Description
Easter Egg Sugar Cookies are soft, buttery cookies perfect for celebrating the holiday season. These classic sugar cookies are rolled out and cut into festive egg shapes, then decorated with colorful royal icing and pastel sprinkles for a delightful and visually appealing treat.
Ingredients
Scale
Dry Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
Wet Ingredients
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 tbsp milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Decorations
- Royal icing or cookie icing (various colors)
- Pastel sprinkles or sanding sugar (optional)
Instructions
- Mix Dry Ingredients: In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt to evenly distribute the leavening and seasoning.
- Cream Butter and Sugar: In a large bowl, beat the softened butter and granulated sugar together until the mixture is light, fluffy, and pale in color, ensuring a tender cookie texture.
- Add Wet Ingredients: Incorporate the egg, milk, and vanilla extract into the creamed mixture, beating until the ingredients are fully combined and smooth.
- Combine Dough: Gradually add the dry ingredient mixture to the wet ingredients, mixing just until a soft dough forms to avoid overworking the gluten.
- Chill Dough: Divide the dough into two equal portions, flatten each into disks, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour to firm up for easier rolling and cutting.
- Preheat Oven: Set your oven to 350°F (175°C) and prepare baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
- Roll and Cut Cookies: On a lightly floured surface, roll out the chilled dough to about 1/4-inch thickness. Using an egg-shaped cookie cutter, cut out shapes and place them evenly spaced on the prepared baking sheets.
- Bake Cookies: Bake the cookies in the preheated oven for 8-10 minutes, until the edges just begin to turn golden but the centers remain pale.
- Cool Cookies: Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely, preventing breakage.
- Decorate: Once fully cooled, decorate the cookies with royal icing or colored cookie icing and sprinkle with pastel sugars or sanding sugar as desired. Allow the icing to set completely before serving or storing.
Notes
- For extra flavor, add 1/2 tsp almond extract to the dough during the wet ingredient mixing step.
- Dough can be made ahead and frozen for up to 1 month; thaw in the refrigerator before rolling and cutting.
