Donut Sugar Cookies topped with icing and sprinkles are the best recipe for soft cut out sugar cookies made from scratch!
What are your favorite cookies? Chocolate chip cookies, oatmeal, or sugar cookies? Mine are definitely classic soft cut out sugar cookies decorated with icing and lots of sprinkles.
These cuties are so easy to make and will decorate any party or an event.
How to make perfect soft cut out sugar cookies from scratch
The base for these cookies is my favorite Best Cut Out Sugar Cookie Recipe. Please check it out for more tips.
I really like to make the cookie dough in my standing mixer. Though, if you don’t have one, feel free to use a hand mixer or just mix everything by hand, using a spatula.
A first and very important step, is to beat the room temperature butter with sugar really well, so it becomes very fluffy and pale in color.
Then add an egg and vanilla extract and mix until combined and smooth consistency.
For the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, and salt), I like to mix them together first in a separate bowl, then add to the wet ingredients in two batches. Mix everything until well combined but don’t overmix it.
When done, you can slightly knead the dough, making a ball, wrap in a plastic wrap and refrigerate from 1-2 hours to overnight.
It is vital to chill your dough before baking cut out cookies. This will prevent your cookies from spreading and will help them to keep their shape.
When you roll out the dough it might be a bit sticky. You can use a little bit of flour to prevent it from sticking to the roller or a counter. However, I have a different trick that always helps me. Put the dough between two sheets of parchment paper, then roll over the parchment paper. The paper will keep the dough smooth and will not stick.
After you cut out the cookies and put them on the baking sheet, put the sheet with the cookies back in the fridge for 10 minutes to chill. The reason I do it, is because while you are working the dough it warms up. Chilled dough will help your cookies to keep their shape.
I usually make my cookies ¼ -inch thick and bake at 350°F for 9-10 minutes. When you take them out of the oven, they will be very soft at first and look under-baked. But trust me, they are perfectly baked. After they cool off they will have a light crisp outside while remaining soft inside. If you like your cookies more crumbly, you can bake them 2-3 minutes longer. Though remember, they will be drier than usual.
How to make Icing for Sugar Cookies
For these particular Donut Sugar Cookies, I chose two colors: bright pink and pale pink. Here is my trick how to make these two colors in one bowl.
First, I start with the bright pink icing.
Note: The measurements for the frosting will vary, based on the amount of liquid you use and the desired thickness of the icing.
Usually, for one batch I use one cup of powdered sugar, ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract, a drop of liquid food coloring, and 1- 1 ½ teaspoon milk. One batch of the icing should be enough for 6-7 cookies.
For thicker consistency to pipe the borders, you will need approximately 1-1 ¼ teaspoon of milk. To fill in the inside, you need to make the icing a bit thinner, so you will need to add more milk.
I like to make a thicker icing first and scoop ⅓ of the icing in a piping bag with a thing piping tip. It is more comfortable to pipe out the borders on the cookies.
Add a bit more milk to the rest of the icing to thin it out. To fill the insides in, I use just a regular teaspoon with a narrow tip. Since the design of these cookies is not that complicated, it works quite well.
In the same bowl with the rest of the bright pink icing, add another cup of powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and milk. The remaining bright color should be enough to mix in with the new ingredients and receive a pale pink color.
Repeat all the decorating steps with the new icing for the rest of the cookies.
Decorate the donut sugar cookies with colored sprinkles while the icing is still wet, so it will stick well.
Enjoy your beautiful Donut Sugar Cookies!
MORE COOKIES IDEAS YOU MIGHT LIKE:
- Raspberry Almond Thumbprint Cookies
- Almond Spritz Cookies
- Snickerdoodles Cookies
- Apricot and Walnut Rugelach Cookies
- Chocolate Chunk Cookies
- Orange Chocolate Sandwich Cookies
- Halloween Cookies
- Cranberry White Chocolate Chip
- Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
- The Best Cut Out Sugar Cookies
- Pistachio Cookies
- Halloween Rice Krispie Treats
Did you make this recipe?!? I’d love to know how it turned out! leave a comment and a rating below👇 thank you!
Donut Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
Ingredients for Sugar Cookies:
- 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Ingredients for Icing:
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 drop food coloring
- 2-3 tablespoons milk
Instructions
How to make Sugar Cookies:
- Using a standing mixer, beat 1 cup room temperature butter with ¾ cup sugar really well, so it becomes fluffy and pale in color.
- Add an egg and 1 tsp vanilla extract and mix until combined and smooth consistency.
- Mix dry ingredients (3 cups flour, 1 tsp baking powder, and ¼ tsp salt) together in a separate bowl, then add to the wet ingredients in two batches. Mix everything until well combined but don’t overmix it.
- When done, you can lightly knead the dough, making a ball, wrap in a plastic wrap and refrigerate from 1-2 hours to overnight.
- When you roll out the dough it might be a bit sticky. You can use a little bit of flour to prevent it from sticking to a roller or a counter. However, I have a different trick that always helps me. Put the dough between two sheets of parchment paper, then roll over the parchment paper about ¼-inch thick.
- After you cut out the cookies and put them on the baking sheet, put the sheet with the cookies back in the fridge for 10 minutes to chill.
- Bake the cookies at 350°F for 9-10 minutes until the bottom gets a very light golden color.
- Note: The measurements for the frosting will vary, based on the amount of liquid you use and the desired thickness of the icing.
How to make Icing for Sugar Cookies:
- Mix together 1 cup of powdered sugar, ½ tsp vanilla extract, 1 drop of red food coloring, and 1 tbsp milk until smooth and quite thick consistency.
- Scoop ⅓ of the icing in a piping bag with a thing piping tip, and pipe out the borders on the cookies.
- Add a bit more milk to the rest of the icing to thin it out. To fill the insides in, use just a regular teaspoon with a narrow tip. Since the design of these cookies is not that complicated, it works quite well.
- Note: One batch of the icing should be enough for 6-7 cookies.
- In the same bowl with the rest of the bright pink icing, add another cup of powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and milk. The remaining bright color should be enough to mix in with the new ingredients and receive a pale pink color.
- Repeat all the decorating steps with the new icing for the rest of the cookies.
- Decorate the donut sugar cookies with colored sprinkles while the icing is still wet, so it will stick well.
The dough was EXTREMELY dry so I had to add a cup of water. They’re not very soft. Would not make again.
How long will these keep for once decorated? If used to decorate a cake, which would be kept in the fridge overnight, do you think they would they become soggy?
Hi Ale, you can keep the cookies in a air-tight container on a countertop for 3-4 days. I’m not sure how you would decorate the cake with these cookies, but I think they might become soft from the buttercream frosting.
Thank you! Maybe I’ll leave it until the last minute to add them to the cake then
Made these yesterday as a test for my granddaughters two sweet birthday later in the month. They were perfect! Besides being delicious, they were super cute! Thanks for the recipe.
Thank you, Susan! I’m so happy you liked them! Happy Birthday to your granddaughter!
Is the dough supposed to be crumbly before you put it in the fridge?
Hi Cyenna! It shouldn’t really crumbly, but more smooth.
Mine is crumbly too? I’m trying to roll it but it crumbles still. What ingredient would help make it sticky as you described?
Hi these look amazing! Can you freeze them before icing?
Hi Alice! You can freeze undecorated cookies for up to 2 months. I like to defrost them in the fridge overnight before decorating with icing. Let me know how you liked the cookies!)
Oh my gosh! I’m totally having my daughter make these as soon as the temperature drops a bit. They look amazing! Thanks, Gooddinnermom for sharing this gem!
Thank you, Kim!) They are really easy to make and so much fun to decorate!!!)))