Soft Sugar Cookie Recipe

Along with pink-frosted donuts and Strawberry Shortcake ice cream bars, my 7-year-old daughter is obsessed with those pretty sprinkled grocery store cookies. You know the ones: decorated in the colors of the upcoming season or holiday, glaring at you from behind their clear boxes in the bakery, deliciously fluffy and impossibly sweet…Well that Soft Frosted Sugar Cookie has a recipe behind it and Annie’s Eats has developed one quite similar.

A batch of these will no doubt be part of the last hurrah in the final two weeks of summer for my daughters. Pink frosting and rainbow sprinkles definitely included.

Soft Frosted Sugar Cookie Recipe (via Annie’s Eats)

What you’ll need…
For the cookies
4½ cups all-purpose flour
4½ tsp. baking powder
¾ tsp. salt
1½ cups (3 sticks) butter, at room temperature
1½ cups sugar
3 large eggs
5 tsp. vanilla extract

For the frosting
5 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1/3 cup (5 1/3 tbsp.) unsalted butter, melted
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
7-8 tbsp. milk (plus more, as needed)
Food coloring (optional)
Sprinkles (optional)

Get started…
1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt and whisk together to blend.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter and sugar and beat together on medium-high speed until soft and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition and scraping down the bowl as needed. Blend in the vanilla.
4.  With the mixer on low speed, add in the dry ingredients mixing just until incorporated and evenly mixed. Cover and chill the dough for 1 hour.
5.  When you are ready to bake cookies, scoop a scant quarter cup of dough and roll into ball. Flatten the ball slightly and place on baking sheet. Space cookie 2-3 inches apart.
6.  Bake 10-12 minutes or just until set- do not overbake!
7.  For the frosting, put confectioners’ sugar in medium bowl and add butter, vanilla and milk, whisking until smooth. Tint with food coloring, spread on cooled cookies, and decorate with sprinkles.
*Hint: If the frosting thickens as you spread on cookies, whisk in 1 teaspoon of milk at a time until you get desired consistency.