Easy Easter Cut-Out Cookies
These Easy Easter Cut-Out Cookies are the perfect cookie to get you in the spring spirit. Made with pantry staple ingredients, these icing-free cookies are simply (and easily!) decorated with sparkly, colorful sugar sprinkles.
Easy Easter Cut-Out Cookies
I don’t know what it is about cut-out cookies, but my kids love them. Picking the cookie cutter, cutting the dough, and decorating with their favorite sprinkles brings them so much joy, especially around a holiday season (I think my children would decorate sugar cookies for every holiday if they could).
After making my Egg-Shaped Orange Linzer Cookies, I really wanted to get an easier cut-out recipe on the blog. I loved how the sugar sprinkles turned out on those linzer cookies, and I wanted to use orange and green sugar sprinkles with the carrot cookie cutter that came in the cookie cutter set I bought. So here we are! With an easy cut-out sugar cookie recipe that yields just enough to satisfy those inevitable holiday yearnings for sugar cookie decorating. The best part? You can cut and decorate these cookies however you like!
Why You’ll Love These Cookies
- Made with pantry staple ingredients
- Sweet, “buttery” taste even though they’re dairy-free
- Easy to make and “decorate” (unbaked cookies get sprinkled with sugar)
- Dough can be flavored to your tastes (orange, lemon, almond, etc)
What You’ll Need
- Plant-based butter gives these cookies a buttery flavor while adding moisture. I used Country Crock Plant Butter Sticks with Olive Oil.
- White granulated sugar sweetens these cookies.
- Egg binds the ingredients together. I haven’t tested these cookies with any egg alternatives.
- Almond extract adds flavor. Feel free to mix up your own flavor combination by adding your favorite extract (orange, lemon, vanilla, etc).
- Vanilla extract also adds flavor.
- Salt enhances flavor.
- All-purpose flour makes up the bulk of the cookie dough. I used an unbleached variety, but any all-purpose flour will work.
- Plant-based milk is brushed on top of the cookies pre-sprinkling to create a sort of “glue” for the sprinkles to stick to. I used almond milk.
- Sanding sugar decorates these cookies pre-bake. Feel free to use any combination of colors for whatever cookie cutter shape you choose.
FAQ
Can I use a different extract flavor? Definitely. Whatever flavor you like (lemon, orange, vanilla, etc) will work in these cookies.
Will other sprinkles work? Do I have to use sugar sprinkles? You can use any oven-friendly sprinkles. Nonpareils (the tiny, round sprinkles) and jimmies (the long, stick-like sprinkles) will both work.
Can I bake these in advance? Yes, you can bakes these a few days in advance. Store them in an airtight container at room temperature. These cookies can also be frozen and thawed before before enjoying.
Will regular butter and milk work? I haven’t personally tested this recipe with regular butter or milk.
Easy Easter Cut-Out Cookies
The perfect Easter Cut-Out Cookies to get you in the spring spirit! Made with pantry staple ingredients and easily decorated with colorful sanding sugar.
Ingredients
Cookie Dough
- 1/2 cup (113g) plant-based butter, softened
- 1/2 cup (100g) white granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp almond extract
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 cups (260g) unbleached all-purpose flour
Topping
- 2 Tbsp plant-based milk (for brushing on the cookies)
- Sanding sugar (for topping the cookies)
Instructions
Make the Dough
- In a large bowl, beat together the softened butter and sugar. Beat in the egg. Beat in the extracts, and then beat in the salt.
- Use a large spoon or spatula to mix in the flour. It's normal for the dough to look dry at this point. Use your hands to mash and mix the dough together until a smooth dough forms. Then shape the dough into a ball, flatten to a disc shape, and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
Bake the Cookies
- Once the dough is firm enough to roll out, unwrap and place the dough disc between two pieces of parchment paper (roughly the size of a cookie sheet).
- Roll the dough until it's a little under 1/4" thick. Place the rolled dough, and parchment paper, onto a baking sheet, or cutting board, and place it in the refrigerator to chill for 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, prepare a second baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Pull out the dough and remove the top layer of parchment paper. Cut shapes using a cookie cutter (mine is roughly 3.3x1.6") and place the cut-outs onto your prepared baking sheet.
- Get your sanding sugar. Prepare small plates or bowls to catch the excess sugar, one for each color you plan to use. Pick up one cookie and brush with a light layer of plant-based milk. Shake the sanding sugar over the part of the cookie you wish to decorate, holding the cookie over a plate/bowl to catch the excess sugar. Finish adding the sugar, being careful not to mix the colors in the bowls that are catching the excess (that way you can save the sugar for a later use).
- Place the cookie back on the baking sheet. Repeat until all cookies are sugared. Refrigerate the cookies, along with the baking sheet, for 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 300°F.
- One the cookies have chilled for 15 minutes, bake them at 300°F for 12-13 minutes. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for one minute before carefully transferring to a cooling rack.
- Repeat steps 2-8 until all the cookie dough has been re-rolled, shaped, sugared, and baked.
- Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature.
Notes
- Butter: I used Country Crock Plant Butter Sticks with Olive Oil.
- Cookie Cutters: I used the carrot-shaped cookie cutter from this set.
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