Frosted Sugar Cookies

5 from 3 votes

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.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Total Time 40 minutes

Servings

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