Soft Sugar Cookies with Buttercream Frosting
These simple vanilla sugar cookies have a buttercream frosting and are very simple to make. A wink to the popular Lofthouse cookies, I love them for Valentine's Day, Mother's Day and other Spring occasions. The cookie dough, baked cookies and icing can be made beforehand as they store well for several days.
Servings 30 medium cookies
Ingredients
Sugar cookie dough:
- ½ cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- ¾ cups sugar
- 1 large egg at room temperature
- ⅓ cup cream cheese at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ⅛ teaspoon almond extract optional
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour spooned and leveled
- 1 ½ tablespoons cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
Buttercream frosting:
- 4 ½ cups powdered sugar
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened
- 3 tablespoons milk
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon almond extract optional
- gel food coloring of choice
- rainbow sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
Sugar cookie dough:
- In a large bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the softened butter, granulated sugar, cream cheese, vanilla extract, almond extract (if using), and egg. Beat until light and fluffy.
- In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Gradually add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture, mixing until just combined and a soft dough forms.
- Lightly flour a clean surface. Roll the dough out to approximately ⅜ inch thickness (for crispier cookies, roll slightly thinner). Use cookie cutters to cut out desired shapes. Place the cookies onto the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake for 9-12 minutes, or until the edges are lightly golden.
- Remove the baking sheet from the oven and let the cookies cool on the sheet for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely
Pink frosting:
- Mix sugar, butter, milk in a medium bowl with a hand mixer.
- Add a drop of food coloring and mix well until no streaks remain. Continue one drop at a time until you get the desired color. You can divide among two bowls and make two colors of different intensities by adding more gel to one bowl.
- If it is too thick, add a teaspoon more milk at a time and mix well before deciding if you need more.
- Place a few teaspoons of frosting on the cookies with a spoon or bag. Spread with the back of a spoon to cover most of the surface, leaving a space around the edges.
- Decorate with sprinkles on top.
Notes
Baking time: consider that all ovens and pans are different, even if they look similar. The baking time in my recipes is as accurate as possible, but it might take you more or less time. You can use an oven thermometer to check that your oven is at the right temperature. I recommend tracking how your oven works and what tiny details you need to adjust.
Frosting color: use any dye color you like, and adapt the colors to the occasions, like green for St. Patrick's Day or white frosting and red and blue sprinkles for the 4th of July.