These super easy decorated Easter sugar cookies are topped with a delicious lemon glaze and look so pretty in Easter baskets or on your holiday dessert tray!
There's no need to mess with fancy cutouts or fussy decorating techniques - just roll, slice, bake, glaze, and sprinkle to make these adorable cookies. This recipe is perfect for a kitchen activity with the kids!
Jump to:
- 👩🏻🍳 Why You'll Love This Recipe
- 🥘 Ingredients Needed
- 🔪 Instructions
- 👪 FAQs
- 💭 Expert Tips and Tricks
- 📖 Substitutions and Variations
- 🔊 What readers are saying...
- 🥫 Storage
- ⏲️ Make Ahead Instructions
- 💡 What To Serve With This Dish
- 🍪 More Cookie Recipes You'll Love
- Decorated Easter Sugar Cookies
- 📋 Recipe Card
- 💬 Reviews and Comments
👩🏻🍳 Why You'll Love This Recipe
I don't know about you, but when I think of the perfect treat for Easter, it's sugar cookies! Decorated in lovely pastels and shaped like eggs (or bunnies or chicks or flowers), Easter sugar cookies make your table look lovely and they taste like happy childhood memories.
Plus, everyone loves them.
They're a traditional classic for a reason. Whether you are making lemon cookies for summer, or festively decorated Christmas cookies, you know people are going to enjoy them. That's why these Easter sugar cookies are perfect to make with your kids and enjoy for your holiday weekend celebrations.
These cookies are actually perfect for any springtime occasion, along with these cute Carrot Patch Cupcakes. They are adorable and delicious and just as fun to make as they are to eat! Or try this Old Fashioned Carrot Cake recipe for the perfect sheet cake Easter dessert!
🥘 Ingredients Needed
- sugar cookie dough - these cookies are great with store bought cookie dough, but you can also make your favorite homemade sugar cookies. Check out this great sugar cookie recipe that's perfect to use for this activity!
- colored sugar crystals - if you can't find it in stores, there will be tips in this post for how to easily make your own!
- lemon juice - balances out some of the sweetness of the sugar and helps form the consistency of the icing.
- confectioner's sugar - acts as the base of your icing/glaze.
- pastel sprinkles - optional but make these cookies super festive; you can also use candy coated chocolates.
🔪 Instructions
- After your dough has been rolled into a log and chilled, cut it into sections (one section for each color of sugar crystals that you have). Pour some of the sugar crystals on a plate.
- Roll the dough sections in the sugar crystals, pressing gently so that you can get as much sugar on the dough as possible without deforming the log.
- Slice the dough and place the slices on a baking sheet. Bake for about 9-11 minutes.
- Prepare the glaze by placing the lemon juice in a bowl, and mixing in the confectioner's sugar a little at a time.
- When the glaze is thick enough to not incorporate back into the bowl right away when drizzled, it is ready to go.
👪 FAQs
Yes! It's tempting to rush this step, but give it the time it needs to chill completely so that you can slice your cookies well. The sugar cookie dough will be easier to handle and your Easter cookies will look prettier!
No, if you don't let them cool thoroughly, they won't be able to be frosted well. Be sure to transfer them to a wire rack to cool before frosting them.
Take about 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar and put them in a plastic bag that can zipper shut. Add a drop or two of food coloring. Zip the bag and shake shake shake! If there are any clumps, work them from the outside of the bag with your fingers and shake some more. If the color isn't dark enough, add another drop of food coloring and shake some more.
Looking for more Easter cookie recipes? Try these mini egg cookies!
💭 Expert Tips and Tricks
- Pink and blue sugar crystals worked really well for me. The green seemed too light. Next time I will try to find darker green sugar crystals or I will make my own (see below).
- If you are having trouble getting the sugar crystals to stick to the dough, it is probably a little over-chilled. To fix this, wash your hand thoroughly, then hold the dough for 10-20 seconds with your hand covering as much surface area as possible to slightly warm it up. Then try rolling again.
- Don't make the glaze until you are just about ready to use it, as it will start to harden if you let it sit out for too long.
- Once you glaze the cookies and add the decorative candies, let them sit out overnight for the glaze to completely harden before placing them in an airtight container for storage.
These decorated Easter sugar cookies are the perfect activity to share with the kids! If you're wondering how to decorate cookies with sugar crystals, this recipe is a simple but effective way to try it out!
Pssst... if you are scurrying around to get ready for Easter, check out my article Easter Basket Ideas for Kids Ages 5-12: Fun and Creative Picks for some great suggestions!
📖 Substitutions and Variations
- Top these cookies with pastel sprinkles, more colored sugar, your favorite candies, or chocolate chips.
- Cut your cookies into the shape of eggs, bunnies, chicks, flowers, or your favorite springtime shapes!
- You can also add a drop of food coloring to your glaze for an extra pop of color.
- Looking to make this recipe gluten-free? Try this Gluten-Free Sugar Cookie recipe for your cookie dough!
🔊 What readers are saying...
"These sugar cookies and fun and cute. Fun to make and cute for everyone to enjoy. Love the spring colors, too!"
- Linda
🥫 Storage
Place your cookies in an airtight container and store them in a cool and dry place. If you have a lot of cookies leftover, you may want to use some parchment or wax paper to separate layers to prevent sticking.
⏲️ Make Ahead Instructions
If you're making your own cookie dough, feel free to make it days ahead of time and leave it wrapped up tight in the fridge until it's time to bake!
💡 What To Serve With This Dish
Before you chow down on this tasty dessert, you'll need to serve a delicious main course!
Try this Slow Cooker Whole Chicken or an Easy Chicken Pot Pie if your family loves poultry, or go for Slow Cooker Turkey Legs or something elegant like Garlic Butter Steak Bites and Potatoes!
🍪 More Cookie Recipes You'll Love
- Easter Egg Peanut Butter Pretzel Bites - While not technically cookies, these bite-size sweets are another great treat for Easter.
- Lemon Cookies - Great for spring and summer, these refreshing lemon cookies are easy to make and taste incredible.
- Sesame Cookies with Pretzels - These subtle and unique cookies and sweet, salty, and crumble in your mouth.
- Classic Peanut Butter Cookies - Cooking Classy has one of the best and most classic recipes for peanut butter cookies!
Decorated Easter Sugar Cookies
Love this recipe? Awesome! Please give it a 5 star ⭐ rating below! And if you make this, snap a photo and tag me on Instagram. You can find me at DizzyBusyandHungry or #dizzybusyandhungry!
📋 Recipe Card
Easter Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
For the cookies:
- 16 ounces sugar cookie dough
- colored sugar crystals (1-4 different colors)
For the lemon glaze:
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 ½ cups confectioner's sugar
- pastel sprinkles or coated chocolate candies (optional)
Instructions
For the cookies:
- Form the sugar cookie dough into a log about 3 inches in diameter, then refrigerate until firm.16 ounces sugar cookie dough
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Slice the roll of dough into smaller logs (one for every color of sugar crystals), and roll each in one color of the sugar, pressing a little to make them stick well.colored sugar crystals (1-4 different colors)
- Cut the dough into ¼ inch slices and place on a cookie sheet, about 1-2 inches apart.
- Bake for 9-11 minutes, until the edges are just starting to brown. Cool for a minute on the baking sheet and then transfer to a cooling rack. Allow to cool for at least 15 minutes.
For the lemon glaze:
- Make the glaze by slowly mixing the confectioner's sugar into the lemon juice until smooth.1 ½ cups confectioner's sugar, 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- On each cooled cookie, drizzle about 1 teaspoon of glaze and spread it with the back of a spoon.
- Garnish with sprinkles or other pastel-colored candy.pastel sprinkles or coated chocolate candies
Notes
- The store-bought pink and blue sugar crystals worked really well but the green color seemed too light. Make your own colors with this simple technique!
- Place 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar in a ziplock bag.
- Add a drop or two of food coloring.
- Zip the bag and shake it.
- To remove any clumps, work them from the outside of the bag with your fingers.
- If the color needs to be darker, add another drop of food coloring and shake again.
- Dough that is too cold may be tough to coat with the sugar crystals. You can use your (washed) hands to hold the dough for 10-20 seconds, which should warm up just the outside of it which will help it to better hold on to the sugar.
- The glaze will start to harden if you let it sit out for too long, so hold off on making it until you are almost ready to use it.
- Once you glaze and decorate your cookies, let them sit out about 12 hours for the glaze to completely harden. Then you can place them in a bag or container for storage.
Video
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimate. The nutritional values for your final dish may vary based on measuring differences and products used.
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Emily says
The kids loved these delicious and cute cookies! I loved your tip about not making the glaze until ready to use it, that was so helpful!
Renee | The Good Hearted Woman says
How cute are these‽And blissfully easy to make, too! I love how bright and fun they are.
Mirlene says
My kids will enjoy baking these easter cookies! Love the lemon glaze idea!
Vicky says
These are so fun. I love the ring of colorful sugar on the bottom. These will definitely be going in some Easter basket this Easter.
Lawrence says
It's supposed to the funny and delicious and eye-catching dessert not only on Easter Holiday but also on the weekly meeting of housewife neighborhood and their children. Thank for sharing your ideal, Kisten :)!
Jersey Girl Cooks says
These cookies look familiar...lol! So pretty! My favorite easter dessert is key lime pie but i love cookies too!
Andrea says
These are so fun and festive! Love that you roll them in different colored sugar crystals before baking. Makes a very pretty cookie.
Linda says
These sugar cookies and fun and cute. Fun to make and cute for everyone to enjoy. Love the spring colors, too!
Wendy O'Neal says
What a fun Easter cookie. Love how simple these are to make. We will be making them again and again.
heather says
such cute cookies!!
Cindy says
These are so cute! I showed my kids and they can’t wait to make them this weekend:)