4th of July Sugar Cookies
These soft 4th of July sugar cookies are topped with a classic creamy white icing and are perfect for a birthday celebration for America with lots of red, white and blue.
Servings: 12 cookies
Calories: 582kcal
Ingredients
Sugar Cookies
- 2 cups cake flour
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 cup sugar
- ½ cup salted butter, softened
- ¼ cup butter flavored shortening, softened
- 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 whole egg, plus 1 egg white
Frosting
- 1 cup salted butter, softened
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 4 to 5 tablespoons heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon clear imitation vanilla, or vanilla extract
- red white and blue sprinkles (we used blue nonpareils, red sanding sugar, and a red/white/blue/star sprinkle mix)
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, add the cake flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, and cream of tartar. Whisk together, then set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the sugar, butter, and shortening. Use a hand mixer to beat together until light and fluffy. Add vanilla extract, and the whole egg. Beat together until combined. Add the egg white and continue beating until well combined. Turn off the mixer and use a rubber spatula to scrape the sides of the mixing bowl.
- Turn the hand mixer on low and gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix until no flour pockets remain. Cover the mixing bowl with saran wrap and place it in the refrigerator overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 375°F and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Remove the cookie dough from the refrigerator and roll the dough out on a flat surface to about ½ inch thick. Cut out the desired shapes with floured cookie cutters. Place 6 cookies on one baking sheet and 6 on another.
- Place one cookie sheet in the oven at a time and cook for 10 to 12 minutes. You want the edges to be firm without turning brown. Let the cookies cool for 2 to 3 minutes on the baking sheet. Place the other baking sheet in the oven and cook.
- In a medium mixing bowl, beat together 1 cup of butter and 4 cups of powdered sugar. With the beater turned on, drizzle heavy cream into the butter/sugar mixture and beat until fluffy. Add more cream to thin out the frosting to a desired spreadable consistency. Spread the frosting onto cooled cookies and decorate with sprinkles.
Notes
- Make sure your butter is softened, not melted, as melted butter will ruin your cookies.
- Do not skip refrigerating the dough. It needs to chill and stiffen so that it can be rolled out properly.
- Make sure your surface is well-floured so that your dough doesn’t stick.
- Add sprinkles right away as the frosting dries a bit on the surface after a few minutes, and they won’t stick as well.
Nutrition
Calories: 582kcal | Carbohydrates: 76g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 30g | Saturated Fat: 17g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 81mg | Sodium: 212mg | Potassium: 106mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 56g | Vitamin A: 803IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 38mg | Iron: 1mg