Frosted Sugar Cookies

February 3, 2017 // 41 Comments »

What the world needs now is love, sweet love. And my literal interpretation of that has resulted in this beautiful treat: heart-shaped frosted sugar cookies. I often get asked for my go-to sugar cookie and frosting recipes, especially around the holidays. So it’s about time I share the love on the blog. This sugar cookie not very sweet on it’s own, but fulfills its full flavor potential when topped with this sugary frosting. To make this recipe even sweeter, I’ve written this recipe to benefit one of my favorite charities – Cookies for Kids Cancer.

Cookies for Kids’ Cancer is the national non-profit organization dedicated to funding research for safer, more effective treatments for pediatric cancer, the #1 disease killer of children in the U.S. In order to fundraise and raise awareness for childhood cancers, a group of food bloggers has gotten together to post these sweet Valentine inspired recipes today. Dixie Crystals, Land O’Lakes and Mediavine are matching every $1 we raise on our donation page, so if you’re feeling generous please consider donating on our page for this great cause!

A good sugar cookie recipe is an essential part of any baker’s playbook, along with a solid chocolate chip cookie and brownie recipe. I adapted the sugar cookie for this recipe from one of my favorite blogs – Love and Olive Oil. When adding a super sweet sugar frosting to these cookies, you need to balance the cookie out with a more neutral, soft and chewy base.

Another key recipe to have on hand is a homemade frosting recipe. Whether it’s a cupcake, cake or cookie – once you make your own frosting, you’ll never be able to go back to the canned frosting. When 10lbs of powdered sugar showed up at my front door the other day from Dixie Crystals, I knew this was the perfect time to share my go-to frosting recipe with y’all.

For cookies, I keep the frosting a bit thicker, to keep it from spreading too much beyond the cookie. If I was going to use this recipe for cupcakes, I would add a bit more cream to thin it out. I divided the batch of frosting to add red gel food coloring to half, and keep the other half white.

I stocked up on lots of fun sprinkles at Target early last month, and while most of my cookies may look like a two-year-old decorated them, I can tell you they passed the taste test of my coworkers down in Florida with rave reviews. I even gave up the space in my carry-on suitcase usually reserved for my gym sneakers just to make room for these cookies. I’m just that dedicated to bringing the cookie love to my coworkers, near and far … not to mention it was an easy excuse to miss the gym this week.

So if you’re looking to spread the love this Valentines day, bake up a batch of these Frosted Sugar Cookies and consider donating to Cookies for Kids Cancer. And just remember … what the world needs now is love sweet love. No not just for some, oh but just for every every everyone.

Print Recipe

Frosted Sugar Cookies

Yield: 24 Cookies

Prep Time: 45 Minutes + 30 Minutes Chill

Cook Time: 15 Minutes

Total Time: 1 Hour 30 Minutes

A simple sugar cookie recipe, perfect for frosting.

Ingredients:

Cookies
  • 1 stick butter, softened
  • 4 tablespoons shortening
  • 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
Frosting
  • 2 sticks butter, softened
  • 2 1/4 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Food coloring
  • Sprinkles

Directions:

  1. In a large mixing bowl, beat together butter and shortening until fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl before beating in the granulated sugar. On medium speed, slowly add in the vanilla extract and eggs and mix well.
  2. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cornstarch salt, baking soda and baking powder and slowly add into the wet batter until incorporated. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
  3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Take half of the dough, and on a well floured surface roll it out until about 1/2 inch thick, or a bit less. You want these cookies to be soft, not super crunchy, so the thicker the better.
  4. Use the cookie cutter of choice (in this case, heart shaped) to cut even-size cookies and place them on a sil-pat or parchment-lined baking sheet at least 1 inch apart.
  5. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 10 minutes, or until lightly golden. Let the cookies sit on the cookie sheet for a few minutes to set before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling completely.
  6. To make the frosting, beat the butter in a large mixer until smooth and fluffy. Slowly add in the powdered sugar, being careful not to overmix. Add in the vanilla and any desired food coloring.
  7. Using an offset spatula or a butter knife, frost the cookies and decorate with sprinkles. Enjoy!
 

For more delicious recipes from other bakers, visit:
Heart-Shaped Pink Velvet Bundt Cake from Julie of The Little Kitchen
Melt In Your Mouth Sugar Cookie Bars from Julie of Julie Blanner
Frosted Sugar Cookies from Becca of The Salted Cookie
Triple Chocolate Cherry Cookies from Sue of It’s Okay to Eat the Cupcake
Fudgy Chocolate Mug Cake from Gwynn of Swirls of Flavor
Cannoli {in support of Cookies for Kids’ Cancer} from Sheila of Life, Love, and Good Food
Red Velvet Pizzelle from Liren of Kitchen Confidante
Microwave Chocolate Ganache from Melanie of Melanie Makes
Brownie Ice Cream Valentines from TammyJo of The Chocolate Cult
Frosted Chocolate Sugar Cookies from Deborah of Taste and Tell
Soft Sprinkle Sugar Cookies from Lisa of Blogghetti
Rice Crispy Treat Hearts from Heather of Totally Tailgates
Vegan Banana Chia Pudding with Blackberry Sauce from Marly of Namely Marly
Spicy Double Chocolate Chip Cookies from Becca of Two Places at Once
Coconut Almond Biscotti from Kathleen of Fearlessly Creative Mammas
Strawberry Valentine Marshmallows from Serena of SerenaLissy
Strawberry Sugar Cookies from Miranda of Cookie Dough and Oven Mitt
Salted Dark Chocolate Caramel Fudge Cookies from Jessica of A Kitchen Addiction
Double Chocolate Cherry Thumbprint Cookies from Natalie of The Devil Wears Parsley
Chocolate Covered Strawberry Macaroons from Ashley of Spoonful of Flavor
Salted Chocolste Caramel Chip Bars from Emily of It Bakes Me Happy
Red Wine Brownies from Nicole of For the Love of Food
Valentine’s Day Sugar Cookies from Denise of Chez Us
Easy As Pie Cookies from Ashley of A Cup of Charming
Skinny Gluten-Free VDay Cookies from Jessica of Pensive Paleo
Flourless Dark Chocolate Cookies from Carolann of Apron Warrior
Chocolate Chip Butter Cookies from Jessica of My Baking Heart
Peppermint Brownie Cookies from Aimee of Aimee Broussard & Co.

 

 

Cookies, Dessert, Holiday, Sponsored
41 Comments »