This is the best Sugar Cookie Frosting that is perfectly sweet, creamy, and excellent for piping or spreading onto your favorite cut-out sugar cookies. Use it for any holiday or cookie craving!
I have had so many requests for my sugar cookie frosting recipe that I decided it needed its own post! This simple frosting recipe for sugar cookies is perfect because you can spread it or pipe it, depending on the mood. And of course you can dye it any color you like with your favorite gel food coloring (affiliate link).
It firms up without getting completely hard, so you could package these cookies in cellophane bags the day after decorating them and not have to worry about the frosting squishing as long as you are gentle with them.
You can also freeze the decorated sugar cookies in a single layer on a baking sheet, then transfer them to another container with a sheet of parchment paper or wax paper between each layer for longer term storage in the freezer. Just thaw at room temperature for an hour or two before enjoying!
What You’ll Need
- Salted Butter: If you only have unsalted butter on hand be sure to add ¼ teaspoon of salt for each ½ cup of unsalted butter or the frosting will be overly sweet.
- Powdered Sugar: If your powdered sugar is lumpy you may want to whisk or sift it before adding.
- Vanilla Extract: You can use regular vanilla extract or if you really want to keep your frosting colors as bright as possible I recommend using clear vanilla extract.
- Heavy Cream: I think using heavy cream gives the best flavor and texture, but milk can be used in a pinch.
How do you make frosting for sugar cookies?
- Cream the butter first. You will get better results if you beat softened butter with an electric mixer for 1-2 minutes until creamy and smooth.
- Add the powdered sugar and vanilla. Mix on low speed to allow the butter and sugar to start to combine before increasing the speed.
- Mix in the cream. You can adjust the consistency of your frosting by adding more or less heavy cream to achieve the desired results. I always use the full amount (¼ cup) for the amount of powdered sugar and butter listed below to get a soft but easily pipeable frosting consistency.
- Divide and color. Separate the frosting between small bowls and add as much food coloring (affiliate link) as you like to get the colors you want for your chosen designs. I tend to stick with primary colors but pastels are also really fun to use! If using gel coloring, you usually only need a drop for each bowl because it is a small amount of frosting. If using liquid food coloring (affiliate link), you might need more food coloring (affiliate link) for a more intense result.
Pro Tip: This recipe makes just enough frosting for 1 batch of my famous sugar cookies. But you might want to 1.5x or even 2x the batch if you are concerned about running out of frosting or want to do more colors because nobody likes to have to make more frosting partway through the job and try to match colors!
You can always freeze leftover frosting for later or spread them between graham crackers for an easy treat.
How to Decorate Sugar Cookies
There are so many ways! I grew up spreading this frosting on cut-out sugar cookies with a knife, then decorating with tons of sprinkles or M&M’s.
But for years now my preference has been to transfer the frosting to piping bags (or ziploc bags work too!), snip off the tip, and simply pipe on designs using squiggles or simple lines. I don’t have a steady hand and I’m not much of an artist, but even I can achieve professional looking results with this technique!
I will also very judiciously use sparkling sugar on my snowflakes or possibly colored sugar to highlight cookies.
To keep the frosting from squishing out of the top of the piping bags if you have small children helping you decorate, I recommend either tying them off or wrapping rubber bands or hair elastics around the ends to secure the bags.
Recipe FAQ’s
This frosting will set up after about a day at room temperature (the sugar in the frosting acts as a preservative so you don’t need to worry about the cream in it) to the point where you can lightly stack or package in cellophane and the cookies will be fine. But if you want a true crusting frosting, you need to replace half of the butter with an equal amount of vegetable shortening. The taste is slightly different (more like the store-bought frosting from a bakery) but still good and the frosting will crust and hold its shape better for packaging.
More Cut-Out Cookie Recipes
Want to try this frosting on something fun and new? These three cut out cookie recipes are different from the usual and always a hit when I take them to parties!
Best Sugar Cookie Frosting Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (114g) salted butter softened
- 3 cups (360g) powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup heavy cream or milk
Instructions
- In a large bowl, beat the butter using an electric mixer for 1 minute until smooth.½ cup (114g) salted butter
- Add the powdered sugar and vanilla. Beat again on low speed, gradually adding the cream or milk (you will likely need less milk than cream if you go that route) and increasing the speed until the frosting is creamy, smooth, and combined. Add as much of the cream as needed to achieve the consistency you like.3 cups (360g) powdered sugar, 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract, ¼ cup heavy cream
- Divide the frosting between separate bowls and tint with your chosen colors of food coloring (affiliate link). Frost your sugar cookies and enjoy!
Notes
- Storage: Store any unused frosting in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week. Let it come to room temperature for 2-3 hours before beating with an electric mixer to make it smooth and spreadable again before using.
- Freezing: You can freeze this frosting for up to 3 months. Thaw completely, allow the frosting to come to room temperature, and beat with an electric mixer to make it smooth and spreadable again before using.
- Variations: You can adjust the flavoring of this frosting by replacing 1 teaspoon of the vanilla with ½ teaspoon of almond extract, ½ teaspoon of coconut extract, or a combination of the two. You could also use ¼ to ½ teaspoons of peppermint extract for peppermint frosting. Or use 1-2 teaspoons of lemon or lime zest with 1-2 teaspoons of lemon or lime juice for a citrus flavor.
This was perfect for Christmas cookie night! Soooo easy and quick
Thank you Danielle! I am glad you liked these!