Easter Sugar Cookies

Everyone loves Easter sugar cookies with sprinkles. Even if you decide to cut out cookies during Lent, you’ll definitely want to tuck into these during Easter.

You might also like to make no bake bunny print cookies for Easter, or how about lemon filled cupcakes or lemon ricotta cookies?

Why You’ll Love It

They’re so cute: These gorgeous little cookies look adorable with their buttercream frosting and pretty pastel sprinkles on top.
Delicious flavors: Perfectly sweet with a hint of vanilla in both the cookies and the frosting, these are really tasty.
Perfect for Easter: These cookies will look lovely on your Easter table, perhaps paired with other Easter treats.

Sugar Cookies for Easter Ingredients

A complete list of ingredients and amounts can be found in the recipe card below.

Flour: The main ingredient in the cookies.
Baking powder: To achieve a light texture.
Granulated sugar: White sugar gives the cookies the right amount of sweetness.
Vanilla extract: Adds a subtle flavor to the cookies and also the icing on top.
Icing sugar: Also known as powdered sugar or confectioner’s sugar, this ingredient makes the frosting sweet without graininess.
Milk: Use some in the cookie dough and some to thin the frosting.

How to Make Easter Sugar Cookies

For more detailed instructions with weights and measurements, jump to the printable recipe card.

Make the cookie dough: Mix the flour, baking powder and salt together. I like to sift the flour first just to ensure any lumps are removed. Next cream the butter and then add in the sugar. Keep beating the mixture until it’s fluffy and light. Mix in the vanilla and egg yolk and then add in the flour mixture to get a soft dough.
Chill the dough: Chill the dough for at least half an hour. This will stop the cookies from spreading out too much in the oven during baking. You can give them an hour or so if you prefer.
Cut them out: Now you can roll the dough out and cut out cookies using a cookie cutter.
Bake the cookies: Arrange them on baking pans and cook them until lightly golden just at the edges.
Make the frosting: The icing is easy to prepare. You need to beat the butter then mix in the icing sugar. The easiest way to do this is using an electric mixer. Next go ahead and add in the vanilla and then a little milk at a time. You can add more milk if the icing is too thick or more icing sugar if it’s too thin.
Decorate them: Press the frosted cookies into the sprinkles to coat them heavily or sprinkle them over by hand for a lighter result. You could also decorate them with mini eggs or another kind of candy instead of using sprinkles if you want.

Substitutions and Variations

Sprinkles: These decorated Easter cookies look great with frosting and sprinkles. Choose some Easter-themed sprinkles, perhaps pastel ones. You can even get sprinkles with Easter shapes in there, such as these Easter sprinkles with bunnies.
Gluten-free version: Substitute gluten-free flour for the wheat flour and check the ingredients in your sprinkles.
Vanilla extract: Switch the vanilla extract for another flavor extract.
Milk: You can use any type of dairy or nondairy milk.

Serving Suggestions

With a drink: Enjoy these cookies with anything from an iced gingbread latte to a cottontail margarita.
For dessert: After an Easter meal of pizzagaina with smashed potato salad, enjoy a couple of these cute cookies.
As a gift: They also make a great gift, perhaps paired with an Easter bunny tissue box basket.

How to Store Sugar Cookies

Store: It’s best not to store the decorated sugar cookies in the refrigerator. If you do, they are likely to dry out. Instead keep them in an airtight container or Ziploc bag at room temperature. Stored that way, these homemade Easter treats should be fine for a few days.
Freeze: Freeze them in one layer on a baking sheet, then transfer them into a Ziploc freezer bag once frozen. They’ll be fine for a couple of months.
Thaw: Defrost them in the refrigerator overnight or on the counter for a couple of hours.