What I love so much about these iced sugar cookies is that they are super untroublesome to make.

Minimum ingredients required, minimum effort required, and you’re rewarded with a large batch of delicious, fun-looking cookies.

To be quite honest, I made this recipe for Valentine’s this year to give as gifts to my friends, but I’m only getting around to posting the recipe now. The IB workload will do that to you. Oh well, Valentine’s comes around every year. And maybe it’s a sign. These cookies are perfect for every occasion (including no occasion!).

So How Do You Make These Iced Sugar Cookies?

First off, get yourself a medium-sized mixing bowl out of your cupboard. Too much detail? Well, I really have to expound the steps because these cookies are so easy that there’s really not all that much to talk about in this post!

Okay, okay, getting on with it.

Making the Dough

Start by beating together softened butter and sugar, then add vanilla essence and salt, and mix. Throw in an egg, and mix again.

Next, you’re going to add self-raising flour and beat with a hand mixer (or use a fork, honestly works just as well). The mixture should not stick to your fingers, and it should be firm. If it’s still a little bit sticky, mix in some extra flour – up to half a cup extra. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and place it in the fridge for at least 2 hours, or overnight.

Now it’s time to get cookie cutting. Time to haul out the kids, if you have them. I’m not anywhere near having my own little army of helpers, so I had to do it all by myself 😢. Lightly sprinkle a countertop with flour and roll out the dough with a rolling pin until it’s about 0.5cm thick. If the dough is very hard after being in the fridge, it might help to seperate it into smaller bits and first knead it a bit in your hands. 

Use a cookie cutter to cut out your cookies (I did hearts for Valentine’s), then place them onto a large baking tray lined with baking paper. You can put them quite close together as they don’t expand much. Bake the cookies for about 15 minutes, or until very lightly golden. Allow the cookies to cool slightly, then place them on a wire rack to cool completely.

Making the Icing

Okay, nearly there now.

For the easy (and yummy) two-ingredient icing, sift icing sugar into a bowl, then vigorously stir in a bit of milk using a small fork. You may need to add a few more drops of milk in order to get a consistency that is perfectly ‘between runny and firm’ for dipping the cookies into. 

Dip the cookies face-down into the bowl, shake them to get rid of the excess icing, then dip them into a small bowl of sprinkles to decorate. I decided on some fun and colourful 100s and 1000s sprinkles to bring the cookies to life. Lastly, place the cookies onto a wire rack so that they can drip-dry.

Because these are crunchy cookies (that melt wonderfully in your mouth), you can store them in an airtight container for a couple of weeks without them tasting funny. The only issue is they probably won’t last that long.

Psst…if you want another nice Valentine’s-inspired cookie recipe, try out these butter cookies filled with icing and jam.

Print Recipe

Iced Sugar Cookies

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Serves: about 40 cookies

Prep Time: 1 hour 15 minutes (plus time in the fridge) – Cooking Time: 15 minutes – Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes (plus time in the fridge)

Quick and easy cookies that are delightfully crunchy, yet melt in your mouth. These sugar cookies, with a simple icing and colourful sprinkles, are a fun gift or a lovely baking treat.

Ingredients

• Cookie Dough
• 200g butter, softened
• ½ cup sugar
• ¼ tsp vanilla essence
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 egg, room temperature
• 2½ - 3 cups self-raising flour
• Icing & Decoration
• 1 cup icing sugar
• 2T milk
• 100s and 1000s sprinkles

Instructions

1

Beat together the softened butter and sugar, then add the vanilla essence and salt, and mix. Add in the egg, and mix well.

2

Add 2½ cups of self-raising flour and beat with a hand mixer, or else use a fork. The mixture should not stick to your fingers, and it should be firm. If it’s still a little bit sticky, mix in the extra half cup of flour. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and place it in the fridge for at least 2 hours, or overnight.

3

Preheat the oven to 165°C. Lightly sprinkle a countertop with flour and roll out the dough with a rolling pin until about 0.5cm thick. If the dough is very hard after being in the fridge, it might help to do it in smaller bits and first knead it a bit in your hands.

4

Use a cookie cutter to cut out your cookies, then place them onto a large baking tray lined with baking paper. You can put them quite close together as they don’t expand much. Bake the cookies for about 15 minutes, or until very lightly golden. Allow the cookies to cool slightly, then place them on a wire rack to cool completely.

5

Sift the icing sugar into a bowl, then vigorously stir in the milk using a small fork. You may need to add a few more drops of milk in order to get a consistency that is perfectly ‘between runny and firm’ for dipping the cookies into.

6

Dip the cookies face-down into the bowl, shake them to get rid of the excess icing, then dip them into a small bowl of sprinkles to decorate. Place the cookies onto a wire rack to dry.

Notes

These will last a couple of weeks in an airtight container.