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1 Comment Baking cookies is always a good idea, but for special occasions like Easter it is double the fun. I picked cute cookie cutters in the shape of little bunnies for these Easter cookies, but you could make them into any kind of funny shape you want. Be it the shape of Easter eggs or bunnies or flowers. It’s all good. Decorating the cookies is half the fun and here I used festive easter color sprinkles. Perfect for the Easter season!
Table of contents
What goes into the Easter cookies
Last year I made these super delicious Chocolate cupcakes with white chocolate ganache but this easter I wanted to do something a bit more simple. This is a pretty traditional cookie but with the addition of some easter candy and a cute shape.
Making these easter egg sugar cookies is quite simple and you need just the following ingredients:
- all purpose flour
- unsalted butter – make sure the butter is at room temperature
- caster sugar – use white sugar here or the cookies will become much darker if you use brown sugar
- vanilla extract
- egg – one large or medium egg
In addition to the ingredients you will need a baking sheet or cookie sheet, parchment paper and a rolling pin.
How to make the Easter cookies
Making the Easter cookies is easy. It helps to use a food processor or hand mixer. For the food processor use the paddle attachment if you have one. You start by creaming the butter and the sugar together until smooth and creamy. Add the egg and the vanilla extract and mix well. The last step is to add the flour. It’s best if you sieve this before adding so there are no lumps in the dough.
Now wrap the dough in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for at least an hour. Do not skip this step! If you want to know why chilling your dough is important check the instructions in this post on chilling dough by my friend Laura. So for the best results always chill your dough.
Once your easter cookie recipe has chilled enough you can take it out and roll the cookie dough out. Alternatively, if you do not have a cookie cutter, you can roll it into dough balls and simply bake round cookies. That’s totally fine too. Place the cookies on a lined baking sheet in the preheated oven and bake cookies for around 12 minutes or until the edges of the cookies are light golden brown.
Keep in mind that the cookies will be soft when they come out of the oven. They will crisp up as soon as they cool down a bit. So don’t be alarmed if the top of the cookie still feel a bit soft.
And that’s all there is to these Easter sugar cookies.
Decorating the festive cookies
Now the fun part about any cookie if you ask me is the decorating part. For these delicious easter cookies I kept it really simple with just some royal icing and easter sprinkles. Now for the icing you can keep it white or you can use different colors of food coloring. The sprinkles go on before the icing dries so they stick to the cookies.
Now these cookies are already delicious without anything on them so you can definitely eat them as they are, but I find the icing and the sprinkles extra special.
Additions and variations
Now because this is such an easy recipe, it is also really easy to vary by adding different flavors. You can make lemon cookies by adding lemon extract instead of the vanilla or you can use almond extract. In terms of the decoration you can add little mini eggs on top of the icing (making easter egg cookies) or use holiday m&m or chocolate chunks. White chocolate chips are also a great addition. Cut it a little smaller so they distribute more evenly over the cookies.
These Easter cookies are also great fun for adding to your Easter baskets. You can store the cookies (do make sure they are cooled down completely) in an airtight container for 1-2 weeks. This is really one of my favorite cookie recipes and so easy to adjust to the whatever season. If you love sweet treats you’re gonna love these cookies!
Looking for more fun Easter recipes?
You can try one of the recipes below:
- Easter brownies
- Easter cupcakes with chocolate ganache
- Quick easter buns with chocolate
- Lemon curd buns with poppy seed
Easter cookies
Ingredients
- 200 g unsalted butter cut into cubes
- 1 egg lightly beaten
- 175 g white sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 400 g all purpose flour
Instructions
- Allow the butter to come to room temperature so that it is easier to mix with the other ingredients. Cream the butter with the sugar. Add the egg and vanilla extract and mix until completely incorporated. Add the flour to the mixture and knead with a mixer until smooth and firm. Of course, you can do this with your hands if you do not have a mixer.
- Let the dough chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour. To make it easier to cut out the cookies, I always make the dough as flat and rectangular as possible with my hands. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180˚C/350˚F (conventional oven). Once the dough has cooled sufficiently, roll it out to about 0.5 cm thick. Cut out shapes from the dough and place them on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Make sure there is some space between the cookies so they don't stick together.
- Bake the cookies in the oven for about 10-12 minutes, depending on their thickness, and then let them cool a bit before transferring them to a cake rack. This is because the cookies are still soft when they come out of the oven and can easily break! If you are unsure if your cookies are done, look for the following: when the edges of the cookies start to turn light brown, they are done.
- If you want to decorate the cookies, it is important that they are well cooled!
Notes
- If you want to make royal icing that is very simple to do. You need a good amount of icing sugar. Think something like 200-250 gram (7-9 oz) and a bit of water. Add a tablespoon or teaspoon of water at the time and stir until the mixture has the right consistency.
- For additional flavors you can use lemon juice instead of water or orange juice.
- Add a bit of food coloring to give the royal icing any color you want
- Decorate the icing while it is still wet with sprinkles, mini easter eggs or chocolate chunks.
Nutrition Information per portion:
Disclaimer:
The nutritional values above are calculated per portion. The details are based on standard nutritional tables and do not constitute a professional nutritional advice.
The cutest easter bunny cookies out there! Plus the recipe is suitable for all kinds of cookies shapes!