Iced Sugar Cookies are wonderfully delicious! A soft, cut-out sugar cookie is decorated with a glossy icing to make the perfect iced sugar cookie! Fluffy, sweet and full of sugar cookie goodness.

Sugar Cookie Dough

Sugar cookie dough can have the reputation for being high-maintenance, but not with this recipe! A hassle-free sugar cookie dough is what I’m all about – and so was my Grandma since it was her go-to all these years!💛

Start off by creaming together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in the dry ingredients just until a dough forms.

Next, separate the dough into two parts, form into disks, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate. Unfortunately, with a sugar cookie dough, refrigeration isn’t a step that can be skipped. Trust me, it’s worth it!

Finally, roll out the cookie dough and have some fun! Use cookie cutters to cut into all shapes and sizes.

Tips and Tricks

While making sugar cookies, there’s a couple tips to keep in mind that will make your life much easier:

Refrigerate the dough – doing so allows the dough to be rolled out, cut into shapes and then hold that shape while baking. Otherwise, the cookies would run all over the pan in the oven.
Handle the dough as little as possible – our hands are naturally warm and will start to melt the butter in the dough if over-handled. Keeping light, quick touches while handling the dough is optimal.
Keep the rolling pin and surface floured – since the dough does need to be rolled out, a floured work surface and rolling pin will keep the dough from sticking.
Don’t roll out the dough too thick – if the dough isn’t rolled out enough and left thicker, it will cause the cookies to puff up and become formless blobs in the oven. I mean, they’re still edible, but won’t have any shape definition.
If you have different sizes of cookie cutters, try to bake the smaller ones together on one baking sheet and the larger ones on another. That way, the cookies will all bake evenly instead of the smaller ones getting done first.

Let’s Talk Icing

A blank sugar cookie is just begging to be iced. And this icing recipe is easy and delicious! No fancy frills here – this is a straight-forward icing recipe that doesn’t require egg whites or a lot of work. Count me in!

Whisking together powdered sugar, a bit of corn syrup, milk and extract creates a glossy icing ready for any occasion. The corn syrup is needed to help the icing create a shell-like effect that keeps the cookies from sticking together once iced and set.

Once the icing is made, it’s time to get creative! Swirl in different colors or top with sprinkles. There are a couple ways the cookies can be iced:

Spread the icing on – use either the back of a spoon or a butter knife to spread the icing onto the cookies. This is what I do when I don’t want to take the time to put the icing into a bag.
Pipe the icing on – transfer the icing to piping bags and ice the cookies. This method will allow you to get more precise lines and designs.