Easter Sugar Cookies are a delicious and festive treat to make each spring! This recipe makes no chill, no spread, soft and chewy cookies that are totally customizable based on your cookie cutters and food coloring.

Colorful cut out sugar cookie on the counter with text on the photo that reads "Easter Sugar Cookies - no chill, no spread, soft + chewy recipe."

Easter Sugar Cookie Recipe

Not only are sugar cookies fun to eat, they’re also SO fun to make! Whether you make this with your kids, spouse, or girlfriends, decorating sugar cookies is one of my favorite Easter activities. The frosting recipe also makes a ton of frosting so you can make a lot of different frosting colors and get super creative with the decorating.

Up close photo of a chick shaped sugar cookie on the counter frosted with pastel rainbow frosting and piping bags in the background.

Ingredients for Easter Sugar Cookies

Sugar Cookie Dough:

Salted Butter (softened) – I always use salted butter in my cookies. If you only have unsalted, just add an extra pinch of salt to the dough.
Granulated Sugar – Sugar cookies only use granulated sugar. This is what gives them their light color.
Egg
Vanilla Extract – This is my favorite vanilla for baking.
Almond Extract – If you don’t love almond flavoring, feel free to just use 1 1/2 tsp total of vanilla extract instead.
All Purpose Flour
Baking Powder
Water (if needed) – Only use water if needed. The texture of the dough should be like play-doh; if it isn’t soft and pliable, add 1 tsp of water to the dough at a time until you reach the desired consistency.

Frosting:

*Note that this recipe makes A LOT of frosting. This is so you can split the frosting into multiple bowls and use many different colors for decorating. If you’ll only be using one color, feel free to half the recipe for the frosting.

Salted Butter (softened)
Powdered Sugar
Heavy Whipping Cream
Vanilla Extract
Almond Extract – If you don’t love almond flavor, feel free to just use all vanilla extract.
Gel Food Coloring – I have found that gel food coloring works the best because it doesn’t add extra liquid to the frosting.

Sugar cookie dough rolled out on the counter with easter shapes cut out of the dough including bunnies, chicks, and eggs.

How to Make Easter Sugar Cookies

Begin by preheating your oven to 350°F.
In the bowl of a stand mixer or with an electric hand mixer, cream together the softened butter and granulated sugar for a full 2 minutes.
Scrape the sides of the bowl to combine all ingredients, then add in the egg, vanilla extract and almond extract.
Mix again until well combined.
Scrape the sides of the bowl again, then add in the flour and baking powder.
Mix until a soft dough forms. The dough should be soft and easy to work with, almost like play-doh. If your dough is too dry and crumbly, try adding water 1 tsp at a time until you get a play-doh-like consistency.
Sprinkle a clean surface with flour so that the dough doesn’t stick, then dump the dough onto the floured surface.
Use a rolling pin and roll until the dough is about 1/4 inch thick. Note that these cookies will not rise or get thinner while baking. Be sure to roll out the dough to your desired FINISHED cookie thickness.
Now use your favorite cookie cutters to cut out desired cookie shapes.
Gently transfer the cookie dough shapes to an ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake the cookies at 350°F for 6-8 minutes (depending on the size of your cookie cutter) or until the centers puffy up and are no longer glossy.
Be sure to pull the cookies out of the oven BEFORE they start turning brown.
Allow the cookies to cool directly on the pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack.
Once the cookies are completely cool, then you can decorate with the frosting.

To make the frosting:

In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl with an electric hand mixer, slowly cream the butter until smooth.
Then add in 1 cup of powdered sugar at a time, alternating with a small amount of heavy cream to bring the powdered sugar and butter together.
Repeat step two with the remaining powdered sugar, until all powdered sugar has been added. Add the heavy cream slowly- keeping the frosting quite thick throughout the process.
Now add the vanilla and almond extract and mix on low for 2 minutes until creamy and smooth.
You can adjust the consistency of the frosting by adding a little more heavy cream to thin or a little more powdered sugar to thicken.
Divide the frosting into small bowls and color each bowl with your desired gel food coloring.
Now use piping bags and tips to get creative and decorate your Easter cookies.
Enjoy!

Several piping bags full of different pastel colored frosting on the counter.

Should sugar cookies be soft or crispy?

This depends on personal preference, but this specific recipe will give you a soft and chewy sugar cookie. These cookies will soften up even more overnight if you store them in an airtight container or zip top bag.

Do you cut sugar cookies before or after baking?

Always cut cookie dough using cookie cutters BEFORE baking.

How to store cut out sugar cookies:

Always always always store sugar cookies in an airtight container or zip top bag so they stay fresh. You can either store your cookies before frosting or after frosting. You can also freeze your baked cookies (frosted or unfrosted) in an airtight container or zip top bag for up to 3 months.

Several easter sugar cookies on the counter and frosted in pastel pink, yellow, and white.

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