Soft, Frosted Sugar Cookies – These soft, frosted sugar cookies taste identical to the ones you love to buy at the grocery store bakery. They are so fun to make at home and have none of the preservatives that you get in the store-bought version.
Happy February! And so begins the month of sweets, romance, chocolate, strawberry, and champagne. So it makes sense that it’s also my birthday month. Woohoo!
This month I turn 29 and a whole year closer to 30. Yikes. But let’s not worry about that yet. I still have year 29 to celebrate! You can expect an awesome sweet treat next week to celebrate my special day, so keep a lookout!
Okay now for today’s recipe.
Back in September, I started welcoming each new month with a cookie recipe because, well, I LOVE cookies. Let’s recap what we’ve covered so far:
- September – These perfect nutella macarons
- October – These cinnamony pumpkin snickerdoodles
- November – These cranberry cookies with white chocolate drizzle
- December – My favorite cookies of all time, monster cookies
- January – These gooey chocolate chip cookie bites with fudge frosting
For February, I thought I’d share my favorite sugar cookie (and perhaps the only sugar cookie I’ve ever loved): soft, frosted sugar cookies with pink frosting.
After falling for them early in my childhood, I’ve always been a chocolate chip cookies kind-of-gal. Sugar cookies were never enticing to me because they didn’t have enough oomph. Just boring, bland, pale cookies. Not for me.
That is, until a fateful day in 8th grade…We were having a class party and someone brought these soft sugar cookies with frosting and sprinkles that they had purchased from a grocery store bakery. I was intrigued because they looked like half-cookie-half-cupcake. I tried one of those cookies and my opinion of sugar cookies changed FOREVER.
Those sugar cookies were soft, yet dense, with sweet colored frosting. Enough sugar to get my heart beating a mile-a-minute, that’s for sure. But that soft cookie is what sold me, for sure.
And now I can make them at home and eat them anytime I want! Well, I probably shouldn’t, but I’m just happy to know that I can (as is my husband). These are his favorite cookies!
One of my favorite things about this recipe is that you can easily make it all year long. Just switch up the color of the frosting and sprinkles to make them fit each season and/or holiday. You can even switch up the shapes, too! Hearts, shamrocks, flowers, stars, Christmas trees, pumpkins…the possibilities are endless!
This is also a great recipe to do on a day where you need some baking therapy. You can turn on some tunes, roll out some dough, bake some cookies, and take your sweet time frosting each one. I did this exact thing last weekend and it was magical. My tunes of choice: the soundtrack to La La Land. I’m obsessed!!!
You probably haven’t made very many cookies like this before. The dough is super sticky and may be tricky to manage on your first try. But fear not! I’m here to give you some tips to make sure you get it right the first time:
- This dough needs to chill overnight. Do not skip this step! The dough is really messy when we first make it so it needs to chill so you can easily roll it out and cut out circles.
- When rolling out the dough, flour your surface and rolling pin really, really well. This will keep the dough from sticking. If the dough starts to stick, form into a ball, add more flour, and roll out again. If it gets too sticky to work with, just place in freezer for a few minutes to cool it down – cool dough is easier to work with.
- This recipe makes 48 cookies. You will need to bake these cookies on two baking sheet and in two batches. These half sheet pans
are my favorite baking sheets because they are big and sturdy. I use them in all my cookie recipes.
- Make sure the cookies are completely cool before you begin frosting them. Otherwise, the frosting will melt all over the place.
- To make sure the sprinkles stick, add them right after you frost each cookie because the frosting tends to dry quickly.
- When frosting cookies or cupcakes, I always recommend using an offset spatula. It helps create a smooth, even layer of frosting. Here
is the small one I used for this recipe.
are my favorite baking sheets because they are big and sturdy. I use them in all my cookie recipes.
is the small one I used for this recipe.Here are all the kitchen tools and serveware that I used in this post. For each item that is sold, I receive a small commission. Thank you for supporting the brands that support CPA!
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Soft, Frosted Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
For the cookie dough:
- 6 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup butter salted, softened
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups light sour cream
For the frosting:
- 1 cup butter unsalted, softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 5 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 6 tablespoons heavy cream
- pinch of salt
- food coloring
- sprinkles
Instructions
For the cookie dough:
- In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, and baking powder until combined. Set aside.
- Place softened, salted butter and granulated sugar in bowl of a stand mixer and beat on medium-high for 3 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, until incorporated. Add vanilla and sour cream and mix on low until combined.
- Add all of dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix on low until just combined. Do not over-mix or the dough will get tough. The dough will be sticky. Grab plastic wrap and lay out two large sheets. Separate dough onto each sheet so you have two even piles of dough. Cover dough with plastic wrap and form into a flat rectangle. Refrigerate overnight. Do not skip this step! It will be impossible to roll out the dough if it is not cold.
- The next day, preheat oven to 425 degrees. Prepare two baking sheets by laying with parchment paper or using a silicone mat. Flour your work-surface and rolling pin extremely well. Don't skimp on the flour - the dough will be super sticky so we need the flour to keep it from sticking to the counter.
- Remove rectangle of dough from fridge and unwrap. Flour both sides of the dough pretty well so it does not stick as we roll it out. Roll out dough until it is about 1/4 inch thick. Using a 2 1/2-inch cookie/biscuit cutter, cut out 24 rounds from the dough. You may have to combine scraps and roll out again to achieve this. Place dough on two cookie sheets (12 per sheet), about an inch apart.
- Bake for 4 minutes, rotate, and bake for 4 more minutes until slightly golden on the edges. Do not over-bake! We want these to stay soft. Remove from oven and transfer cookies to wire cooling racks. Do not frost until completely cooled. Repeat process with second rectangle of dough.
For the frosting:
- Beat butter, vanilla, and pinch of salt until creamy and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add 4 cups of powdered sugar slowly, about 1 cup at a time.
- Add heavy cream, 1 tablespoon at a time. Taste frosting. If you approve of the texture, then you can skip to next step. I thought it tasted too butter-heavy so I went ahead and added 1 1/2 more cups of powdered sugar. But you should test it out slowly by adding only 1/2 cup at a time until you reach the flavor you're looking for.
- Add a couple drops of your favorite food coloring to the frosting mixture. Mix until colored. If you want a deeper color, add another drop or two.
- Once the cookies have all cooled, you can begin to frost and sprinkle them. I recommend using a offset spatula to help spread frosting on evenly and cleanly.
Notes
More cookie recipes that you’ll love:
Chocolate Chip Cookie Bites with Fudge Frosting
Monster Cookies
Reese’s Pieces Peanut Butter Cookies
These sugar cookies look absolutely perfect! I love how soft and pillowy they appear. Baking is one of my favorite ways to unwind after a long day of working on music AI projects. There is something so satisfying about the precision of baking measurements, much like fine-tuning audio parameters. The frosting looks beautifully smooth too. Definitely saving this recipe to try this weekend!
These sugar cookies look absolutely perfect! The frosting looks so smooth and professional. I recently used vidglory.com to create a short recipe video for my own cookie decorating attempts – the AI video editor made it surprisingly easy to add nice transitions between mixing steps. Your technique tips here are really helpful for getting that bakery look at home!
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These look amazing! There are few things I love more in this world than a perfectly soft frosted sugar cookie, these seem divine!
These are so pretty and look just like the ones from the store! Great texture, and I love the shade of the frosting!
Awww, I love love love sugar cookies and haven’t made them in ages. These look perfect for Valentine’s Day <3 Your treats are always SO incredibly pretty!!
XOXO
Aw that’s so sweet of you to say! That means a lot. Thank you!
Not sure there is anything better than soft frosted sugar cookies. I love when they melt in your mouth. YUM!
OMG These cookies look amazing!! Perfect for Valentine’s Day!!
Those look so good! There’s something about a sugar cookie that is just so comforting. They are so simple and yummy!
Frosted sugar cookies are my husband’s favorite! This looks like the perfect recipe for him. The frosting I try to make never works for sugar cookies so will have to try this. 🙂
Mmmm, frosted sugar cookies are one of my faves!! Those ones in the store are yummy, but I bet these homemade ones are even better!
All these delish cookies….. I’m such a cookie monster and I’m on a diet, boo! Will
be back for some cookie bites with fudge soon, mmmm
Chelsea || http://www.binkiesandbaubles.com
Oh man, these cookies look amazing and I think my kids would be thrilled if I made them! Thank you for sharing these perfect Vday cookies!
These are the BEST kind of sugar cookies! I’m going to have to try them.
Just pinned!! These look so good! I can’t wait to make them!
These are my husband’s favorites! I might just have to treat him on Valentine’s Day with these! 🙂
these look great! perfect for Valentines Day!
These look SO yummy and perfect for Valentine’s Day.
The cookies are perfect for VDay! They look so yummy!
The sugar cookies look sooooo good! I’ve always wanted to make cookies from scratch but scared of the turnout lol
These cookies look delish!!!
They look delicious – and perfect for Valentines Day! That recipe makes a lot… I feel a bit nervous that I would eat all 48 of them! LOL! PS Don’t stress too much about getting closer to 30. I’m coming up for 31 this year and I can’t even remember my age when people ask me… so it’s no big deal, you totally forget your age after 30 anyway 😉
Haha it sure does! I sent many of them with my husband for his coworkers. And yeah, I’m already starting to forget my age and I’m not even 30 yet! I had to do math the other day to get to it! haha
These cookies look delicious and perfect for Valentine’s Day. I can’t wait to give your recipe a try.
Yay! Let me know how they turn out!
These look amazing and I hope to try them soon!
It was college when I first began to love sugar cookies. A roommate’s mother baked a tin for us and they were everything you described. It wasn’t long before my roommates and I began writing love notes to this wonderful mom (who kept baking them for us).
Thanks for sharing your recipe and technique!
Haha that’s so awesome! Thanks for sharing your story!
Love this recipe, might try in the future when I have all the ingredients in my house 🙂
These look so good! I totally need to make them this year.
Omg! Soft frosted sugar cookies?! Yes, please! They look so yummy and the recipe so delish…a winner for sure.
Gonna try these!
Awesome! Let me know how you like them!
These are like those store-bought ones but WAY yummier looking and probably a whole lot less preservatives!
These seriously remind me of the cookies of my childhood. I have been looking for a recipe to replicate them and have failed so far. I am so glad I found this post!
Yay! I am so happy to fulfill that need for you! Hope you enjoy them 🙂
Your cookies look amazing. My husband keeps asking for sugar cookies. I should probably make him some lol
Major cravings right now! These look so delicious!
These are so pretty! I’m going to try them for a Valentine’s Day party at my daughter’s school. Would be a cute gift for teachers too!
I have a recipe similar to this. It looks amazing and perfect for Valentine’s Day. Thanks for sharing.
Those look so good! And pretty!
These look so delicious and festive!
Thanks for sharing this recipe. I’ve never seen a sugar cookie recipe that has sour cream in it. I love your pictures of them, too. Can’t wait to make. Happy Birthday month!
Me either! That’s the secret ingredient to making them so soft.
These are PERFECT for Valentine’s Day! The sugar frosting looks sooo good.
Omg DROOLING. These are one of my favorite cookies and I would love to be eating these right now!
These look scrumptious. These are the best bet to put frosting on top. Nice Valentine’s Day Treat for your children’s teachers for sure!
These look AMAZING! Very excited to try them out! Thanks for sharing!