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Home » Cookies » Frosted Sugar Cookies

Frosted Sugar Cookies

Published: Dec 6, 2021 · Modified: Apr 5, 2022 by Allison · 7 Comments

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Soft-baked sugar cookies topped with sweet and creamy frosting and garnished with sprinkles. These delicious cookies can be made in under 30 minutes; no chill time, no rolling dough. Decorate with colored frosting and sprinkles to make these festive cookies for any occasion.

Who loves sugar cookies? This recipe is inspired by soft-baked Lofthouse style cookies, but these are even better. These soft and buttery cookies have a secret ingredient that gives a bakery-like flavor to both the cookies and frosting. Make them for any special occasion (or no reason at all!). You’ll love them.

Sugar cookies topped with pink frosting and colored sprinkles.

Prefer a different flavor? Try Sugar Cookies with Strawberry Frosting, Kitchen Sink Cookies or Brownie Cookies.

Jump to:
  • Recipe overview
  • What makes this recipe the best
  • Secret ingredient
  • Recipe tips
  • Make ahead option
  • More cookie recipes
  • Recipe

Recipe overview

Sugar cookies: This sugar cookie dough comes together in minutes. Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, sour cream, and extracts. Combine dry ingredients in another bowl then add to the wet ingredients. Allow the dough to rest at rom temperature for 5 minutes. Then scoop into balls and bake.

Collage of how to make sugar cookies (dough in a glass bowl and rolled in balls on a baking sheet).

Bake: The cookies should be baked at 375°F for 9-11 minutes. They should still be pale and slightly under-baked when you remove them from the oven. This will ensure a soft texture.

Sugar cookies on a parchment lined baking sheet.

Frosting: This is our favorite sugar cookie frosting. It’s sweet and creamy with a delicious flavor from a combination of vanilla and almond extract. Add a couple drops of food coloring (if desired) to make this frosting festive for any occasion.

White sugar cookie frosting in a glass bowl.

What makes this recipe the best

  • Better than store bought
  • Real flavors
  • Easily adaptable
  • Soft and tender (melt in your mouth!)
  • Easy
  • No chill time
Sugar cookies topped with white frosting and red and green sprinkles.

Secret ingredient

If you’ve been around here for a while you know my go-to “secret” ingredient: almond extract. Adding almond extract to the cookie dough and the frosting gives these cookies an extra layer of flavor. They still taste predominantly of vanilla but a touch of almond extract is what sets them apart from other cookie recipes. 

Sugar cookies topped with white frosting and red and green sprinkles on a wire rack.

Recipe tips

  • Butter should be softened to cool room temperature. Your butter should be soft, but still cool to the touch. 
  • Use a cookie scoop. This  ensure your cookies are equally sized and perfectly round.
  • Place the dough balls on parchment lined baking sheets. This helps the cookies from spreading too much and ensures easy cleanup.
  • Underbake the cookies slightly. The cookies should still be slightly underbaked when you remove them from the oven. They should be so soft that you cannot remove them from the baking pan right away or they will fall apart. They will firm up as they cool.
  • Watch the cookies closely during the last few minutes of bake time. Depending on the size of your cookie dough balls and your exact oven temp (some ovens run a bit warmer or cooler that stated on the display) you might need to to adjust the bake time by a couple minutes in either direction.
Frosted sugar cookies with pink frosting and colored sprinkles.

Make ahead option

You have several options for making this recipe ahead of time:

  • Bake the cookies and freeze (double wrapped and unfrosted) for up to 2 months. Thaw the cookies, prepare the frosting, top with frosting, and serve.
  • Prepare the cookie dough, scoop into balls and store the unbaked dough balls in the refrigerator for up to 2 days or the freezer (double wrapped) for up to 2 months. Thaw frozen dough balls in the fridge overnight. I recommend smooshing the dough balls down a little bit to encourage spreading since the dough will be cold. You might also need to add a minute or two to bake time.
  • Frosting can be prepared up to 2 days in advance and stored tightly covered in the refrigerator. Bring to cool room temperature until easily spreadable.

More cookie recipes

  • Christmas cut out cookies on a green plate
    Cut Out Sugar Cookie Recipe
  • Stack of three brownie cookies with a bite taken out of the top cookie.
    Brownie Cookies
  • Closeup of Monster Cookies laying on parchment paper topped with M&M's and chocolate chips
    Monster Cookies
  • Stack of two white chocolate cranberry cookies
    White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies

Recipe

Frosted sugar cookies with pink frosting and colored sprinkles.

Frosted Sugar Cookies

Soft-baked sugar cookies topped with sweet and creamy frosting and garnished with sprinkles. These delicious cookies can be made in under 30 minutes; no chill time, no rolling dough. Decorate with colored frosting and sprinkles to make these festive cookies for any occasion.
5 from 6 votes
Print Pin SaveSaved!
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes minutes
Servings: 20
Calories: 301kcal
Author: Allison – Celebrating Sweets

Ingredients

Cookies:

  • ¾ cup unsalted butter, softened to cool room temperature
  • 1 ⅓ cups granulated sugar
  • 1 ¾ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • ½ teaspoon pure almond extract
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • ¼ cup full fat sour cream
  • 2 ½ cups all purpose flour
  • 1 heaping tablespoon cornstarch
  • ¾ teaspoon baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon baking soda
  • ¼ teaspoon salt

Frosting:

  • ¾ cup unsalted butter, softened to cool room temperature
  • 2 ½ cups powdered sugar, plus more if needed
  • 2 teaspoons milk, plus more if needed
  • ¾ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • ⅛ teaspoon almond extract
  • pinch salt
  • 1-2 drops food coloring, if desired
  • colored sprinkles, for decorating

Instructions

Cookies:

  • Preheat oven to 375°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper (this helps the cookies from spreading).
  • Using a hand mixer, or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar for 2 minutes, until light and creamy. Add extracts, egg, egg yolk, and sour cream and beat until combined, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary. The mixture might look a little curdled, that’s ok.
  • In a separate bowl, combine flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and beat until combined.
  • Allow the dough to sit at room temperature for 5 minutes. Scoop the dough into 2-tablespoon balls (briefly rolling them in your hands, if necessary, to make the dough balls smooth). Place the dough balls a couple inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.
  • Bake for 9-11 minutes (see note), until the edges are set and the center is still slightly underdone. The cookies should still be light in color, not brown. Place the baking sheets on wire racks to cool completely; the cookies will firm up once cool.

Frosting:

  • Using a hand mixer, or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and half of the powdered sugar until well-combined (starting out the mixer low and increasing to medium-high). Slowly add the remaining powdered sugar (while beating), followed by milk, extracts, food coloring, and pinch of salt.
  • Turn the mixer to medium-high and beat well. Depending on how thick you want the frosting, you can easily adjust the consistency by adding more powdered sugar (to thicken) or more milk (to thin).
  • Spread the frosting on top of the cooled cookies and top with sprinkles.

Video

Notes

Watch the cookies closely during the last few minutes of bake time. Depending on the size of your cookie dough balls and your exact oven temp (some ovens run a bit warmer or cooler that stated on the display) you might need to to adjust the bake time by a couple minutes in either direction. 
Make ahead options:
  • Bake the cookies and freeze (double wrapped and unfrosted) for up to 2 months. Thaw the cookies, prepare the frosting, top with frosting, and serve.
  • Prepare the cookie dough, scoop into balls and store the unbaked dough balls in the refrigerator for up to 2 days or the freezer (double wrapped) for up to 2 months. Thaw frozen dough balls in the fridge overnight. I recommend smooshing the dough balls down a bit to encourage spreading since the dough will be cold. You might also need to add a minute or two to bake time. Note: the colder the dough is the less they will spread.
  • Frosting can be prepared up to 2 days in advance and stored tightly covered in the refrigerator. Bring to cool room temperature until easily spreadable.

Nutrition

Calories: 301kcal | Carbohydrates: 41g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 56mg | Sodium: 52mg | Potassium: 48mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 28g | Vitamin A: 460IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 20mg | Iron: 1mg

Nutritional Information is an estimate based on third-party calculations and may vary based on products used and serving sizes.

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Comments

  1. Justine

    December 06, 2021 at 11:38 am

    5 stars
    This is my favorite cookie recipe! They’re so light and fluffy!

    Reply
  2. Diana

    December 06, 2021 at 1:59 pm

    5 stars
    Soft-baked Lofthouse-style cookies have always been a weakness of mine. So having this recipe around is dangerous for my waistline 🙂

    Reply
  3. Chelsea

    June 27, 2022 at 6:53 pm

    I LOVE this recipe! Have made it several times and it has actually replaced my grandma’s! I’m wondering: could this be used as a crust for a fruit pizza—as in pressed into a pan and baked. And, if so, what size pan, baking temp, and baking time would you think?

    Reply
    • Allison

      June 29, 2022 at 1:37 pm

      You can try doing that with my sugar cookie bars.

      Reply
      • Chelsea

        June 29, 2022 at 4:13 pm

        Thank you so much!

  4. Kathryn

    April 25, 2023 at 5:45 am

    5 stars
    These were a hit!
    Do you think these would work for cutout shaped cookies?

    Reply
    • Allison

      April 28, 2023 at 8:42 am

      I’m glad you enjoyed them! I don’t think they will hold their shape well enough for cutouts. You can try this recipe: Cut Out Sugar Cookie Recipe

      Reply

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aboutHi, I'm Allison! I'm a busy wife and mom with a passion for cooking and baking. This is where you'll find my favorite homemade recipes, designed to help you make every day delicious! Read more....

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