Frosted Soft Sugar Cookies

 

I have been looking for a soft sugar cookie for quite some time. 

About 2 years ago I found one that I thought was good, not perfect, but worked for what I needed.  Because it didn’t meet my soft sugar cookie need, I always kept my eyes open for the perfect recipe.  I tried some others here and there, and all were good, but still not them one.  

Then, finally, I opened the computer and started looking at the blogs I read daily.  And there it was - A soft sugar cookie that [to make it even better] was frosted…. Just like the ones you buy from the store!

After I made these cookies, I stopped looking.  I stopped looking for soft sugar cookie recipes.  This was it!  The cookies were soft, soft, soft.  Soft and fluffy beyond words.  And to make it even better, they kept soft for days.

The recipe I found used a harder frosting, however, I decided to frost these with a soft buttercream frosting.  I thought the softer frosting would compliment the soft cookie.  You can also just eat the soft sugar cookies by themselves without frosting.  Or even make cookie sandwiches.

Enjoy these fun and tasty cookies!

Frosted Soft Sugar Cookies

For Printable Recipe, Click here!

Makes: About 40 cookies

Soft Sugar Cookies

4 ½ cups All Purpose Flour

4 ½ tsp. Baking Powder

1 tsp. Salt

1 ½ cups (3 sticks) Unsalted Butter, at Room Temperature

1 ½ cups Sugar

3 Eggs

5 tsp. Pure Vanilla Extract

1 ½ cups (3 Sticks) Unsalted Butter, At Room Temperature
3 cups Confectioners Sugar
1/8 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Pure Vanilla Extract

Food Coloring

To make the cookies, start by preheating the oven to 350 degrees F.  Line baking sheets (I used 4) with silicone mats or parchment paper, set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.  Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.   Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.  Mix in the vanilla.  Scrape down the bowl and with the mixture on low, slowly add the flour mixture.  Beat the mixture until the ingredient are fully incorporated. 

Remove the bowl from the mixer and cover in plastic wrap.  Place in the refrigerator to chill for at least 1 hour.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and using a tablespoon, scoop a large ball of dough.  Roll the dough into a ball and then place on the prepared baking sheet.  Slightly flatten the ball.  Repeat with the rest of the dough, spacing the cookies about 2-3 inches apart. 

Bake the cookies in the oven until they have set, about 10 minutes.  If they start to turn light golden brown on the edges, they are done (they don’t always have to turn light golden brown. Do not over-bake the cookies; you want them to be very soft.

Once the cookies are done baking, let them sit on the baking sheet for 5 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack.  Allow the cookies to cool completely before frosting.

While the cookies are cooling, make the frosting.  Cream the butter in the bowl of stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. 

Add the confectioners sugar and salt and mix (gradually increasing in speed) until the sugar is fully incorporated, about 5 minutes.  You may need to stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl a couple times. 

Add the vanilla and whisk until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Once the buttercream is creamy and airy, the buttercream is done! 

To color the frosting, add about 10 drops of the desired food coloring to the frosting.  Mix until the food coloring had colored all of the frosting and no white is showing. 

To frost the cookies, place the frosting in a piping bag fitted with your favorite tip (I used a medium open star tip).  Pipe the frosting in a spiral motion, covering the top surface of the cookies.  Finish frosting the rest of the cookies.  Enjoy :)!

*This is a soft buttercream frosting, so you cannot stack them on top of each other; they will just stick to each other.  You can also make these without frosting if you prefer.

Cookie recipe from Annie Eats.  Frosting recipe adapted from Annie Eats.