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painted sugar cookies

Painted Sugar Cookies

These painted sugar cookies are the perfect way to make decorating cookies super accessible for toddlers, and super delicious too!
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Resting time 2 hours
Course Dessert
Servings 40 cookies

Equipment

  • stand mixer or hand mixer with paddle attachment

Ingredients
  

For the cookie dough

  • 1 cup (16 tbsp) butter, room temperature
  • 1 large egg
  • 3 1/2 cups flour, plus more for dusting
  • 1 tbsp baking powder
  • 1 tbsp vanilla extract
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 2 cups white sugar

For the icing

  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • 3 tbsp milk

For the paint

  • gel food coloring (you'll need about 10 drops of each color)
  • 1 tbsp lemon extract per color of food coloring that you have

Instructions
 

For the cookies

  • Preheat oven to 350. Line 2 baking sheets with silicone mats or parchment paper.
  • In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt.
  • Using a stand mixer or hand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and egg and beat until combined.
  • Add the flour mixture to the butter and sugar mixture in three parts, beating to fully combine between each. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and set in the fridge to chill for 20 minutes.
  • Once the dough is chilled, divide it in half. Roll each half out on a floured work surface to 1/4 inch thick. Use cookie cutters to punch out shapes. Use a spatula to transfer the cookies to a baking sheet and bake in batches until just beginning to turn brown around the edges, about 10 minutes.
  • Once cookies are cooked, let them cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes. Then transfer them to a cooling rack and let them cool completely before icing.

For the icing

  • Whisk together powdered sugar and milk until smooth. Add more milk if it seems to gloopy, and more powdered sugar if it seems too thin.
  • Once your cookies are baked and cooled completely, use a thin offset spatula or a butter knife to spread the icing evenly over each cookie. Allow the icing to harden completely (about 1-2 hours) before painting.

For painting the cookies

  • In a small bowl, combine 1 tbsp of lemon extract and 10-12 drops of gel food coloring. Stir well to combine (the two won't combine completely, but that's ok). Repeat this for each color of food coloring that you have.
  • Once your iced cookies have dried completely, use a clean paintbrush to paint directly onto the iced cookies. Allow the paint to dry before serving or eating!