This sugar cookie frosting recipe is super quick and easy to make. Add any food coloring you'd like to decorate your favorite sugar cookies.
This is definitely up there in terms of frosting for cookies-- frankly, its the only stuff I use--I've made this 3 or 4 times now. I make this with the recipe on this site: "The Best Rolled Sugar Cookies" and it is just fantastic! If you aren't a big fan of sweet stuff, however, I would suggest halving this recipe-- this really makes way more than necessary for that recipe. If you are a big fan of sweet stuff, however-- glop it on! I seriously suggest putting in the shortening, then slowly adding the powdered sugar about half a cup at a time. Once it starts clumping up, add the milk/ etc, then add more sugar if you want to make it a bit thicker. I've found that if it gets too clumpy, it won't dissolve the clumps, and you have to smooth it out with a spatula, which takes forever.
Read More Some of the other reviews said this recipe dries hard. Mine didn't. One batch of ruined bake sale cookies later I have to start with a new recipe. If you are going to go ahead and use this recipe I would suggest less shortening and also substituting butter.
Read MoreThis is definitely up there in terms of frosting for cookies-- frankly, its the only stuff I use--I've made this 3 or 4 times now. I make this with the recipe on this site: "The Best Rolled Sugar Cookies" and it is just fantastic! If you aren't a big fan of sweet stuff, however, I would suggest halving this recipe-- this really makes way more than necessary for that recipe. If you are a big fan of sweet stuff, however-- glop it on! I seriously suggest putting in the shortening, then slowly adding the powdered sugar about half a cup at a time. Once it starts clumping up, add the milk/ etc, then add more sugar if you want to make it a bit thicker. I've found that if it gets too clumpy, it won't dissolve the clumps, and you have to smooth it out with a spatula, which takes forever.
Delicious!! I used this icing on the Easy Sugar Cookies and it was a huge hit with everyone. I used unsalted butter instead of shortening though, it gives a much better flavor to the icing. The one time I used shortening the icing dried fairly quickly and I was able to put all the cookies in layers (with tinfoil in between) within 15 minutes of icing them. If you want to add sprinkles or anything to the top of the icing be sure to do that right away or they won't stick! If you use butter, the cookies will stick together if you stack them but there's no trans fats!
Halved the recipe and used butter instead of shortening. Great and easy. My daughter had a blast adding food coloring and decoring cookies. Using this for this season's batch of holiday cookies. Thanks Kathy.
GREAT frosting for sugar cookies or christmas cookies. Sets well so you can put the cookies in a tin or bag! Loved it! A+
This was a good cookie frosting, but not exactly what I was looking for. My husband said it was too sweet, but the kids and I loved the sweetness. However, I was on the hunt for more of a glaze/icing that would be stackable. The frosting was thick and was more like a frosting for a cake. It was yummy though and easy to handle.
I liked this recipe because I often use royal icing. The cream of tartar gives it that twinge and its not very good with a sugar cookie. So this was a better choice. I also added some Wilton's white white. It makes it perfectly white. If you add a little glycerine it comes out glossy ;) thanks!
This frosting was fantastic! Finally I have found a cookie frosting that is thicker, and hardens, and its tastey. Thanks so much for the recipe!
I have been searching for the "perfect" frosting recipe - the search is over - this is IT! It's easy to make, tastes great, easy to apply and dries hard (but not as hard as royal frosting).
This was a great frosting. Just the right consistency, easy to spread, slightly shiny. I used butter in place of the shortening, and I also added some lemon extract which I highly recommend.
Halved the recipe and used butter instead of shortening. Great and easy. My daughter had a blast adding food coloring and decoring cookies. Using this for this season's batch of holiday cookies. Thanks Kathy.
I've used this recipe for about 20 years. I think I got it from an old Pillsbury cookbook my mom had when I was a kid growing up. Super easy! I whip the shortening in my mixer for a minute and then add the powdered sugar gradually. I mix the vanilla in the milk so it gets evenly distributed. I add the milk after I've added about two cups of sugar and then add the remaining sugar to the desired consistency. I divide it in little bowls and color. I usually make a double batch when we make Christmas cookies and be sure to save some white for Santa's beard and snowmen!
Some of the other reviews said this recipe dries hard. Mine didn't. One batch of ruined bake sale cookies later I have to start with a new recipe. If you are going to go ahead and use this recipe I would suggest less shortening and also substituting butter.
PERFECT! I used 1/4 cup butter and 1/4 cup shortening for flavor. The best part was that the icing dried enough to stack them, but didn't actually dry out. Definitely my go-to recipe now when I need frosting for cookies!
This is the best basic cookie frosting. Just change out extracts for different flavors (starting at 1/2 tsp to taste)and add your food coloring. Great for decorating, the frosting set up nicely after a few hours, SLOWLY add more milk if it is too thick to get the consistency you want. Just remeber this is not a glaze it is a frosting!*** Just a quick update I use this recipe but now only do about half the confectioners sugar. Not to sweet just enough to compliment the cookie with out the frosting being the only thing you taste. I first cream my shortening (smart balance is transfat free) then add the sugar. when It turns crumbly I slowly add the milk to the consistency I am looking for.
This frosting was excellent on the soft sugar cookies from this site. I used water instead of milk so i could leave it out of the fridge. It hardened up nicely and tastes similar to the filling of an oreo. Will definately use again.
This frosting is wonderful! I split this recipe & made half with vanilla and the other half with almond--both were delicious! I can't wait to try it again with lemon. A+!! PS-when combining the shortening & confectioners sugar, mine did not take on a creamy texture--but don't be discouraged, go ahead and add the milk & it turns out fine. :)
I used this icing on "Easy Sugar Cookies" and it tastes great. I used butter for the icing instead of shortening and cut the recipe in half (we had just enough icing to generously ice 3 dozen cookies).
This was very good. I tried it exactly as written, then I tried it with butter instead and added a dash of salt. Much better the 2nd way. Sets well. Thanks for the recipe!
This frosting is lick your fingers, spatula and bowl good - and exactly as written save for using clear vanilla and adding a pinch of salt. But I can't stress enough how important it is to use hi-ratio shortening, easily available online, for superior quality.
It was a great base to begin with, easy, fast and no fuss. and it tastes great! I only used 3 cups of confectioner's sugar and swapped the shortening for butter. I also left out some milk using only 4 tbsp. I am making this my new go to frosting. the vanilla flavor is very prominent so if you are wanting to add an extract I would half the vanilla. enjoy!
This is my go-to icing recipe for sugar cookies! It is perfect because it sets well, and allows you to stack cookies in a container without messing up the icing. It tastes great too!
EXCELLENT! I used butter-flavored shortening and it came out perfectly. Dried on the cookies just right so I could stack them. Tasted delicious!
Love this recipe! A couple little tweaks I use though... unsalted butter in place of the shortening, and add 1/8 tsp Almond Extract -the almond gives the frosting such a nice hint of added flavor. Most people who try them love the flavor but can't quite put their finger on the reason they love it...it's the almond! :)
This frosting was awesome, I used it with Delilah's cut-out sugar cookies and I think it made the cookie. I used butter instead of shortening, I only had butter flavored and didn't want the frosting to be yellowish (thanks cammysauce!) for my ghost cookies. At first the frosting seemed to separate a bit, but I was in a hurry making it and don't think I beat the sugar in slowly enough to let it mix well. I made half of it orange for pumpkin cookies and they looked great, the frosting was super easy to work with. At one point it seemed to separate more so I micro'd it for a couple seconds and the cookies after that were super glossy and dried really quickly. They ones I frosted thick took a while to dry completely, I left them out overnight and by morning they were perfect!
very good recipe. Didn't have shortening on-hand and used butter and still turned out great. Used coloring and made Valentine's cookies. My boys loved it!
I was very disappointed in this frosting. 1-it tastes awful...tastes like shortening. 2- it doesn't harden up enough to be able to stack the cookies without them smearing and making a mess.
Loved this frosting on the Sugar Cookie Cutouts from this website. It makes a ton, so I halfed the amount and had enough to ice 3 dozen cookies. I also used half vanilla and half almond extract as a personal preference.
I followed the recipe, used clear vanilla extract & added 1 tsp of almond extract. Very easy to make, work with, and oh so yummy. Thanks :)
This recipe is AWESOME! I will never use another frosting recipe again, this is the one I've been looking for! I used 1/2 & 1/2 (all I had) and real butter! I'm wondering if those who colored their frosting used color paste or food coloring. I used food coloring and didn't get a deep red like I would have liked. Would someone who has used paste please comment?
I thought this frosting was really good! It complimented "The Best Rolled Sugar Cookies" recipe very well. At first I thought it was going to be more of a glaze, but it's more like cake frosting, but does dry fast enough that I could stack them without making a mess, while still not tasting dry at all, which was great! I brought the cookies to a family get-together and everyone had at least two or three!
Woohoo!!!!! This is a *GREAT* sugar cookie frosting recipe, taste better the longer it sits on the cookie too!!!(Unless you leave it on for a month!!!ehehehe)Yup, I have QUITE A FEW cookie frosting recipe, and this is BY FAR the best one I've used!!! Its smooth,light,and creamy it taste better then the frosting on the store bought sugar cookies or at least just as good!!! Anyways you'll be bound to love it, unless somehow you mismake this easy and quick frosting.
This frosting is excellent. I used butter instead of shortening and it tasted awesome. I used this frosting with the Easy Sugar Cookies recipe and everyone loved them. You will not be disappointed if you make this frosting.
This was a very good recipe. I prefer butter to shortening and used salted sweet cream in place of the unhealthy trans fats of shortening. I would note to slowly add in the milk. For those who did not like the consistency of the icing, it is easy to make it thicker or thinner by simply adding more/less milk. I used this on top of soft sugar cookies, and I had no problem stacking the cookies on top of each other. You just need to give the icing an hour or so to dry completely. As a final note, I decided I wanted some color and additional flavor and added cinnamon to half of the batch and 1 TBSP of an instant lemon pudding mix to the other. Both turned out delicious and pretty.
UMMMM... works perfectly to describe this frosting. it spread so easily and didn't make the cookies soggy. the one problem i had was i couldn't get enough of it, it was too delicious. I made a batch of cookies, whipped up the frosting and took them to a christmas party and within the hour they were gone every single cookie was devoured. Perfect for any cookie in my opinion. :)
I followed the recipe exactly and ended up with a bunch of sugar left over. With the addition of more milk, it took on a frosting consistency; however, the vanilla extract seemed pretty strong tasting. It was okay, but I'm not sure if I'll make this again.
I used butter and was out of milk so I had to use half and half. Rich and YUMMY!!!!! This frosting is sooo good. Takes color well IF you are using professional colors not the crummy ones you get at the grocer.
This turned out exactly as I had hoped. The icing tastes delicious, and it dries just enough to where you can stack the cookies without them sticking together. I used butter flavored Crisco, and was happy with the result. I can finally make powdered sugar icing!
i have made this twice now and this time when i made it i used french vanilla coffee creamer oh my goodness it was spectacular... i liked it the original way the first time too so instead of milk and vanilla i just used the creamer till i got my desired consistency... yummy
I loved this recipe!! It is amazing!!! I did half and half of the vanilla and then die the other half with maple!! They tasted like maple bars! I have made it with both butter and with shortening and I prefer the butter. I used butter flavored Crisco and it tasted too much like shortening and left a funny film in my mouth!!
This is the perfect sugar cookie frosting! Sweet and creamy and it sets up enough so you can stack them without smearing the designs. Yet it is still soft when you bite into the cookie. I substituted the vanilla for almond extract. You could probably use lemon as well. I also used butter instead of shortening.
Maybe because I used butter instead of the shortening (like others), but this recipe did not turn out for me at all! Appeared very runny, and even after beating 5 minutes it was still a runny gloppy mess. Because I was pressed for time, I sent my husband to the store and buy the canned frosting. My personal opinion is that 5 tablespoons of milk is way too much...maybe it should be 5 TEAspoons?
My 10 year old daughter and I found this to be an excellent cookie frosting. I added 1/2 tsp. of almond extract but other than that I followed the recipe. The frosting dried enough to stack the cookies with no problem. Kids will love this!
Great slightly crusting frosting for sugar cookie bars! Really tasty on sugar cookie bars.
Great consistency, great to work with, great taste. I just can't say enough good about this recipe!! This is the first time I've ever iced sugar cookies and this is definitely the recipe to use!!
very greasy tasting and bland. Separated easily at room temp. I'll stick to the store-bought stuff or homemade buttercream frosting.
Pretty good, and easy to make even without a mixer. I used butter flavored shortening, which makes the frosting a creamy colour that I think is pretty :) Didn't bother with food colouring; sprinkled with coloured sugar right away, and then the frosting dried up just enough to stack the cookies which makes it much easier to pass them out to friends!
I halved the recipe and it was plenty to cover my 12 inch sized choc chip cookie for my husband's birthday.
I made this with butter instead of shortening, knowing that because of this, it wouldn't harden up enough to stack the cookies, but it didn't matter because it tasted SO good! I added a little lemon extract and yellow food coloring to the recipe, and used it to frost the Easy Sugar Cookies recipe from this site, to which I also added some lemon extract, and while not super-lemony tasting, it gave it a little "something" special....this is one of the best frosted cookies I've ever made!
Yummy frosting, used butter instead of shortening, set very nicely was able to stack cookies with no problems.
Perfect for Christmas Cookies! Easy to make and consistantly comes out perfectly. I also switched the vanilla with peppermint for green christmas frosting.
Oh lord this was awful. My friend and I googled "Easy Sugar Cookie Frosting" and clicked on this thinking it was simple... and edible. Oh boy were we wrong. First of all, we didn't have "shortening" so we subsituted it for butter. After reading some reviews, I have come to the conclusion that this was a bad idea. Second, the recipe wasn't very clear on how to mix the ingredients. Should you decide to make this, use shortening, MUCH less sugar than called for (let's be realistic, 4 cups of sugar is too much for anyone), and do not beat too much. Our frosting seemed to have a bunch of clumps of sugar, so we mixed it with an electric mixer on "Whip." This made it into a weird liquidy consistensy. So, long story short: don't make this recipe and pick something alot more edible. Unless of course you like frosting that tastes like overly buttery, sickly sweet toothpaste. Lastly, we named our frosting "The Nuclear Hazard," which should give you an idea of the quality...
Easy to make, great consistancy, and very very good taste. I couldn't get shortening here so I used butter. It still looked white. I used it for my sugar cookies and had enough left to frost a loaf of gingerbread, so if you're not making too much, 1/2 the recipe.
I must have done something wrong.... my frosting did not turn out!! it looked like spackle =( or paste.
There is nothing "special" about this frosting, that being said there's nothing much here to improve. Tried and true! I mixed it up a bit - I made my cookies with some GROUND CLOVE and CINNAMON - Then for the frosting I replaced 3/4 of the MILK with EGGNOG then sprinkled NUTMEG on top! Next time I might even split the MILK and EGGNOG HALF & HALF
I used this recipe to decorate Halloween cookies and rolled out Pillsbury sugar cookie dough, used a pumpkin cookie cutter, let cool and added this icing. The only CHANGE that I made was to used butter in lieu of shortening. It came out real "pearly" and shiny....simply gorgeous! The toddlers in my daughters wee school and the trick or treaters are gonna love 'em!
This is a great recipe for frosted cut out sugar cookies. I used butter instead of shortening per another reader's advise, I think it was a great idea. It did take a little bit more milk than the recipe states. I added a tiny bit more vanilla too. Frosting tastes wonderful! I made Valentines Hearts and decorated with sprinkles after frosting. YUMMO!
I used Butter instead of crisco. And instead of milk I used heavy cream. It was delish!
Very good frosting, turned out perfect and easy too. I added a tablespoon of butter and 1/2 a teaspoon of extra vanilla for extra taste. I think this frosting could also be used on cakes. I will definately add this to my collection. Thanks so much for sharing Kathy.
This icing was so easy to work with. It hardened up nicely and it made cookies easy to package for gifts. I will be using this recipe again next year.
Absolutely delicious. This frosting is light anf fluffy, and a dab adds just the right amount of sweetness to sugar cookies. One note: I used the whisk attachment on my mixer and whipped the icing very well for lightness.
boo!!! terrible! i made this icing and it wasnt sweet AT ALL! it just tasted like straight shortening. and i even followed the recipe exactly! bad bad bad!
I never thought the day would come when I would say this, because I LOVE sugar, but this icing was a little too sweet. However, it does have a good consistency and does dry firm.
Excellent for piping. Tastes delicious. Will be using for all my decorated cookies and cakes.
Delicious! It turned out great. I used butter shortening instead. It works great with the "Soft Christmas Cookies" recipe. It was the right amount to frost all of them and a little to spare for tasting :) A keeper!
Meh. The flavour was good -- not too sweet -- but it was hard to colour this icing. I had to add several more tablespoons of milk to get it to a piping consistency, and found that the shortening melted in the bag as a piped, leaving white streaks in the coloured icing. Not quite the look I was going for. I would definitely use this again for baking projects that involve only white icing, but I don't recommend this for colouring, unless you have ice-cold hands!
GREAT!!! Will be using this at Christmas too. Only change I made was using butter instead of the shortening but that was only because I didn't have any. Worked out so well, I'm gonna keep using the butter.
I used coconut oil instead of the shortening and the flavor turned out wonderful.
I used butter flavored shortening as it was the only kind I had on hand. I was quite nervous due to another reviewer saying it did not turn out well, quite the contrary! I doubled the recipe, split it into two bowls, and flavored one with vanilla extract and one with almond extract. Everyone loved it. The perfect topper for sugar cookies- not too sweet- perfection!!
This was easy and it did it's job, however the taste was not what I was expecting. Not even the kids like the taste. It was great to decorate the cookies with, but we couldn't eat them with the frosting.
Perfect Frosting. Last year I tried a recipe and it was to runny & sweet, I have no complaints on this one. I followed the recipe to a T.
This tasted like liquid powdered sugar, so we didn't like it. I found it way too sweet, also. It did have a nice texture, though.
This is wonderful for decorating! It works best with bags and tips for decorating becuase it is so thick. But it dries well and tastes great!
PERFECT FROSTING! All my other poor excuses for frosting recipes are now in the garbage - THIS one's a keeper! I only changed 2 things: Used 1/4 C. softened butter AND 1/4 C. butter flavored Crisco shortening. This made the frosting very flavorful and handled that shortening only flavor other reviews remarked upon. Also, I used Very Vanilla Silk Soymilk instead of plain milk - it enhanced the vanilla flavor - extra yummy! PS the best sugar cookie recipe on the site is "Grandma Minnie's Old Fashioned Sugar Cookies" by Jessica McDonald - these 2 recipes are a match made in baking heaven! My family and I thank you Kathy & Jessica!
After you make this frosting you will never make another frosting ever again! It hardens real nice for sugar cookies and sugar cookie cutouts.
Good recipe for Sugar Cookies. I added a bit of real butter so it had that extra taste...but very good as it is. Dries hard and cookies turn out beautiful! Thanks for a great recipe.
I do love this frosting. Easy to work with and tastes great. I use almond extract instead of vanilla to flavor it. Doesn't tint the frosting,tastes wonderful, and smells good.
YUM! perfect sweetness and flavor that doesn't overwhelm the cookie. Thanks for a great recipe
I make this using about 1/3 c shortening, and replace vanilla with 1/2 t almond extract. Delicious frosting for decorating sugar cookies!
Fast, easy, and delicious. We decided to make holiday cookies this weekend. And we didn't have any frosting. Found this, had the simple ingrediants, made it. So yummy too, perfect for cutout sugar cookies. Sets up quickly. We made red and green. Fun activity for the kids to do too, make sure you have lots of sprinkles!
Used this with the Best Rolled Sugar Cookies recipe and the frosting added the perfect amount of sweetness to the cookies. This may be TOO sweet for other cookies that are very sweet by themselves. I only had butter flavor shortening and it turned out just fine, except it made it a bit difficult to color a yellow frosting the way I wanted :o). Creamy and smooth and SWEET!
I just made this icing for sugar cookies, and i must say it's delicious! definitely going to be my new icing recipe.
All I can say is - PERFECT! This worked so well to decorate cookies and tasted so yummy. A keeper for sure. Thanks!
I loved this frosting. The ratios were spot on. Dries very quickly for a buttercream type frosting with very good flavor. Used butter crisco. This volume frosted 2 batches of sugar cookies. Divided up into several dishes and tinted accordingly. You can play around with the extracts. I added some vanilla, rum, and hazelnut. Thanks for this great recipe that made frosting 2 batches of cookies quite easy.
i made this frosting in about 10 different colors...maybe more! after about 2 weeks one of the cookies i kept for myself but forgot about was still perfect. will definitely use this again. thanks kathy!
Very good. I had to use butter instead of shortening because it was all I had. The frosting set up perfectly on my sugar cookies and held up.
I used this recipe, but halved everything except vanilla then added powdered sugar until it was the right texture. Still made plenty of frosting for 18 cookies of about medium size. Didn't turn out as white as i thought, it's more of a beige but again I did fiddle with the vanilla and powdered sugar proportions so that could be why.
Awesome. I used it to decorate a large cookie with writing. YOu may have to play with the consistency alittle with powdered sugar so it will come out a bag and through a writing tip. EXCELLENT!
