There are a few things that the holiday season totally needs. A Christmas tree. Time with your favorite people. Glitter. And cookies. Definitely cookies.
For this week’s Sunday Supper, we’re all sharing our favorite desserts. When I was looking at what everyone was going to share I noticed a serious lack of love for cookies, so I decided to change that.
Which, for the record isn’t very me. See, I hate making cookies. Don’t get me wrong, cookies themselves are great. I used to eat Nilla Wafers and Chessmen for breakfast when I was a kid and couldn’t stomach anything else before school.
The slice and bake cookies were always in the oven when my grandparents were in town when I was little. My baby sitter and I once spent an entire day making cookies from the Mrs. Field’s cookbook. When Mom worked she brought home the BEST cookies that I can never recreate no matter how hard I try.
Cookies: they’re awesome. Except when I try to make them. Pies are done when they are golden brown and bubbling. Cakes are done when a toothpick comes out clean. But cookies, they tempt and taunt me, unwilling to offer any clues to their doneness.
They may look underbaked on the outside, but give them a chance to cool and they will reveal themselves to be dry and lifeless. Or they could be golden brown on the outside but totally and forever raw on the inside.
These cookies for example took a couple batches to get right. The first batch tasted great out of the oven, but once they cooled, they were dry as a bone, though Mom and Dad would argue with me on that. The second batch was much better.
Perhaps the best thing about these Frosted Sugar Cookies is how easy they are to make. It took no tie to whip up a batch and get them in the oven. Oh, and then there’s the cream cheese frosting and sprinkles. Because again … holidays and sprinkles are a match made in heaven.
Now that I have these cookies down, I know I will make them again and again. They should be a part of your cookie baking too!
Frosted Sugar Cookies #SundaySupper
- Total Time: 27 minutes
- Yield: 12 cookies 1x
Ingredients
Cookies
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
- ½ cup + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, plus more for shaping
- ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
- ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste
- 1 large egg
Frosting
- 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
- 4 ounces cream cheese
- 3 cups confectioners’ sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste
- Sprinkles, for topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment.
- In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. This is really easy to do by hand, but a hand or stand mixer would work too. Add oil, vanilla bean paste, and egg and mix until well combined. Add flour, salt, baking soda, and cream of tartar. Mix until a thick, well combined dough forms.
- Divide the dough into quarters and divide each quarter into three roughly equal pieces. Take each piece, shape it into a ball, and place it on the tray. Arrange the balls as far apart as possible on the tray. Take a bit of the sugar for pressing the cookies and sprinkle it on each ball. Then press the cookie until it is about ½ inch thick.
- Bake flattened cookies for 12 minutes. No matter what they look like take them out of the oven. I learned this lesson the hard way. Cool cookies completely on tray.
- Once cookies are cool, make the frosting. Beat butter and cream cheese using a hand of stand mixer until light and fluffy. Slowly add confectioners’ sugar. Once it is all added, pour in the vanilla bean paste. If the frosting is too thick, add some cream or milk. If it is too thin, add some more sugar.
- Spread a heaping tablespoon of frosting on each cookie. Top with sprinkles. Serve immediately or store cookies in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Cookies may also be frozen, individually wrapped in parchment and foil and placed in a zipper bag, for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature about an hour.
Notes
Cookies adapted from The Faux Martha
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
Don’t forget to check out the other Sunday Supper dishes! Thanks to T.R. from Gluten Free Crumbley for hosting!
Bars and Cookies
- Frosted Sugar Cookies by Pies and Plots
- Gluten Free Cinnamon Shortbread Bars by Gluten Free Crumbley
- The Best Pecan Pie Bars by Life Tastes Good
Cakes
- Chocolate Fudge Layer Cake by That Skinny Chick Can Bake
- Clementine Cake with Cranberry Glaze by Caroline’s Cooking
- Coconut Pecan Cake with Coconut Rum Frosting by The Chef Next Door
- Coconut Syrup Cake by Palatable Pastime
- Japanese Sugar Plum Fairy Cupcakes by NinjaBaker.com
- Moms Texas Sheet Cake by My Life Cookbook
- Pumpkin Roll with Cream Cheese Frosting by Recipes Food and Cooking
- Rave Review Coconut Cake by Family Around The Table
- Salted Caramel Mocha Bundt Cake by A Mind “Full” Mom
- Salted Caramel Pretzel Cupcakes by Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks
- Spiced Chocolate Eggnog Cake by The Crumby Cupcake
Cheesecakes
- Raspberry Cheesecake by Mindy’s Cooking Obsession
- White Chocolate Cranberry Cheesecake by Baking Sense
Drinks
- Pumpkin Patch Cocktail by Wholistic Woman
Pastries
- Black Bottom Oatmeal Pie by This is How I Cook
- Butterscotch Pecan Pie by Fantastical Sharing of Recipes
- Perfect Plum Pie from Art of the Pie #Giveaway by Sunday Supper Movement
- Pumpkin Spice Mochi by Cricket’s Confections
- Purple Yam-Ube Blueberry Tart by Asian in America
- Swedish Apple Pie Cups with Date Caramel Sauce by Simple and Savory
Puddings and Creams
- Arroz Con Leche with Coconut and Cheese by Basic N Delicious
- Cranberry Apple Croissant Bread Pudding by The Freshman Cook
- Rauhreif – German Apple Dessert by Cosmopolitan Cornbread
Join the #SundaySupper conversation on twitter on Sunday! We tweet throughout the day and share recipes from all over the world. Our weekly chat starts at 7:00 pm ET. Follow the #SundaySupper hashtag and remember to include it in your tweets to join in the chat. To get more great Sunday Supper Recipes, visit our website or check out our Pinterest board. Would you like to join the Sunday Supper Movement? It’s easy. You can sign up by clicking here: Sunday Supper Movement.
Cookies definitely deserve a lot of love! And scrolling through your blog, I think the sweet potato sheet cake looks amazing. Yum!
That sweet potato sheet cake was a huge hit around here. My mom was just talking about it recently.
Ha, the reason I don’t make cookies more often is because of how many I eat! Other desserts seem to take more work, but cookies are so popable and snackable, it’s hard NOT to snarf ’em up! 🙂 That being said, there’s nothing better than frosted sugar cookies, except those with sprinkles.
It’s funny – I’m the opposite. I can eat just one cookie, but if I make brownies or another kind of bar, I want to taste it hot out of the oven and then when they are cool and I am cutting them up, I’ll take another taste and a few pieces might fall off. And a layer cake, random piece of cake just seem to fall off and end up in the frosting and then my mouth. Weird 😉
Sugar cookies with cream cheese frosting and sprinkles would not last long at my house! SO yummy!
Frosting makes the cake and the cookie! Love the idea of a cream cheese frosting atop a sugar cookie. BTW You are right, Laura. The holidays definitely need cookies AND glitter =)
For sure, Kim; we always buy the glittery Christmas cards 🙂
Cookies and the holidays…perfect together.
I love your cookies from the Almond Butter to the Triple Peanut Butter. One reason is how easy they are to make and I am not really about baking so that makes them extra special for me. I have made those two recipes more than any other thing I have baked in my life! Now another to add to my baking repertoire. Thanks!!
These are almost as easy as the almond and peanut butter ones, especially if you skip the frosting, which is totally okay – the cookies stand alone.
My favorite dessert of all time- an old fashions sugar cookie with frosting. These look like pure perfection! I NEEEEED to try this recipe ASAP!
I hope you love this recipe, Kathy!