Sugar Cookie Frosting Recipe

You’ll love topping your favorite sugar cookie recipes with this fluffy Sugar Cookie Frosting. It’s a lighter, more airy consistency and doesn’t weigh down the flavor or texture of your cookies. If you’re looking for a classic frosting recipe that pairs perfectly with sugar cookies, this is it! Different than royal icing, this sugar cookie icing is what you could use on our delicious Soft Sugar Cookies recipe, or on your favorite sugar cookie recipe.

This is a lighter, more airy buttercream frosting that quite literally melts in your mouth. If you want a thicker frosting that sets more hard, you can add more confectioners’ sugar to taste. But here’s what you need for this decadent, delicious icing:

Butter – half a cup, or one stick of butter, softened to room temperature. Shortening – half a cup. It’s important to use high quality shortening because they don’t all taste the same. love using Crisco brand. The butter/shortening blend in this recipe helps hold the frosting together and gives it that light texture. Powdered sugar – two and a half cups – more or less depending if you like thinner or thicker frosting. Heavy cream – three tablespoons, adding a bit more if you like a thinner texture. You can substitute half and half or a couple tablespoons milk for the heavy cream. Vanilla extract – one teaspoon. You can use clear vanilla extract so it doesn’t affect the color of the frosting. Pinch salt – this is optional, especially if you’re using salted butter. I recommend a pinch of salt if you’re opting for unsalted butter. Pink food coloring – optional

Method to Light and Airy Frosting

This easy sugar cookie icing recipe is different than the frosting that uses meringue powder and is decorating with floods of icing in a piping bag on a cookie. If you are looking for that recipe, we have a very easy to follow post on How to Make Royal Icing. However, this one is more fluffy and airy and spreads on easily with a butter knife. Here’s how to get it that perfect fluffy texture: This makes about 3 cups of frosting and will frost about 24-36 standard cookies.

For A More Sturdy Frosting

This frosting recipe is supposed to be a light, whipped frosting. It looks beautiful and tastes incredible but it is also delicate. Packing cookies with this frosting in a lunch box may smash the frosting and make the cookies difficult to eat. In the case that you want a more sturdy frosting that is more dense and easier to pack, just add more powdered sugar, to taste. The frosting will stiffen up so when it dries it can be more easily packed or transported.

Flavor Variations

This icing is easy to add different flavorings to for a variety of cookie choices. Consider these flavor options:

Lemon extract and a dab of yellow food coloring for a bright, citrus cookie. Almond extract gives the icing a deeper flavor that complements almost any sugar cookie recipe. Add a touch of peppermint and red gel coloring, for delicious Christmas cookies. Decorate with crushed candy canes. Use this sugar cookie frosting to top chocolate brownies or chocolate drop cookies. Top with mini chocolate chips.

More Frosting Recipes

Peanut Butter Frosting

Chocolate Buttercream

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

Cream Cheese Frosting

This is such a versatile and basic delicious sugar cookie frosting that you can use it for all sorts of cookies, brownies, etc. Try it some of our favorite cookie recipes: