Description
Delight in these festive Easter Egg Sugar Cookies, perfect for celebrating spring with colorful, soft, and buttery treats. This recipe guides you through making classic sugar cookies, artfully colored and shaped like Easter eggs, then baked to a tender golden finish and ready for decorating with sweet icing.
Ingredients
Cookie Dough
- 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
Icing
- 2 cups icing sugar
- Milk or water, as needed for icing consistency
- Food coloring (various colors)
Instructions
- Preheat Oven: Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C) to ensure it reaches the perfect baking temperature while you prepare the dough.
- Cream Butter and Sugar: In a large bowl, beat the softened unsalted butter and granulated sugar together until the mixture becomes light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes, creating a smooth base for your cookies.
- Add Eggs and Vanilla: Incorporate the eggs one at a time into the creamed mixture, beating well after each addition, then mix in the vanilla extract until the batter is smooth and uniform.
- Combine Dry Ingredients: In a separate bowl, sift together the all-purpose flour and baking powder. Gradually add this dry mixture to the wet ingredients, mixing just until combined to avoid overworking the dough and keeping cookies tender.
- Divide and Color Dough: Separate the dough into portions depending on how many colors you want. Add different food coloring to each portion and knead gently until the color is evenly distributed.
- Shape Cookies: Roll out each colored dough on a floured surface to about ¼ inch thickness. Use an Easter egg-shaped cookie cutter to cut out the cookies, maintaining even thickness for uniform baking.
- Bake the Cookies: Place the cut-out cookies on parchment paper-lined baking sheets, spacing them to allow heat circulation. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the edges just start turning golden brown.
- Cool and Decorate: Allow the cookies to cool completely on a wire rack before decorating with the colored icing sugar mixed to desired consistency with milk or water, using piping or spreading as you like.
Notes
- Ensure butter is softened but not melted for proper creaming and cookie texture.
- Do not overmix once flour is added to keep cookies tender and prevent toughness.
- Use gel or paste food coloring for more vibrant colors without affecting dough consistency.
- Let cookies cool fully before icing to prevent melting or sliding of icing decorations.
- Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week.
