Sugar Cookie Frosting + Video

With hints of vanilla and almond, my Sugar Cookie Frosting recipe is sweet and scrumptious. Since it’s a sugar cookie frosting that hardens, you can easily stack or package your cookies while still enjoying a delicate, fluffy texture in every bite. Watch the video in this post to see the frosting being made and used to decorate cookies!

Fluffy, creamy, and stackable makes this one of my top 2 sugar cookie decorations.

Sugar Cookie Frosting 

Sugar cookie frosting is so darn good, I could eat it with a spoon!

This tasty buttercream recipe is absolutely heavenly and is essential for all of your holiday cookie decorating needs. 

Spread this frosting on my favorite Christmas Sugar Cookies, which are soft and chewy on the inside and slightly crispy on the edges.

Or, if you love icing just as much as frosting, you could top these cookies with my delicious Sugar Cookie Icing instead.

My sugar cookie frosting is easy to prepare – ready in just 5 minutes! Simply whip your ingredients together, and you’ll have perfectly soft frosting in no time at all.

If you love this Christmas cookie frosting, give my Candy Cane Buttercream Frosting a try next. 

Sugar Cookie Frosting Ingredient Notes and Substitutions

• Unsalted Butter – I recommend using unsalted butter so that you have more control over how much salt goes into the recipe.
  
  If you only have salted butter on hand, no worries — you can simply omit the additional salt!
  
• Milk – Whole milk is best to give your frosting a creamy consistency, but you can also use nonfat milk if you prefer.
  
• Powdered Sugar – This is also called confectioners’ sugar.
  
  Powdered sugar is the key ingredient in this recipe, making it sweet and thickening the mixture. 
  
• Salt – Omit this ingredient if using salted butter.
  
• Almond Extract and Vanilla Extract – These will give your frosting a delicious and sweet flavor.
  
• Gel Food Coloring – You’ll only need to add a little bit, and the drops of color won’t affect the consistency.
  
  You can use any colors of your choice and decorate to your heart’s content.
  
• Sprinkles – While this garnish is optional, adding holiday sprinkles gives your cookies a fun and festive touch.
  
  For best results, add sprinkles immediately after frosting – they’ll stick easier while the frosting is soft.

Frosting vs Icing

A common misconception is that these terms are interchangeable, but they are actually not the same! 

Icing is thin and glossy. It dries hard, shiny, and smooth and is typically made with just powdered sugar and liquid.

It’s often used to decorate cookies or drizzle over pastries.

On the other hand, frosting is known to be thicker and fluffier than icing and is commonly spread on cakes or cookies.

It can have different textures and consistencies depending on the preparation. 

The buttercream cookie frosting we make here with this recipe is super popular, but whipped cream and cream cheese frosting are tasty too!

Tips and Tricks to Make Sugar Cookie Frosting That Hardens 

• Eliminate Clumps. Use a sieve to sift the sugar and get rid of any clumps.
  
  This is one of the best ways to get a perfectly smooth consistency when you cream the butter and sugar!
  
• Use Room Temperature Butter. Room temperature butter is the easiest to combine with other ingredients and guarantees a soft, fluffy texture for your frosting.
  
  Avoid using melted butter as it won’t combine properly with the powdered sugar — you’ll get frosting that lacks structure and doesn’t set properly.
  
• Keep It Covered. Frosting is easiest to spread and decorate with when it’s soft, so try to keep it covered when you’re not using it!
  
  If your frosting starts to get too hard while you’re decorating, give it another mix or add a little bit of milk to help to soften it.
  
• Dry Before Stacking. While this is a sugar cookie frosting that hardens, you’ll want to give your frosted cookies enough time to dry fully before storing and stacking them. 

How to Decorate Cookies With Buttercream Cookie Frosting

Whether you’re hosting a cookie decorating party, packing up sweet treats for family and friends, or simply gathering the kids for a fun holiday activity — there are so many different ways to decorate your cookies.

Find the method that suits the occasion and the tools you have on hand!

Spread by Hand

An offset spatula is the best tool for spreading frosting quickly and easily.

It not only gives you better control over the thickness of the frosting layer, but also creates cleaner edges.

That said, spoons may be a bit easier for small hands to work with. They can scoop with one side and spread with the other, all while minimizing mess!

Use a Piping Bag

A piping bag is a great option that will give your hands more control as you decorate.

By using bags with various decorator tips, you’ll have plenty of options for creating different textures and fun designs.

The easiest way to fill a piping bag is to place the bag (fitted with a tip) in a tall glass with the pointed side facing downward. 

First, open the top of the bag and roll a cuff over the edge of the glass so that it holds. 

Next, carefully spoon your buttercream cookie frosting into the bag, aiming to fill from the bottom up. Be careful not to overfill your bag as this might make it more difficult to work with.

Finally, unroll and close the cuffed end of the bag, and remove it from the cup. Simply cut off the tip of the bag and you’re ready to frost!

Try the Double Bagging Method

If you’ll be using several different colors of frosting, there’s an easy method called “double-bagging” that allows you to use the same piping tip over and over.

Just add each color to a different piping bag, and fit your tip onto a separate, empty bag.

Then, snip off the end of the bag of buttercream and drop it into the bag with the tip.

When you’re ready to change colors, pull the inner bag out and drop in a new one!

You might want to squeeze a small amount of frosting out onto a piece of paper towel first — this will push any remaining old color through the tip.

Kitchen Tools You Will Need

• Stand mixer or large mixing bowl with hand mixer for whipping up your frosting.
• Offset Spatula – This spatula has so many uses and is perfect for smoothing an even layer of buttercream on each cookie.
• Piping Bag – These bags make decorating easy and clean up less messy! You can fit different bags with your favorite piping tips, or use the double bagging method for a seamless switch between different colors.
• Decorator Piping Tips – Use different shapes and sizes depending on the design you want to make.

Sugar Cookie Frosting FAQ

Enjoy!
With love, from our simple kitchen to yours. 

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Other Christmas Desserts

Sugar Cookie Frosting + Video

Donna Elick

Sugar Cookie Frosting is soft and sweet! This delicious homemade buttercream cookie frosting will take your holiday cookies to the next level.

5 stars from 5 reviews

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Tried this recipe?Please comment and review!

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Total Time 5 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Method Mixed

Servings 40 – 50

Ingredients

 

1x2x3x

• ▢ 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• ▢ 3 tablespoons milk
• ▢ 4 cups powdered sugar
• ▢ pinch salt
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ Gel food coloring

Garnish

• ▢ Sprinkles

Instructions

 

• In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter with an electric mixer. Add in 1 cup powdered sugar, 2 Tablespoons milk, and a pinch of salt. Beat to combine.
• Add in another cup of powdered sugar, the almond extract, and vanilla extract. Beat to combine.
• Add in an additional cup of powdered sugar. Mix until well combined and smooth. Add additional powdered sugar or milk to get the right consistency.
• Stir in gel food coloring.
• Spread or pipe frosting onto your sugar cookies. Top with sprinkles immediately. Allow it to harden before stacking.

Video

Donna’s Notes

If you are using multiple colors of food coloring for your cookies, tightly cover your additional frosting with plastic wrap so that it doesn’t dry out.

If your bowl of frosting starts to get hard, add a small amount of milk and mix to get the consistency back to the way you like it.

I recommend sifting your powdered sugar to keep your frosting smooth.

The round cookies were made using a Wilton 2D piping tip and a 12 inch piping bag.

The Christmas tree cookies were made using a Wilton 21 piping tip with a coupler in a 12 inch piping bag.

The fastest way to ice the cookies is probably making a round or square shaped cookie, and using an offset spatula to spread the frosting on.

Why won’t my sprinkles stay on? The frosting may have hardened a little bit before you put the sprinkles on. Tap the sprinkles into your cookie frosting, using a flat hand. This should press the sprinkles softly into the frosting.

Store in an airtight container for about 3 weeks.

Nutrition

Serving: 1 | Calories: 68cal | Carbohydrates: 12g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 6mg | Sodium: 1mg | Sugar: 12g | Calcium: 2mg | Iron: 1mg

All nutritional information is based on third party calculations and is only an estimate. Each recipe’s nutritional value will vary depending on the ingredients used, measuring methods, and portion sizes.

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Originally published November 2020, updated and republished December 2022

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