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Royal Iced Sugar Cookies are an impressive treat made with cut out sugar cookies and an easy royal icing recipe! Once you make the recipe, use our guide for How to Decorate Cookies with Royal Icing to create the perfect cookies.
Royal icing sugar cookies are my all-time favorite cookies to make for the holidays! I love baking, frosting, packaging and eating the cookies. They are slightly more labor intensive than other cookies, but are worth the time and effort. Iced sugar cookies are not very difficult to make when following this recipe and a few easy tips!
Some sugar cookies are bland and tasteless. My go-to recipe is the best because the cookies are both beautiful and delicious.
These beautiful sugar cookies are an impressive treat for Valentine’s Day, Christmas, birthdays and more. You will have so much fun making them and sharing them with others!
Table of Contents
What You Need for Iced Sugar Cookies
You will need a few simple pantry ingredients to make the cut out sugar cookies. For the sugar cookies, you will need butter, powdered sugar, egg, almond extract, vanilla extract, salt and flour.
Ingredients and instructions to make the icing are below.
Cut Out Sugar Cookie Recipe
We continue to use this sugar cookie recipe because it works. The cookies not only look pretty but taste great as well. They are moist, decadent and full of flavor.
- Make the dough: Cream the butter in a stand mixer. Then add the powdered sugar and mix until incorporated. Blend in the egg, almond extract, vanilla, salt and flour.
- Chill the dough: Once the dough is formed, chill the dough until firm. We chill it for at least an hour, but you can chill it for up to 24 hours.
- Shape the dough: Roll the cookie dough to 1/4″ thickness on a well-floured surface. Be sure to roll the dough to at least this thickness to ensure sturdy cookies that do not burn. Use cookie cutters to cut shapes into the rolled-out dough and then place on a prepared baking sheet.
- Bake cookies at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 8 to 10 minutes, being careful not to burn the cookies. They should not brown but will have crisp edges.
Royal Icing For Sugar Cookies
Royal icing is sugar cookie icing that hardens. To make the royal icing, you will need powdered sugar, meringue powder and water. Follow the directions for this easy royal icing recipe to create the right consistency every single time.
To make the royal icing:
- Mix together all of the ingredients: Combine the powdered sugar, meringue powder and water in the clean bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or use a hand mixer and large bowl.) Mix on low speed for 8 to 10 minutes until the sheen disappears and the icing has a matte appearance.
- Thin the icing: Add water, a small amount at a time and mix until incorporated. Continue until the icing reaches the desired consistency for piping. If you’re having any difficulty piping then the icing is too thick, so add more water and try again.
- Pipe the icing: Use a pastry bag to pipe around the edges of each cookie. You can use small tip or just snip a small piece off the end of the piping bag.
- Flood the cookies with the icing: Once the cookies are edged, transfer some of the remaining icing to a separate airtight container. Thin out by adding a small amount of water at a time, and stir by hand until fully incorporated. The icing should drip off the spoon. Flood the area surrounded by the piping on each cookie. (You can use squeeze bottles or a plastic bag with a hole in the corner or a spoon to flood the cookies). If there are any air bubbles, or any thick parts that don’t smooth out, use a toothpick to help smooth out the frosting. Allow to set until completely dry.
Cookie Tips
- Adjust the consistency of the royal icing – If the royal icing is too thick, add a small amount of water and stir until desired consistency is reached. If the royal icing is too thin, add a small amount of powdered sugar and stir until desired consistency is reached.
- Decorate the cookies as simple or as intricate as you want! I prefer simply decorated cookies, so mine usually look something like you see here. You can add more intricate designs and details as you see fit. But either way, you will have an impressive decorated cookie!
- Use gel food coloring to color the icing – Use a tooth pick to add a small amount until the desired color is reached.
Follow our guide for How to Decorate Cookies with Royal Icing for a complete tutorial and detailed instructions to decorate the sugar cookies.
Storage and Make Ahead
You can make these cookies up to 2 weeks in advance and store them in a sealed container at room temperature.
To freeze, place the cookies in a freezer safe bag or container with a piece of parchment paper placed between each cookie. Freeze for up to 3 months, then thaw before serving.
Because you can make these cookies in advance, they are a great option for Christmas cookies, birthday cookies, other holiday cookies and more. For gift giving, I usually like to package them in individual plastic bags with a ribbon or in a cookie tin or cookie box.
Decorate these royal iced sugar cookies however you want! We like to keep them classic, fun and colorful. Use fun shapes and colors to create unique sugar cookies with royal icing every single time. Enjoy and have fun!
Easy Royal Iced Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
For the sugar cookies:
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 1/2 cups sifted all purpose flour
For the royal icing:
- 4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
- 2 tablespoons meringue powder
- 5 tablespoons water
Instructions
- Wash hands with soap and water for 20 seconds. Sanitize your working surface before preparing cookies.
To make the cookies:
- Cream the butter in an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add powdered sugar and mix until thoroughly incorporated. Blend in egg, almond extract, vanilla, salt and flour. Mix until dough clumps around paddle attachment. Chill dough until firm. Roll out dough to 1/4″ thickness on well-floured surface. Cut with cookie cutters and then place on greased cookie sheets. Bake at 375 degrees F for 8 to 10 minutes. Cookies should not brown. Let cool then frost and decorate.
To make the frosting:
- Combine all of the ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low speed about 8 to 10 minutes, until the sheen has disappeared and the icing has a matte appearance. At this point, you will have the stiffest consistency of the icing that is still too stiff to use for decorating. Add water a very small amount at a time and mix until fully incorporated. Continue until the icing has reached a consistency appropriate for piping. (If you are having any difficulty piping, it is still too thick. Add a little more liquid and try again.) Transfer the contents of the mixing bowl to an air-tight container. Using a pastry bag, pipe around the edges of each cookie. Let stand so the icing will set. Make sure to keep the leftover icing sealed in an airtight container at all times when not in use so that it does not begin to harden.
- Once all the cookies have been edged, transfer some of the remaining icing to a separate air-tight container. Thin out by adding a small amount of water at a time, and stir by hand until fully incorporated. The icing should drip off the spoon easily when lifted and then smooths in with that still in the bowl. If you go too far and the icing is too thin, add more sifted powdered sugar to thicken it again. Once the icing has reached the desired consistency, flood the area surrounded by the piping on each cookie. (You can use a squeeze bottle or plastic bag with a hole in the corner but I just like to use a spoon to flood the cookies.) If it does not completely spread to the edges, use a toothpick to help it along. Allow to set until completely dry.
Notes
- Makes 2 to 4 dozen cookies depending on size.
- We recommend gel icing color to color your icing.
- Store the leftover frosting in sealed containers in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This recipe was originally published in 2014. It was updated in November 2024 with new photos and recipe tips, but the recipe is the same.
How long can these cookies be stored?
You can store these cookies in a sealed container for up to 2 weeks. Enjoy!
Hello ! i just had a question before making these for my dads birthday. should i leave the cookies in the fridge after icing or do i have to bake them again?
No, you can leave the cookies at room temperature to harden. They harden completely in about 12-24 hours. You do not need to place them in the fridge. Enjoy!
I make these every Christmas and they are a huge hit and garner a ton of compliments. I usually bring a batch to work for our Christmas potluck and I have one co-worker when she left say that she would come back for our potluck just for these and pay me for them. The other day a co-worker got excited when she thought I was holding a plate of cookies and thought they might be the sugar cookies. Unfortunately it wasn’t. I am going to have to start making them more than once a year. So thank you for this excellent recipe!!
Hi! I made these a few weeks ago and they came out absolutely perfect. I’m doing another batch now, but my dough is not clumping around the paddle as it should. Any ideas why or what I can do to fix it? Thanks in advance!
Hmmm…not sure. It’s possible that your butter was too soft. I would just chill the dough and it should firm up. Enjoy!
I tried making these today but came out not too soft and taste very floury. I think this is user error though. I baked about 8 minutes and the color was good and their fluffiness held. I didn’t know to sift the flour beforehand. Does it make that much of a difference? Could that be why they tasted bland? Do you use real unsalted butter at room temp?
Hi, Lauren! Not sifting the flour could make a difference, especially if you added more flour than needed as a result. You can just sift with your spoon to add air to the flour before measuring. They should not really taste floury. If anything, I think they taste buttery. These cookies are best when you add the frosting too, otherwise they might be a little bland. And yes, I always use real butter softened slightly. Thanks so much for your questions!
Is the flour measured before or after sifting?
After sifting. Enjoy!
What kind of flour do you use and is it plain or self rising?
This recipe requires general all purpose flour. Enjoy!
After years of sugar cookie disasters, I’ve finally found the perfect recipe! The directions were super clear and detailed, which this amateur baker really appreciates. The dough came out perfect for rolling and cutting and the cookies were delicious! This was my first experience with royal icing, and that came out great as well. My tween daughter and I spent hours of fun decorating our Christmas cookies together. I cut cookies of various sizes…this recipe yielded 37 cookies for me.
I love hearing this! Thank you so much for your detailed feedback.
Have you tried baking, icing and freezing these to pull out for when you need them?
I haven’t tried freezing them, but you can definitely try it. I think they would freeze fine. I would store them individually in plastic bags then stack together in a larger container. You can pull them out as needed and thaw. Enjoy!
Best sugar cookies ever! Tried this recipe rather than buying beautiful decorated sugar cookies for my baby’s first bday, Success!!
I love hearing this. Happy 1st birthday to your little one. Thanks so much for your feedback!