These snowflake no spread sugar cookies are full of vanilla flavor, are super soft, and perfect for cut out sugar cookies because they do not spread. Another bonus, these roll out sugar cookies do not require any chilling time either and they hold their shape! I decorate them with two different kinds of vanilla icing and dip them in sanding sugar sprinkles and edible glitter making them the perfect winter wonderland dessert!
These winter wonderland no chill cut out sugar cookies are my favorite to make around the holiday season, especially as part of my Christmas cookie box. They are loved by so many and I know they would be missed if I did not include them. Matter of fact, they are the cookie I get the most compliments on out of all the cookies in my cookies boxes!
These snowflake no chill sugar cookies are absolutely delicious on their own as a plain sugar cookie, but I usually always decorate them either with royal icing, or buttercream icing, and sometimes both – my favorite!
If you choose to make these snowflake sugar cookies for decorating, they require a few extra steps and patience. Regardless, they are well worth it. If you are looking for other types of cookies, be sure to check out all of my cookie recipes.
Jump to:
- Ingredients for Snowflake No Spread Sugar Cookies
- How to Make Snowflake No Spread Sugar Cookies
- How to Decorate Snowflake Sugar Cookies
- Variations for No Spread Sugar Cookies
- Equipment for Snowflake No Spread Sugar Cookies
- How to Store No Spread Sugar Cookies
- Top Tips
- Craving more?
- Snowflake No Spread Sugar Cookies
Ingredients for Snowflake No Spread Sugar Cookies
The 8 ingredients needed for these roll out sugar cookies are simple and if you have a well stocked baking pantry, you likely already have most, if not all, of these ingredients.
Ingredients for No Spread Sugar Cookie Dough
- Unsalted Butter: Ensure the butter is softened at room temperature (around 65-67 degrees Fahrenheit) before creaming it together with the sugar. It is important that it is not at all melted or it could affect the consistency and texture of the dough.
- Granulated Sugar: Sugar is perhaps the most important ingredient in a sugar cookie, wouldn’t ya say?
- Powdered Sugar: Adding in powdered sugar directly into the dough makes the cookies super soft. Powdered sugar is just sugar ground down super fine into a powder.
- Eggs: Eggs are a must and I do not recommend a substitute in this recipe. They act as our binder, leavener, and texturizer. Room temperature eggs emulsify better in the cookie dough.
- Tip: If your eggs are refrigerated and you forget to take them out before making this recipe, simply place them in a bowl of warm water for a few minutes and they should be good to go!
- All Purpose Flour: All purpose flour is the best for this recipe. I have not yet tried other brands but would imagine a 1:1 gluten free flour (one that includes xanthan gum in the mix) would also work, but it would still result in slightly different cookies because the flour is such a huge portion of this recipe. This is definitely my next testing experiment with these sugar cookies and I’ll be sure to update this post if it works out!
- Baking Powder: Baking powder helps the cookies rise just a tad while still keeping them smooth and flat. We only use a small amount in this recipe because we do not want the cookies to spread or lose their shape. By ensuring we reduce the leavening agents, it helps to reduce spreading, making these the perfect cut out no spread sugar cookies.
- Salt
- Vanilla Extract or Vanilla Bean Paste, and Almond Extract: These are the flavoring options I prefer. You could really use any extract you would like but I recommend a mix of vanilla and almond to replicate these snowflake sugar cookies. I usually use a mix of both, but keep in mind that almond extract is super strong and you only need a tiny bit to taste the flavor.
- Also keep in mind that if you use vanilla bean paste, you will see the tiny specks of vanilla bean in the cookie dough and baked cookies. I personally love the way the little specks look, it reminds me of vanilla bean ice cream! If you are going for a cookie without vanilla bean specks, be sure to only use extracts. I also seriously recommend only using REAL vanilla extract. Trust me, it is worth it if you are able to get some. A little goes a long way, and you really can tell the flavor difference in sugar cookies.
Ingredients for Sugar Cookie Decorating
Royal Icing Ingredients
- Powdered Sugar (sifted if lumpy)
- Meringue Powder
- Vanilla Extract (you can use clear vanilla extract so that the icing stays bright white).
- Water (luke warm)
Vanilla Buttercream Ingredients
- Unsalted Butter (softened)
- Powdered Sugar
- Vanilla Extract
- Salt (Just a pinch if you choose to use unsalted butter. If you use salted butter, then omit the salt.)
Decorating Accents
How to Make Snowflake No Spread Sugar Cookies
Making cut out snowflake sugar cookies is not hard, but it does require a few extra steps with a bit of patience. These sugar cookies are super fun to make and they are the perfect sugar cookies for decorating. I recommend taking your time while making these, working step by step, and having fun!
Bear with me while I explain everything step by step to make sure you succeed and have fun! It may look like a lot of instructions, but really it’s just broken up into three parts:
- Part 1: Make the sugar cookie dough
- Part 2: Cut out cookies and bake
- Part 3: Make the icings and decorate sugar cookies
Part 1: Make the Sugar Cookie Dough
Cream together softened butter, sugar, and powdered sugar for 3 minutes with an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.
Scrape the bowl down, then add in eggs and vanilla. Mix until fully combined and uniform, about another 2 minutes. While this is mixing, whisk together all of the dry ingredients in a separate bowl.
On low speed, gradually mix in the dry ingredients until a cookie dough forms. Immediately stop mixing once the dough forms. You do not want to overmix the sugar cookie dough or you could develop too much gluten which will change the finished texture.
Roll the sugar cookie dough out on a lightly floured surface until around ⅜ inches thick. Thicker cookies mean softer cookies! Trust me on this! Do not go too thin!
Tip: Use a sheet of parchment paper or wax paper in between the cookie dough and rolling pin to get super smooth cookie tops, as well as avoiding adding extra/too much flour in the dough.
Part 2: Cut out cookies and bake
You can use any shaped snowflake cookie cutters for these cut out sugar cookies. That’s why I call these Winter Wonderland Cookies.
Once your dough is rolled out, cut out as many cookies as you can. Try to cut them super close to each other and use up as much dough as possible. This ensures we work the dough as little as possible when we reroll the scraps to cut out more cookies.
Hint: Dip the snowflake cookie cutters in a tiny bit of flour to ensure they do not stick to the cookie dough when you cut into it with them.
Place the cut out cookies on to a prepared baking sheet that has been lined with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. This ensures the bottoms do not stick, they stay light and it helps to stop them from browning too much.
Bake for 8-10 minutes. Start checking them around 8 minutes, which is usually when mine are done with my oven. All ovens run differently!
Continue this process until all of the sugar cookies are baked. The amount of cookies you yield from this recipe greatly depends on the thickness and size of the cookies. It will give you around 3 dozen medium sized cookies. When making these winter wonderland snowflake cookies, I made them thick and used every inch of dough. I was able to get exactly 8 large sized (3 inch) cookies, 24 medium sized (2 inch) cookies, and 18 mini (1 inch) cookies.
Allow the sugar cookies to cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet. Then remove them carefully with a spatula and transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
If you plan to decorate the cookies the same day, ensure the baked no spread sugar cookies are cooled completely before starting. If the cookies are still warm, they will be more fragile and could crumble if held too firmly. They will also be tough to ice because the heat will melt the frosting off. It’s worth the wait to allow them to cool. I personally like to chill them in the freezer for a few hours or even overnight before decorating!
Part 3: Make the icings and decorate sugar cookies
You can choose to make the vanilla buttercream ahead of time or you can wait until you are ready to pipe the snowflake designs.
IMPORTANT: You will need to wait for the royal icing to firm up and dry BEFORE adding the additional buttercream snowflake designs.
How to Make Vanilla Buttercream
To make the vanilla buttercream, start by creaming together softened butter and powdered sugar in an electric stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. I start by whipping the butter by itself for 3 minutes or so until light and fluffy, scraping down the bowl. Then, add in 1 cup of powdered sugar at a time. Mix in the vanilla, pinch of salt, and continue to stir until completely combined.
If frosting is too thick, add in heavy whipping cream 1 tablespoon at a time if needed. I generally add 2 tablespoons or so, but it greatly depends on the temperature in your house if you will need it or not. My house is usually on the colder side.
Stir the buttercream by hand for a couple minutes to smooth it out and knock out any air bubbles. Add buttercream to a piping bag fitted with a coupler and small writer tip.
Tip: Do not overfill the piping bag and try to use a bigger piping bag than you think you will need. It gives you more control and it is easier to squeeze when you only have 1 cup or so of frosting in it.
You will also only use around 1 cup of the buttercream (or less) unless you decide to do additional designs or use the frosting on every snowflake sugar cookie. Set aside until needed.
How to Make Royal Icing
Make the royal icing by using an electric stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Start by whisking together the powdered sugar and meringue powder. Then add in the vanilla extract and ¼ cup of the luke warm water. Continue to whisk as the icing forms. The icing will be very thick at first.
We will then use the additional water to thin it out so that we have the perfect dipping consistency. I start by adding in 1 tablespoon at a time and continue mixing it on low until the desired consistency is achieved. I typically use around 6 tablespoons of water total in my environment to get the right icing consistency for dipping.
You may need more water than me or you may need less. I highly recommend only adding in 1 tablespoon of water at a time because you can always add more, but you can’t take it away!
Tip: It can depend on the temperature in your house and humidity as well. Always always, I repeat ALWAYS start with the smallest amount of water and add in gradually. You can always add more water but you cannot take it out!
You want the royal icing to still be thick but also stream off a silicone spatula. You should be able to create a figure 8 with the icing into the bowl and it should sink back into the icing around the 8 second mark. This is the sweet spot for dipping consistency!
If the icing is too runny, it will fall off the cookies. If the royal icing is too thick, it will be hard to dip and get a smooth level top.
Tip: To prevent royal icing from drying out in the bowl, place a damp paper towel over top of it covering it and protecting it from being exposed to air.
Marbled sugar cookies are my absolute favorite way to decorate sugar cookies because it is simple and looks impressive! It’s so much easier to use one consistency of icing and not have to do multiple outlining and flooding consistencies!
This sugar cookie decorating technique also makes it easy for kids to help! It is a quick decorating process to marble sugar cookies, but it will look like it took you a gazillion hours to make them! The drying time is the longest part of it!
Every cookie turns out unique and swirled differently. Each cookie will vary so putting them all together looks stunning on a cookie platter or in a cookie box. You can also dip some in solid colors to create more eye catching variances.
How to Decorate Snowflake Sugar Cookies
Now to the fun part – decorating! For these Winter Wonderland Snowflake No Spread Sugar Cookies, I use 2 different kinds of icing. The way that I enjoy decorating these ensures every cookie is unique in it’s own way. It also gives your lucky consumers options! Some of the cookies have royal icing, some have buttercream and sprinkles, and some can have all 3! Really the options are endless and completely up to you!
Marble the Royal Icing
Take out ¼ cup of royal icing and dye it blue (or any color you’d like). In a small bowl (just a little bit larger than your biggest cookie), add in 1-2 cups of plain white royal icing. Then, take a small amount of the colored icing and drizzle it over top of the white icing. Take a toothpick and swirl the two colors around gently. You do not want to overmix or blend the colors! You can also do this with more than one color if you’d like!
Hold the cookie on the outside edges and gently dip the cookie top down straight into the marbled royal icing. Lift the cookie up straight and then angle it allowing the excess icing to drip off. Turn the cookie and gently shake it to encourage extra icing to fall off, then flip the cookie upwards quickly to let the icing settle on top.
Place iced cookie on a cooling rack to dry (approximately 2 hours until the icing gets firm but it could take longer depending on the humidity and temperature in your home).
I like to lay plastic wrap out on the counter or table and then place the drying racks on top so that if any additional icing drips off the cookie while it is drying, it is an easy clean up underneath! If you use the correct 8 second icing consistency, then you shouldn’t get too much running off. If the icing runs off the cookie too quickly, this could mean too much water was added.
After the cookie is dipped in icing, take a toothpick and pop any air bubbles you might see. You may not have any if the icing consistency was thick enough. Removing the air bubbles is important in order for the icing to set properly and stay smooth and flat when it hardens.
Allow the iced cookies to dry on the cooling racks for at least 2 hours. Once they are dry, you can pipe buttercream snowflakes on top if you would like.
Please keep in mind the icing could take longer to fully dry but they should be hard enough to at least ice the buttercream outlined snowflakes after a couple hours. If the royal icing is wet still and not ready, you may need to wait longer. It really depends on the humidity and temperature in your home. I live in a four season state and I notice a lot of my baking recipes and instructions will vary depending on the temperature and season! It is amazing how much the weather can affect recipes!
Pipe the Buttercream Snowflakes
Hold your buttercream piping bag with your dominant hand. With even pressure, start at one corner of the snowflake and pipe a line straight across to the other end. Repeat 2 more times for a 6 point snowflake. Then pipe 2 small letter v’s or less than signs (<) at the ends of each line. You could also refer to the design on the ends of the lines as arrows – whatever makes sense to you! This is just what helps me explain it the best!
Then immediately after piping, gently dunk the snowflake cookie into the sanding sugar. I like to pour the sanding sugar sprinkles on a plate or flat Tupperware lid to distribute the sanding sugar evenly. You want to do this right away so that the sprinkles stick to the buttercream before it crusts. You do not need to press hard, just give the cookie a gentle press into the sprinkles. Top with edible glitter if desired and there you have it – a beautiful and uniquely decorated snowflake sugar cookie!
Variations for No Spread Sugar Cookies
Some fun variations for these cut out sugar cookies include adding different toppings, frostings, and even adding mix ins in the cookie dough itself!
- Mix Ins – mini chocolate chips (only using mini size!), rainbow jimmy sprinkles, crushed Oreo cookies (add ¼ cup to the dough at most).
- Toppings – royal icing, flavored buttercream, chocolate buttercream, icing glaze, cream cheese buttercream, sprinkles, etc.,.
These winter wonderland snowflake sugar cookies use this recipe as is. They use both marbled royal icing, vanilla buttercream, and sanding sugar sprinkles to complete the winter wonderland snowflake look!
Equipment for Snowflake No Spread Sugar Cookies
To make these winter wonderland snowflake cut out sugar cookies, you will need an electric mixer. I prefer and recommend using an electric stand mixer as this recipe makes a lot of cookie dough and it will be much easier to use. You can use an electric hand mixer, but you will want a really really big bowl or potentially split this recipe in half to make it easier to mix.
You will want to have some cookie cutters, although you can cut your own shapes out with a knife, cookie cutters just make it so much easier. To make these snowflake cookies, you’ll need snowflake shaped cookie cutters in varying sizes. I used four different snowflake shapes and sizes (pictured below).
Additionally, for this cookie recipe, you will need measuring cups and spoons, or a kitchen scale. A scale is the most accurate way to ensure you are adding in the correct amount of ingredients, especially the flour.
For decorating the sugar cookies, you will need small bowls for the royal icing (I like to use these Pyrex ones because they’re easy to dip into) and toothpicks. For the buttercream, you’ll need a large piping bag, a coupler, and a small open circle/writing piping tip.
How to Store No Spread Sugar Cookies
Store the cookies in a sealed airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 3 months. You can also freeze decorated cookies. I have actually had my cookies frozen up to 6 months later and they were still absolutely delicious, soft, and beautiful. I really think it depends on how well they are stored and protected from air exposure to prevent freezer burn.
If you plan to decorate them on a separate day, I recommend freezing the cookies until you need them. Be sure to store them properly sealing out any air to keep them fresh.
Royal icing dries firm and hard to the touch. American buttercream crusts when exposed to air over time. So, once complete and dry, these sugar cookies stack on top of each other really well. I recommend placing a piece of parchment paper in-between each row of cookies but it is not necessary. They also thaw quickly at room temperature.
Make These Sugar Cookies Ahead of Time
You can break this process up into a couple of days if you’d like. Bake the cookies one day, then store them in an airtight container until you are ready to decorate them the next day. If you plan to store them longer, be sure to freeze them! Honestly even freezing them overnight makes them super soft and stable to decorate the next day!
They are all beautiful no matter how you decorate them! These snowflake sugar cookies are sure to amaze your family and friends!
Top Tips
- Read through this blog post for all the tips, tricks, and details to perfecting these amazing no spread sugar cookies. I’ve probably answered your question in the above post. I know it is long, but it is worth the read and will set you up for success! If I missed something, feel free to ask below in the comments!
- Take your time while making these and have fun!
- Rolling out no spread sugar cookie dough too thin will result in a fragile and potentially dry cookie. Leaving them thicker allows for a super soft and delicious melt in your mouth sugar cookies. Thicker cookies will always be softer, so I personally go for around ⅜ inches thick!
- Having the cookie sheet prepared with cookies ready to go in as soon as one comes out makes this process a lot easier, quicker, and ensures that the unbaked cookies do not sit out too long before baking. If your cookies are super soft or lose their shape a bit from the warmth in your house, or if your dough is too warm from working it too much, you can also freeze the baking tray with the cut out cookies on it for 10 minutes before baking. This can help eliminate any potential spreading. If your cookie dough is just at room temperature, these cookies should not spread at all. They never spread for me and they have nice clean edges! Please keep in mind that temperature can affect a lot of things with baking!
- I find 8 minutes is the perfect amount of time for these sugar cookies in my oven. It is best to not overbake these cookies. Bake one cookie sheet at a time on the middle rack for best results. When the tops of the cookies are no longer glossy, the cookies are baked. I follow this rule every time and always have light cookie bottoms with no browning or burning! The goal is to fully bake the cookies, but also keep them lightly colored and not overbaked so that they stay soft and do not dry out or get crunchy. Keep in mind while the cookies cool on the hot baking sheet, they will continue to bake!
- To prevent royal icing from drying out at room temperature, cover the bowl with a damp paper towel until ready to use.
Craving more?
If you are looking for more winter inspired recipes, please be sure to check out our winter recipes. I also have a bunch of delicious cookie recipes as well that do not require decorating if sugar cookies aren’t your jam.
Thank you for reading and enjoying our recipes! Be sure to leave a review if you make these and tag us on Instagram @bakingguilty! Your creations mean the world to me!
Peace & Cookies always, Meg
If you made this recipe, BE SURE TO tag me on Instagram @bakingguilty AND please leave a comment OR star rating below! We so greatly appreciate it and hope you love this recipe!
Snowflake No Spread Sugar Cookies
Equipment
- oven
- electric stand mixer with bowls (recommended) or electric hand mixer, either mixer should have both paddle and whisk attachments (You need a mixing bowl and beater attachment for the cookie dough. You will need a mixing bowl and whisk attachment for the royal icing. You will need a mixing bowl and paddle attachment for the buttercream.)
- 2 large cookie baking sheets
- parchment paper or silicone baking mats
- measuring cups/spoons and/or digital food scale
- Rolling Pin
- snowflake cookie cutters in varying shapes and sizes
- several cooling racks
- several mixing bowls and small 2-4 cup sized bowls for icing
- toothpicks or skewers (To marble to royal icing and pop any air bubbles in the icing after the cookie is dipped. You could also use a butter knife or thin tip utensil)
- food gel coloring
- piping bag
- small open circle writer piping tip
Ingredients
No Spread Sugar Cookie Dough
- 2 cups unsalted butter (453g) (4 sticks, softened at room temperature)
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar (270g)
- ½ cup powdered sugar (64g)
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste (you can also reduce the vanilla by ½ teaspoon and add ½ teaspoon of almond extract instead if desired)
- 6 cups all purpose flour (840g) (plus ¼ cup additional for dusting the work surface)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
Royal Icing
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- ¼ cup meringue powder
- ½ teaspoon clear vanilla extract
- 5-8 tablespoons water (warm)
Vanilla Buttercream
- 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks, softened)
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1-3 tablespoons heavy whipping cream (as needed to thin the buttercream)
- pinch of salt (omit if using salted butter)
Toppings
- sanding sugar sprinkles (I used white in the snowflake cookies pictured.)
- edible glitter (I love The Sugar Art brand in White Diamond.)
Instructions
Make the Sugar Cookie Dough
- In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the softened room temperature butter (around 65-67°F), granulated sugar, and powdered sugar together for 3 minutes.2 cups unsalted butter (453g), ½ cup powdered sugar (64g), 1 ½ cups granulated sugar (270g)
- While the butter and sugar cream together until uniform, measure out the dry ingredients in a separate bowl and whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.6 cups all purpose flour (840g), 2 teaspoons baking powder, ½ teaspoon salt
- Back to the stand mixer, scrape down the bowl, with the mixer on low, add in eggs and vanilla extract. Mix until combined well, around 1 minute. Scrape the bowl down.2 large eggs, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
- With the mixer on the lowest setting, slowly add in the flour mixture. The dough will form quickly after all the flour has been added in. Scrape the bowl down as needed during the process of adding the flour in. Once the flour is all mixed in, do not keep mixing and working the dough.
Cut Out and Bake the Sugar Cookies
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Prepare two baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
- Dust a clean work surface with some of the additional flour and turn the sugar cookie dough out on it. Work with half of the dough at a time if you have a smaller work surface. Gently combine the dough with your hands to form a smooth flat cookie dough circle. Then place a sheet of parchment paper over top of the dough and using your rolling pin on top of the parchment paper, roll the dough out until it is around ⅜ inches thick. (You can also dust the top of the dough and the rolling pin with flour instead of doing the parchment paper trick, but the parchment paper trick helps us to not add additional unnecessary flour into the dough and it helps get super smooth cookie tops!)
- Dip your cookie cutter in some flour and cut out the cookies. Carefully transfer the cut out sugar cookies to a prepared baking sheet. Continue until all of the cookies have been cut out. You can rework and reroll the dough scraps to get a many cut out cookies as possible. Gently dust with flour as needed but try to avoid adding too much as this could change the consistency and texture of the cookie.
- Place cookie sheet on middle rack in the oven and bake for 8-10 minutes. Bake one tray at a time for best results. Avoid overbaking and remove cookies from the oven when the top of the cookie is no longer glossy. Once the tops are baked, they are done. Light golden on the edges is okay but you want to avoid browning! My cookies are fully baked at 8 minutes with little to no browning at all!As soon as you pull out your first tray of cookies, slide the next one in the oven. Repeat this process until all of your cut out sugar cookies are baked.Once I have my first baking sheet full of cookies, I will place them in the oven and then go back to roll out the rest of my cookie dough and cut more cookies. It seems a little bit like an assembly line process of cookies!
- Allow the baked cookies to cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet, then gently transfer to a cooling rack to cool fully.
- Once cookies are fully cooled, you can eat them and enjoy them plain or decorate them with your favorite icing. If choosing to decorate, move on to the next set of instructions below!
Make the Royal Icing
- For the royal icing, place the powdered sugar and meringue powder in the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Mix to combine on low speed for 30 seconds. Then add in vanilla extract and ¼ cup of warm water. Whisk on medium speed until a thick icing forms with stiff peaks, about 3 minutes. Icing will be thick!
- Now you will need to thin out the icing as needed. I usually use up to an additional 4 tablespoons of warm water to get the consistency we are looking for in order to dip the cookies. To reach the proper icing consistency, add in 1 tablespoon of warm water at a time with the mixer on low speed. Mix well in between each tablespoon of water. You can always add more, but you cannot take it away, so error on the side of caution here when adding more water in.For dipping consistency, you want the icing to be thin enough to fall off a spatula, but thick enough where you can do the figure 8 test. This just means you can take a spoonful of icing and make the figure 8 into the bowl and it should disappear back in to the icing around 8 seconds time.
- Once desired 8 second consistency is desired (see notes in above blog post if more direction is needed), split ¼ cup of the icing into a separate bowl and add blue food coloring. Mix with a spatula until color forms. Place a damp piece of paper towel on top of the royal icing bowls to avoid the icing from drying out. Set aside until ready to use.
How to Make Marbled Royal Icing Dipped Sugar Cookies
- Prepare your work surface with lined plastic wrap and cooling racks on top. This makes the cleanup super easy and the plastic wrap will catch any excess icing that may drip off the cookies while they're drying.
- To marble the sugar cookies, place 1-2 cups of plain white royal icing in a medium sized bowl that is just a little bit wider than your largest cookie. I find the 4 cup sized Pyrex glass bowls work the best for me but any will do.
- Take a small spoonful of blue royal icing and drizzle it over top of the white royal icing. Then take a toothpick and swirl the colors around gently back and forth but avoid blending or mixing too much.
- Then, hold your sugar cookie by the outside edges and dip it face down straight into the marbled icing. Slowly lift it up out of the icing and angle it so that the excess icing runs off the cookie. Give the cookie a gentle shake to encourage the icing to level out and once it stops running off, flip the cookie upwards quickly ending the stream of icing and set it on a cooling rack to dry. Take your toothpick and pop any air bubbles you may see settling on the iced cookie. You may not need to do this much if your icing consistency is good. If your icing is too thin, you could develop more air bubbles.
- Repeat with the next cookie. Add additional blue or white icing to the marbled icing and swirl as needed. Continue dipping until all of the cookies are iced. Each cookie will be unique and beautiful!
- Allow the cookies to dry on the cooling racks for minimum of 2 hours before proceeding to adding the buttercream outlined snowflake design. Drying times vary and could take longer depending on your environment. I like to keep some of the cookies iced with royal icing and some with both royal icing and buttercream. Decorate them however your heart desires and have fun with it! If you want to keep decorating, while the cookies dry and the first layer of royal icing hardens, make the buttercream.
Make the Vanilla Buttercream
- In the bowl of stand mixer of large bowl if you're using an electric hand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, start by whipping the butter by itself for 3 minutes or so until light and fluffy, scraping down the bowl. Then, add in 1 cup of powdered sugar at a time. Mix in the vanilla, pinch of salt, and continue to stir until completely combined.
- Place buttercream into a large piping bag fitted with a coupler and small open circle writer tip.
- Store unused buttercream (you will only need around ½ cup – 1 cup depending on the designs you create) in an airtight container in the refrigerator for a few days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator as needed.
Finish Decorating Snowflake Sugar Cookies
- Once the royal icing layer has hardened on the sugar cookies, pipe your buttercream outlined snowflake on top of each cookie. You can pipe any design you want, but if you want to make a simple stunning snowflake design like in the pictures, follow these steps:Hold the piping bag in your dominant writing hand and with even pressure, start at one point of the snowflake cookie and squeeze a straight line all the way across to create a straight line. Repeat this 2 more times to create 3 straight lines for a 6 point snowflake design. On each end of the line, pipe 2 small arrow heads or letter "v" to create a snowflake look.
- Immediately dip the cookie gently into sanding sugar sprinkles. I like to pour out the sprinkles on to a flat surface such as a plate to make this step easier. Top with edible glitter if desired for a truly beautiful and unique winter wonderland design!
- Once cookies are decorated, store in an airtight container to ensure they do not dry out. Store cookies at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 1 week or store in the freezer for up to 3 months. (Refer to freezing instructions in above blog post for best results.)Tip: If cookies seem too dry, you can store them in an airtight container with a slice of bread and it will soften them right up after a few hours!
- Enjoy!!
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