Cookie Frosting Recipe

This cookie frosting is a soft vanilla butter frosting made with butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, a pinch of salt and a few spoonfuls of cream or milk. It takes 10 minutes and covers 24 cookies, about 2 tablespoons each. It spreads smoothly, pipes a clean border, and forms a light crust on top while the bite stays soft.

The trick is the cream. Add it one tablespoon at a time, because the difference between a frosting that holds a piped edge and one that slides off the cookie is barely a spoonful.

How Much Cookie Frosting You Need for 24 Cookies

• Makes: enough for 24 cookies, generously frosted
• Per cookie: about 2 tablespoons for a 3 inch sugar cookie
• Time: 10 minutes, no cooking
• Ratio: 1 cup (2 sticks) butter to 4 cups powdered sugar, loosened with 2 to 4 tablespoons cream or milk
• Finish: soft and creamy, with a thin crust after a few hours at room temperature
• Keeps: 1 day at room temperature, 5 days in the fridge, 2 months frozen

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Butter, Powdered Sugar and a Spoonful of Cream

Use unsalted butter at about 65°F. It should dent when you press it but not look shiny or greasy. Butter that is too warm makes a frosting that slumps off the edge of the cookie, and cold butter leaves small lumps that never beat out.

Sift the powdered sugar. In a pale frosting every lump shows, and unsifted sugar is the usual reason a batch feels gritty.

The card lets you use 1 tablespoon of vanilla or almond extract. Almond extract is roughly twice as strong as vanilla, so if you choose it, start with 1 teaspoon, taste, and make up the rest with vanilla. The ⅛ teaspoon of salt matters more than it looks: it keeps 4 cups of sugar from tasting flat.

Heavy cream gives a richer frosting that holds piped shapes a little better. Milk works too and tastes lighter.

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Mixing the Frosting From Soft Butter to Fluffy

Beat the butter alone on medium speed for about 2 minutes, until it turns pale and creamy. This is where the frosting gets its light texture.

Add the powdered sugar one cup at a time on low speed, scraping the bowl as you go. It looks dry and crumbly at first. Keep going, and by the last cup it comes together into a thick paste. Mix in the vanilla and salt.

Now add the cream one tablespoon at a time on low speed. Stop as soon as the frosting reaches the texture you need, then whip on medium high for 2 to 3 minutes until fluffy and smooth. For more than one color, divide the frosting into bowls at this point and tint each one.

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Thick, Medium or Soft: How Much Cream for Each Job

• 2 tablespoons cream: stiff enough for piped borders, rosettes and lettering. A peak stands up straight.
• 3 tablespoons: spreads with a knife or offset spatula without tearing the cookie. The peak bends at the tip.
• 4 tablespoons: soft and swoopy for a thick, bakery-style layer on soft sugar cookies.

Test one cookie before frosting the whole tray. If the frosting drags crumbs up, add a few drops more cream. If it slides toward the edge, beat in a tablespoon of sifted powdered sugar.

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Cookie Frosting vs Royal Icing vs Powdered Sugar Glaze

These three are often mixed up, and they do different jobs. Cookie frosting like this one is butter based: soft, creamy, and it never dries hard. Royal icing is made with egg white or meringue powder and dries completely hard, which is what you need for flooding, fine detail and stacking. A powdered sugar glaze is just sugar and liquid; it is thin, sets semi-firm and gives a sheer, shiny coat.

So this frosting is the one to choose for flavor and a soft bite. For flooded, glossy cutouts, use my royal icing recipe or the sugar cookie icing that hardens. A powdered sugar icing is faster still when all you want is a quick drizzle.

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Using This Cookie Frosting on a Cookie Cake

This frosting is a good match for a big chocolate chip cookie cake. Make the stiff version with 2 tablespoons of cream so the shell border and the letters keep their shape. A full batch gives plenty for a thick border, a message, and a few rosettes on one 12 inch cookie cake.

Let the cookie cake cool completely first. A warm cookie melts the butter and the border sags within minutes. A large open star tip gives the classic ridged border, and a small round tip works for writing. Themed party versions like my ghost cookie cake and soft Easter cookie cake take this frosting well.

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Grainy, Runny or Full of Bubbles: Fixing the Frosting

• Gritty texture: the sugar was not sifted or not fully mixed in. Beat for 2 more minutes with a teaspoon of cream so the sugar dissolves.
• Too thin: too much liquid, or the butter was warm. Beat in sifted powdered sugar one tablespoon at a time, or chill the bowl for 10 minutes.
• Too stiff to spread: add cream a few drops at a time. Thick frosting tears soft cookies.
• Pinholes on the cookie surface: air from whipping. Stir the frosting by hand with a spatula for a minute before you spread it.
• Frosting turns shiny and slides: the cookies were still warm. Frost only cookies that are cool all the way through.

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Tinting and Flavoring Cookie Frosting

Use gel food coloring. Liquid coloring adds water and thins the frosting quickly. Gel colors also deepen as they sit, so mix red, black or navy an hour ahead and stop a shade lighter than you want.

For flavor, swap part of the vanilla for almond, add 1 teaspoon lemon zest for spring cookies, or beat in 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder for a chocolate version, adding a splash more cream if it stiffens. My chocolate frosting is built for a bigger cocoa flavor.

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Storing Frosted Sugar Cookies and Leftover Frosting

Leftover frosting keeps in an airtight container for 1 day at room temperature, 5 days in the fridge, or 2 months in the freezer. Let chilled frosting come back to room temperature, then rewhip briefly before using.

Frosted cookies need a few hours at room temperature for the top to crust. After that, store them in a single layer, or stack them with parchment between the layers. The frosting stays soft underneath, so heavy stacks will dent.

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Cookie Frosting Questions

Does this cookie frosting harden?

It forms a thin crust after a few hours but stays soft inside. For a hard finish, use royal icing instead.

Can I use milk instead of heavy cream?

Yes. Milk makes a slightly lighter frosting; use the same 2 to 4 tablespoons and add it slowly.

What cookies should I frost with it?

Soft sugar cookies are the classic choice. My 3 ingredient sugar cookies and Christmas tree sugar cookies both take it well. For a thicker, sweeter swirl, try my sugar cookie frosting.