Easter Sugar Cookies
Inspired by the classic Peeps marshmallow treats, these Easter sugar cookies are made with my favorite no-chill sugar cookie dough and a simple icing that hardens without becoming crunchy. The sanding sugar on top gives the cookies an even prettier presentation!
These Easter bunny and baby chick sugar cookies are inspired by my favorite Peeps marshmallow treats.
It’s an easy recipe that uses a no-chill sugar cookie dough and my simple sugar cookie icing that’s thick enough to outline and flood the cookies, but not so thick that it becomes hard or crunchy once dry.
This is a great recipe for Easter and perfect for kids to help decorate too. You don’t need any prior cookie decorating experience to make these sugar cookies either. The cookie cutters and colorful icing do most of the work for you!
Recipe Video
Ingredient Notes & Substitutions
Cookie Dough
Like I mentioned earlier, I made these using my cut-out sugar cookie recipe. If you love chocolate, my chocolate sugar cookies would be delicious too!
Icing & Food Coloring
I decorated the cookies with my easy sugar cookie icing, but feel free to use royal icing if you prefer. I colored the icing with yellow, red, and black food coloring, but you can use any colors you like. I do recommend gel food coloring because it’s going to give you the most intense color without thinning out the icing (my personal favorite brand is Americolor).
Cookie Cutters
I used the chick cookie cutter from this set and this bunny cookie cutter. The chick cookie cutter set does come with a similar bunny cookie cutter that’s a little smaller, so feel free to just use that set if you want!
Sanding Sugar
I stuck with yellow and pink sanding sugar, but feel free to try other Easter colors that match your icing. I think blue, purple, and light green would look cute too!
Tips For Making The Cookies & Icing
- Roll the dough to an even thickness. Some ¼-inch dowel rods or an adjustable rolling pin will make this easier! I also like to roll my dough between two pieces of parchment paper; the dough doesn’t stick and it’s much easier to clean up.
- Lightly dust your cookie cutter and a spatula. You can dust them with either flour or powdered sugar. This just makes it easier to cut the dough and transfer it to the baking sheet without it sticking.
- Bake until lightly golden brown around the edges. I prefer to bake my sugar cookies a minute or two longer than most of my other cookies since the icing will soften them some.
- Make sure your icing is the right consistency. You’re looking for what’s referred to as a “medium consistency.” This is going to be thick enough to outline the cookies, but thin enough to fill them in all at the same time. When you lift your spoon or whisk up, it should take about 5 seconds for the ribbons of icing to fully melt back into the bowl of icing. When in doubt, test a little on a cookie to see how it holds up. If it’s too thin and sliding off, add more powdered sugar; if it’s too thick and difficult to spread, add a little more milk.
How To Ice & Decorate The Cookies
After whisking together the icing, you want to remove a small amount to another bowl. Add the black food coloring to the small bowl of icing and set it aside for now (this will be the eyes and mouths later!).
Split the remaining icing in half between two bowls. Color one bowl with yellow food coloring and the other with a small amount of red food coloring to create a batch of yellow icing and another of pink icing.
Transfer each batch of icing to a zip-top bag or piping bag and snip off the corner. Working one cookie at a time, outline it and then fill it in with more icing. If you have any empty spots, you can use a toothpick to move the icing around.
Then, flip the cookie over and gently press it into a shallow dish/plate filled with sanding sugar. Once all of the cookies have been iced and topped with sugar, you can add the dots of black icing for the eyes and mouths.
More Decorating Ideas
You can honestly use this recipe to make any shape, size, and color of sugar cookies you like! Here are some other fun decoration ideas you can try:
- Use different colors of icing and sanding sugar
- Use melted chocolate, mini chocolate chips, or mini M&M’s for the eyes and mouth instead of black icing
- Swap cookie cutters to create different Easter shapes. I think some Easter egg or carrot-shaped cookies would be adorable!
- Frost the cookies with strawberry cream cheese frosting, coconut frosting, or lemon buttercream instead before dipping them in sanding sugar.
I really can’t get over how cute these Easter sugar cookies turned out! If you try this recipe don’t forget to leave a comment below to let me know what you thought of them and how you decorated them too. Enjoy!
Easter Sugar Cookie Recipe
Ingredients
Sugar Cookie Dough
- 3 cups all-purpose flour spooned & leveled (375 grams)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup vegetable shortening (190 grams; I used Crisco)
- 1 cup granulated sugar (200 grams)
- 1 large egg at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons whole milk (30 ml)
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Icing
- 4 cups powdered sugar (480 grams)
- 5 to 6 tablespoons milk divided (plus more as needed)
- 4 teaspoons light corn syrup
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Red, yellow, and black gel food coloring
Optional Decorations
- Pink and yellow sanding sugar
Instructions
- To make the sugar cookies: Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.3 cups all-purpose flour,2 teaspoons baking powder,½ teaspoon salt
- In a separate large mixing bowl using an electric mixer, mix the shortening and sugar together for 1 to 2 minutes or until well combined. Add the egg, milk, and vanilla extract and mix until fully combined, making sure to stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.1 cup vegetable shortening,1 cup granulated sugar,1 large egg,2 tablespoons whole milk,2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- Add the dry ingredients and mix until fully combined. The mixture will be a little crumbly at first, but it will come together as you continue mixing it. Once the dough comes together, use your hands to form it into a ball.
- Divide the dough in half. Lightly flour a piece of parchment paper, add half of the dough, top with another piece of parchment paper, and roll the dough to ¼-inch thick between both pieces of parchment paper. Repeat with the other half of the dough between two separate pieces of parchment paper. (This dough doesn’t require any dough chilling, but if you prefer colder dough so that it’s easier to work with you can place both pieces of rolled out dough between the parchment paper on a baking sheet and refrigerate for 30 minutes to one hour.)
- Peel off the top layer of parchment paper. Using 3 to 4 inch Easter cookie cutters (I used this bunny and this chick cookie cutter), cut the cookie dough into shapes and place them onto the prepared baking sheets, making sure to leave a little room between each one. If the cut out dough is difficult to pick up, lightly flour a thin spatula and use that to transfer the cut out cookies to the baking sheet. Re-roll any scrap pieces of dough between the parchment paper and continue cutting out shapes. Repeat with the other sheet of cookie dough.
- Bake for 11 to 13 minutes or until the tops of the cookies are set and the bottom edges are lightly browned.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheets for 10 to 15 minutes, then transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
- To make the icing: In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, 5 tablespoons (75 ml) of milk, light corn syrup, and vanilla extract until well combined and no lumps remain. The mixture will be pretty thick at this point.4 cups powdered sugar,5 to 6 tablespoons milk,4 teaspoons light corn syrup,1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Mix in 1 additional teaspoon of milk at a time until the icing has thinned out and reached a medium consistency. You want it to be thick enough to outline the cookies, but thin enough to still be able to fill them. To test the icing, lift your whisk or spoon from the mixing bowl; the ribbons of icing should take about 4 to 5 seconds to melt back into the bowl of icing. If it’s too thick, add more milk to thin out the icing. If it’s too thin, add more powdered sugar to make the icing thicker.
- Remove a little bit of the icing, place it into a small bowl, and mix in the black gel food coloring (this will be for the eyes and mouth). Divide the remaining icing between two separate bowls. Add a little red gel food coloring to one to create a pink icing and yellow gel food coloring to the other one to create a yellow icing. Cover the bowls with damp paper towels or place the colored icings into separate piping bags until you’re ready to use them.Red, yellow, and black gel food coloring
- To decorate the cookies: Pour the pink and yellow sanding sugar onto separate plates. Set aside.Pink and yellow sanding sugar
- Outline a cookie with the icing, then fill the cookie with a thin layer of icing. Use a toothpick or scribe to move the icing around and fill in any empty spots. If needed, gently tap or shake the cookie to help the icing settle in a smooth layer.
- Gently press the top of the iced sugar cookie into the same color of sanding sugar. Make sure not to press too hard or the icing will start to come over the edge of the cookie. You can also sprinkle the sanding sugar on top and shake off any excess. Repeat with the remaining sugar cookies until they’re all iced and covered in sanding sugar.
- Using the black icing, add a small dot to the chick cookies for the eyes and three small dots to the bunny cookies for eyes and a mouth.
- Allow the icing to harden completely. This can take up to one day, so I prefer to make my cookies the day before and store them in a container to let the icing harden overnight. You can also let them sit on the counter at room temperature overnight (the icing will keep them from drying out).
