry ingredients until you get a soft dough. Roll the dough out, and wrap in plastic wrap to chill in your fridge. You can chill it overnight or earlier in the day if you want same day cookies.
Next, use an egg-shaped cookie cutter to cut out eggs in the chilled dough. Place the cookie dough onto a prepared cookie sheet lined with silicone baking matts or parchment paper. Make sure to space them about 2-inches apart so that you don’t overcrowd the baking sheet. Let the cookies cool completely on a wire rack, and decorate using royal icing or your favorite frosting.
How to Decorate Easter Egg Cookies
We use a package of meringue powder for the royal icing recipe, which is basically fool-proof! Just follow the directions on the package for mixing. We also add a little cornstarch to keep the icing shiny and smooth. Then, add food coloring. Use a piping bag to pipe the frosting onto the cookies and decorate with lines, squiggles and dots. You don’t even need a piping tip!
Use any icing for these decorated cookies, from a simple powdered sugar glaze to fluffy buttercream frosting. You can even use frosting from a can!
Storing Cookies
Store the Easter egg cookies in an airtight container at room temperature. They stay nice and soft usually for about a week. If you want to make these ahead of time, you can freeze the plain cookies for up to 3 months. Decorate the thawed cookies when you’re ready. The raw cookie dough can be frozen for up to 3 months, as well.
Helpful Tips
Make sure you take the time to fully cream together the butter and the sugar. It will take about 5 minutes and prevent the dough from spreading.
Don’t skip chilling the dough. This keeps the dough from spreading when baking and makes it much easier to work with.
For soft cookies, don’t over bake. Take them out of the oven when the edges are a light golden brown. The middles should not look wet, but they will be soft and will harden up as they cool.
Use your favorite Easter shapes. Bunnies, crosses and lambs and chicks are all easy to make and decorate.
More Easter Treats
Try our adorable lamb cake for a truly unique dessert. You’ll also love these homemade peanut butter eggs or thes cute dirt cups these easy mini egg cookies or carrot cake cookies or this super easy Easter dessert dip!
Decorated Easter Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter slightly softened
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 tablespoon almond extract
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 2¾ cups all purpose flour
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, beat the softened butter with an electric mixer until smooth
- Add in the granulated sugar and mix together until fully combined and fluffy. This will take about 5 minutes
- Mix in the almond extract, vanilla extract and the egg
- Add in the salt, baking powder and half of the flour. Mix well
- Add in the rest of the flour and mix until fully combined. To avoid overworking the dough, finish mixing with a rubber spatula
- Divide the dough into 2 equal parts
- Place each portion onto a large sheet of plastic wrap and use a rolling pin to roll out the dough to ⅜ inch thick
- Cover rolled out dough with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 4 hours or overnight
- After the dough has chilled, preheat oven to 350℉
- Unwrap the chilled dough and use egg-shaped cookie cutters to cut out cookie shapes
- Place cut out cookies 2 inches apart onto a prepared baking sheet lined with either parchment paper or a silicone baking mat
- Bake for 10-14 minutes or until cookies are no longer oily looking and have very lightly browned edges
- Allow cookies to cool completely before decorating
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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