Description
These festive Easter Cookies are soft, buttery sugar cookies decorated with vibrant royal icing and fun toppings like sanding sugar and mini marshmallows. Perfect for celebrating spring, these cookies feature classic flavors enhanced with vanilla and almond extract and decorated using colorful glazes to create charming bunnies, carrots, and Easter eggs.
Ingredients
Scale
Cookie Dough
- 2 and 1/4 cups (281g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled), plus more as needed for rolling and work surface
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup (12 Tbsp; 170g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract (optional, but makes the flavor outstanding)
For Decorating
- Royal icing or easy cookie glaze icing
- Gel food coloring
- Sanding sugar sprinkles
- Mini marshmallows, halved (for bunny tails)
Instructions
- Mix Dry Ingredients: Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.
- Cream Butter and Sugar: In a large bowl, beat the softened butter and granulated sugar on high speed with a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes. Add egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract (if using); beat again until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down bowl sides as needed.
- Combine Dough: Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low speed until just combined. If dough is too soft for rolling, add 1 tablespoon more flour.
- Roll Dough: Divide the dough into two equal parts. Place each on lightly floured parchment paper or silicone baking mat. Roll each to about 1/4 inch thickness, using flour to prevent sticking.
- Chill Dough: Dust one rolled dough lightly with flour and place parchment on top. Layer the second rolled dough on top, cover with plastic wrap or foil, and refrigerate for at least 1–2 hours, up to 2 days.
- Preheat Oven and Prepare Baking Sheets: Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line 2 or 3 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
- Cut Cookies: Remove top dough piece carefully. Use cookie cutters (egg, bunny, carrot shapes) to cut shapes. Re-roll scraps to cut more cookies. Repeat with second dough piece.
- Bake Cookies: Arrange cookies 3 inches apart on baking sheets. Bake for 12 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Rotate sheets halfway if needed. Cool on sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
- Prepare Icing: Make royal icing or cookie glaze icing. For sharp detail, use royal icing with piping bags and tips. For glaze, squeeze bottles or piping bags can be used.
- Decorate Carrots and Bunnies: Use mostly white icing for bunnies and carrot tops; tint some orange for carrot bodies. Outline and flood bunnies and carrot tops with white icing; top with sanding sugar and add halved marshmallow tails while wet. For carrots, outline and flood orange icing after green sprinkle tops. Let icing set fully.
- Decorate Easter Eggs: Divide icing into bowls and tint (e.g., sky blue, lemon yellow, violet, fuchsia, white). Outline and flood base colors using tip #4. Let set in refrigerator about 30 minutes. Use smaller tips (#1 or #2) to add patterns like polka dots, stripes, and plaid. Let icing set fully.
- Serve and Store: Enjoy immediately or wait for icing to set. Store decorated or plain cookies covered tightly at room temperature for 5 days or refrigerated up to 10 days.
Notes
- Use a paddle attachment to cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy for the best texture.
- If dough is sticky during rolling, lightly dust rolling pin and surface with flour to prevent sticking.
- Refrigerating dough enhances cutting precision and cookie shape retention.
- Decorate on baking sheets for easy transfer to refrigerator while icing sets.
- Royal icing sets in about 2 hours; cookie glaze icing requires about 24 hours to fully dry.
- Store cookies in an airtight container to maintain softness.
- Use gel food coloring to prevent thinning the icing consistency.
- Halved mini marshmallows make adorable, soft bunny tails when added immediately after icing.
