Easter Sugar Cookies

Who's ready for Easter treats?!

I love this recipe out of my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook, and they recommend a frosting that is okay, but I think it is too thin and runny for what I wanted. But it had been a long time since I'd made them and I couldn't remember what frosting I had used before that I loved, so I paired it with one out of my new Hershey's book (great idea by the way!). Later of course I remembered the recipe I used before, they just call it by a weird name and put it in the sauce section instead of the frosting section so I wasted a lot of time looking for it.
As I've been going through recipes lately I've realized there are a lot of things I would like to go in a change about my recipe books, just to make them more user friendly. But, since I can't do that, I tend to write little notes on the pages, so next time, I'll remember what frosting recipe to use!

Alrighty, cookie time!

I swear I must have looked at sprinkles every time I was at the store this month, but in the end I decided not to buy sprinkles, but to make my own colored sugar. I am so happy I did! It was fun, easy, pretty, and yummy too. I actually watched a tutorial on you tube and I was glad I did before I got started because I picked up a few tips I would have never known.

For the sugar, I started them Saturday morning(and used them Sunday) because it needs time to dry before you use it. I added a few drops of color to 1/4 cup sugar and shook it up, then set out to dry.




Sugar Cookies

2/3 C butter
3/4 C sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
1 Tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 C flour

1. In a large mixing bowl beat butter on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar, baking powder and salt. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl. Beat in egg, milk, and vanilla. Beat in flour, you may have to stir in the last of it by hand. Divide dough in half, cover and chill dough about 30 minutes or until easy to handle.

2. Preheat oven to 375. On a lightly floured surface, roll half the dough at a time. Cut with cookie cutters and place 1 inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.

3. Bake 7-8 minutes or until edges are firm and bottoms barely brown.




Once the cookies had cooled I frosted them...And I actually cut this recipe in half because I didn't have that much powdered sugar and it turned out to be the perfect amount for my cookies.

Vanilla Butter Cream Frosting

1/3 C butter
4 C powdered sugar
3-4 Tbsp milk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Beat butter with mixer until creamy. Slowly add half the powdered sugar, beating until well blended. Slowly beat in milk and vanilla. Gradually add remaining sugar and beat until smooth. Add additional milk, if necessary, until frosting is desired consistency.



And a quick look at my helper...

To top the cookies with my colored sugar, I just plopped them face down and gently patted them down.

Ta-Da! Beautiful! Magnificent! So perfect for an Easter party!


I loved how these turned out! Perfectly soft. And I was really happy with the frosting/sugar effect. It was like biting into a thin layer of a sugar crust before sinking your teeth into soft frosting. These cookies disappeared fast!