201 Comments on “Christmas Cookie Frosting”
Dorothy —Reply
This will be my third year using both your frosting and your sugar cookie recipes!! Hands down our favorite cookie and frosting combo! I do usually sub part butter for crisco, but the crisco helps give it the right texture to “set up”.
Cherryl Foster —Reply
Made these Sunday with the grandchildren. They all helped cookies turned out perfect and icing superb! Wonderful cookies and memories
Judy —Reply
i really like this frosting halved the recipe may try 1/2 crisco & 1/2 butter next time .
Betty Kleinbeck —Reply
I’m excited to make the cookies!! Thank you for sharing and making the recipe easy to follow.
Paula —Reply
I have been looking for the perfect frosted sugar cookie recipe and FINALLY found Katrina’s! This frosting is perfect for her sugar cookie. The taste of each compliments the other. Delicious!
Susie Kane —Reply
I have made this frosting twice now, and I must say, both times it resulted in piped frosting that did not stick to the cookies. Not sure what I did wrong.
Karen C —Reply
I have been using this recipe for several years. I love it because there is no refrigeration required prior to making cookies.
This recipe produces an awesome sugar cookie that is ideal for decorating. It is very quick and easy.
My so even uses this recipe.
Thank you for giving us the “best” sugar cookie.
Sharon Wilmon —Reply
awesome frosting. thank you
Irene Ochoa —Reply
Not only “easy” but “tasty”. I’d never made sugar cookies, first time. Absolutely amazing, used the frosting recipe too. I chose to do half Crisco and half butter, I was not disappointed. Enjoyed the cookie plain (no frosting or sprinkles) with morning tea or coffee
RB —Reply
I used butter and it came out great. It made a nice glaze that hardened for easy stacking and tasted fantastic. I don’t think it would work with butter if you planned to pipe it. Cookies that had a thicker coating didn’t harden well enough. I painted the cookies red, green, and white. Family loved them!
June Jackson —Reply
I
Made this frosting with half butter half crisco and it’s AMAZING!! Absolutely delicious !!
Patti —
Will do! That is how I make my pie crust, it’s perfect!
BR —Reply
can margarine/oleo be substituted for shortening? (it’s not butter)
Jennifer LaVigne —
It would be considered the same as using butter.
Maxine —Reply
I had high hopes for this recipe. But it was absolutely disgusting. Tasted like glue. The shortening is a terrible idea. Wasted so much powdered sugar and no one would eat all the cookies!
Cindy Szczesniak —Reply
I made this frosting to decorate my cut out cookies and it was great! Very easy to make and dried well enough to stack. Just sweet enough to compliment my cookie recipe. This will be my “go to” cookie frosting.
Tonya —Reply
Can I make frosting the night before?
Tonya Bly —
Can you use half butter and half shortening and still be able to stack
Tonya —Reply
Can I make the frosting the night before?
Lynn Harrison —
yes, you can
Janet —Reply
Thank you! I have made the prettiest decorated cookies in past years only to have the icing get smooshed. THIS is exactly what I was looking for! Taste delicious too.
Cheri —Reply
LOVE this frosting! I followed the recipe exactly with one exception… someone recommended using butter flavored shortening so I did that. It does slightly yellow the frosting so it’s not a bright white but I think it adds a delicious flavor. Adding food coloring gel offset the off-white anyway. It turned out perfect for knife spreading and piping (I did both with the same batch). There was about a pint of it left over after icing 40 average sized cutout cookies but I only divided it into 3 colors (no coloring, red, green). If you’re cookie decorating with kids, I would imagine you might not have leftovers 😁
Melody —
I did the same with butter flavored Cisco. Also used peppermint rather than almond. Yummy
Cathie —Reply
This cookie recipe is amazing and the frosting (yes, even with Crisco was fabulous) – my family loved them! Thank you for sharing.
Amelia —Reply
This icing is awesome. perfect for frosting cookies. Taste delicious and keeps it shape when stacking cookies.
Vicki Ensminger —Reply
I’ve been looking for a recipe like this forever. I bake many kinds of cookies for the holidays and the iced sugar cookie is a challenge. I want them to taste and look great. I can’t wait to try this
Peggi Tebben —Reply
Do you have much success using black food coloring like to make tuxedo cookies? Every time I try to use black I have to use way too much and it makes the cookie taste terrible.
Jessica Landry —
I personally use Wilton color right food colorings, especially when I need to use black or red. When I use these food colorings I find I don’t need to use as much food coloring and there is no bad taste with it.
Denise —Reply
Can I use edible food markers on this frosting once it hardens?
Katrina Bahl —
This frosting “crisps up” enough to stack the cookies but doesn’t get as hard/firm as royal icing.
lavande —Reply
Bonsoir,
Habitant l’Europe, j’aimerais obtenir la conversion des tasses en g ou cl
8 tasses de sucre ? en g
1/2 tasse de crème ? en cl
Que signifie :1 raccourcissement de tasse, comme Crisco?
Que veut dire : shortening?
Je vous remercie.
Lavande
Laurel G B —Reply
This frosting is EXCELLENT on the In Katrina’s Kitchen “Best Sugar Cookie Recipe Ever”. My only modification for this frosting is adding a dash of fine sea salt.
NOTE: Shortening is just another on the list of dietary fats. I use the trans-fat-free Spectrum Organic All-Vegetable Shortening—it’s ethically produced and a VERY clean product.
Wendy Bennett —Reply
You mentioned you could stack these cookies. How do you do that without messing up the frosting?
Leona Dunn —Reply
I loved the cookies. But frosting was a hot mess. I made it in advance. It would not stick to my cookies. I hated that I had all my cookie and all my frosting colored and bagged and I yelled at the frosting as I piped.
Lauren —Reply
I don’t normally take time to negatively review recipes but in this case, because I was baking cookies for Christmas and this icing was attached to the cookie recipe and neither came out tasty in the least, I not only wasted an entire bag of powdered sugar, way too much Crisco, among others, I need to say this recipe is absolutely not worth the time and effort. The icing tastes like Crisco, so if you don’t like the flavor of Crisco, no amount of extract and sugar can fix it. Very disappointed.
Marcia B —Reply
For those of you that asked if coconut oil can be substituted for Crisco in this recipe, the answer is YES! I used 1/2 coconut & 1/2 butter in the frosting recipe.
Just finished making these cookies using both the cookie & this frosting recipes & the result was awesome! This will now be my go to Christmas cookie & frosting recipes. For those that have tree nut allergies, I substituted butter rum extract for the almond extract, so yummy!
Thank you for these 2 recipes, I will definitely make these cookies again & again.
Stephanie Charpentier —Reply
I made this today! It is AWESOME! Thanks so much for sharing your recipe. It has made all the difference.
Christina —Reply
This is an excellent recipe (along w/the sugar cookie recipe). I’m told my cookies are the best sugar cookies in the fam. 🙂 For the frosting, you can use butter flavored Crisco, I do every time and works like a charm without the taste that comes w/Crisco. Enjoy!
Stacie Mitchell —Reply
These were so easy and perfect for my Christmas cookies! Highly recommend! If you want consistency like a Lofthouse sugar cookie, make sure you stick with the baking time and don’t overbake them!
Becky —Reply
Hi- have you ever used 1:1 swap of coconut oil for Crisco? I was looking online at some other possibilities. Obviously there will be a coconut flavor, but will the consistency be right?
Katrina Bahl —
I have not tried this!
Ange —Reply
Can you substitute coconut oil for shortening?
Sandy —Reply
By far THE BEST frosting I’ve every made.
Erin N Artlip —Reply
I use this every year and only make one change – double the stated Almond extract. We like a strong almond flavor.
Veronica —Reply
I need a chocolate frosting recipe for your chocolate cutout cookies. Could I add cocoa powder to this recipe ?
Heidi —Reply
How far in advance can I make this?
Katrina Bahl —
Up to 2 weeks if refrigerated and sealed tightly
Katrina Bahl —
Yes
Tonianne —Reply
This was such a hit with six year olds. I made cookies in the shapes of ice cream cones and they decorated for hours. I made cookies the night before. Thank you
Sarah M —Reply
Love the sugar cookie recipe paired with this icing!! It’s the BEST. So quick question. Could I use it on a cake or do you have an icing for a cake that’ll harden slightly like this one? Thanks!
Becky —Reply
Can I use water instead of milk or cream?
Amy —Reply
Hi, have you ever made the icing the night before & put it in the fridge until you’re ready to use it?
Karen Holt —Reply
Have you ever decorated any graduation cookies using this icing?
Barb —Reply
Hello. Sorry if I missed this somewhere, but is this the Crisco in the Can or the Brick? And does it have to come to room temperature first.
Thanks
Katrina Bahl —
Good question! It is the same product and can be used interchangeably.
Angelle —Reply
Can you freeze any leftover frosting?
Chelsea —Reply
When I added the food coloring it curdled… any ideas why? I used Wilton gel from Joanns.
Katrina Bahl —
I am so sorry to hear that! Wow! I have not had success with Wilton food coloring. I prefer Americolor. But it should definitely not curdle! What a mess.
Michelle —Reply
Hi there ! The recipe looks great. Can I sub butter for the shortening? If how much would you use?
Bracha —
Do you have a good icing recipe for these?
Jasmine Marshall —
She has notes in here about using butter instead of Crisco.
Ashley —Reply
About how many cups of frosting does this recipe make??
Kathy Myers —
Wonderful Frosting! I gave Cookies as Christmas gifts and my cookies were AMAZING! TY for sharing ❤️
Rachel —Reply
May I ask if the crisco should be 1 cup melted or solid form
Trina —
Solid
Stacey Hubbard —Reply
Delicious, but doesn’t want to stick to the cookies. I’m sure I did something wrong, any ideas?
Jean —
You can add some more milk and make it a little wetter.
Beth Sammons —Reply
Do you use 2 cups of Shortening or 1 cup of shortening for the 8 cups of Powered Sugar? In one part that talks about using butter it mentions to use 1/2 cup of shortening and 1/2 cup of butter. I wanted to try this recipe.
Jasmine Marshall —
If you are using just Crisco, it is 1 cup. If using butter and Crisco, it is half and half.
Amy —Reply
Do you use Crisco with butter flavor or plain?
Jessie —Reply
I’ve been using this recipe for the last 4 years and everyone loves it!
Jane —Reply
Can you use coconut cream for those with dairy allergies?
Katrina Bahl —
I don’t see why not!
Saran —
Hi Jane, just wondering how did it turn out with Coconut cream? I’m lactose intolerant 🙂
Lisa —
Goats milk is a great substitute for cows milk for people who are lactose intolerant.
Rina —Reply
Made this frosting today for my sugar cookies and have to say it turned out great, will surely use it again, thanks.
Brandi —Reply
I Used the cookie and frosting recipe! It’s perfect, lots of cookies and enough frosting for all the colors! The flavor is great, the almond extract is a must!
Darlene —Reply
Katrina, this is absolutely the best frosting I have ever made!! Thank you for sharing!!! It is not overly sweet, just perfect!!! I have never decorated with the bags before and this frosting was perfect and made it a fun experience for decorating with my girls. This is gonna be our new tradition!! Thank u again!!
Rhonda Swanson —Reply
Made your cookies and frosting for the first time tonight. The cookies came out perfect and I love that they are not overly sweet because man oh man, this frosting is sweet so it compliments each other. 🙂
My question for you is: How do you lower the sweetness in the frosting? Again, it is fantastic but I would like to have just a bit less sweetness.
Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Katrina Bahl —
For the frosting you can use less sugar but it will affect the taste and the consistency. Frosting can be tweaked here and there too your personal taste.
Barbara Lingenfelter —Reply
These are SO good! I use this Sugar cookie recipe every year at Christmas and they do not spread! The icing is also delicious! Thank you for sharing it with us!
Felicia —Reply
can you use a non-dairy milk or creamer in place of the whole milk/cream?
Katrina Bahl —
Yes
Jen —Reply
How many cups of frosting does this make? Thanks!
Mary Jo —Reply
Can the cookies be frozen after being baked and frosted — then brought back to room temperature or would they become too soggy?
Great recipe for both cookies and frosting! Just wondered how far in advance they could be made.
Thank you.
Granny2012 —
Last year I made these cookies and frosting and froze some that thawed out perfectly. I did not have Crisco so used hardened coconut oil and turned out beautifully. Frosting hardened as it was supposed to.
Janice —Reply
Don’t knock it till you try it. The shortening didn’t take anything away from the flavor of the icing. I was impressed. Will be using this instead of store bought icing from now on.
Paulette —Reply
Loved making the frosting and your sugar cookies!!
Jenny —Reply
This frosting recipe is fantastic! Perfect piping consistency! My cookies came out beautiful!
FP —Reply
Hello! I want to try this and use cake batter extract. I got my hands on some 🙂 I’m a bit confused, should I use 2tsp cake extract and omit almond/vanilla?
Or 1tsp vanilla and 1tsp cake? Or just 1tsp of the cake extract (I see when substituting peppermint extract for them both you suggest just 1tsp)
My first time trying homemade cookies. Thank you!
Katrina Bahl —
Sounds delicious! I have no experience with cake batter extract so I can’t advise on how much to use. Peppermint extract is extremely potent, hence the advice to reduce the amount.
lilly —Reply
what can you substitute for almond extract
Katrina Bahl —
You can substitute vanilla extract.
lilly —Reply
I love this recipe it is so good with the cookies
Kate —Reply
Great frosting. It dried hard enough that you can stack it with no problem. I double more vanilla and almond flavor.
Carol Jennings —Reply
Wonder if you might use butter flavored Crisco, or butter extract?
Renee Chamberlain —
I was wondering about butter flavored Crisco, too, and if it would taste “fake” compared to original Crisco or 1/2 butter and 1/2 shortening. Has anyone tried it and was it good?
Cheryl —
I have often used butter flavored Crisco with great results. But note that you will not have white icing; most of the time it’s not a problem for me as I’m usually making green & red.
Briana —Reply
Is there a way to make this without dairy?
Katrina Bahl —
You can use your favorite milk substitute.
Sam —Reply
This icing recipe is the best!!! Can you store left over frosting in the fridge for another batch of cookies the next day?
Liz —Reply
This frosting works perfectly! I’m not a pro with piping , but my cookies looked better than ever before plus they tasted amazing!
Jill —Reply
Should you use butter flavored crisco or regular crisco?
Katrina Bahl —
You can use either butter flavor or original. I don’t recommend butter flavor if you need to make a bright white frosting as it will be creamy, off-white in color. Not a problem if you plan on coloring the frosting anyway.
Christina —Reply
Ive made the cookies they r awesome , never made the frosting , my question is if i half the recipe for the frosting will it change it in any way
Katrina Bahl —
You can halve the recipe with no problem at all!
Meredith —Reply
I’m going to use this recipe tomorrow. I’m wondering, will I be able to put the individual cookies in little cellophane bags when they are “dry” without messing up the icing? I’m making a lot for work so individual bags would be easier and safer for distributing.
Thanks in advance! I’ll come back to let you know how they turn out.
Katrina Bahl —
Yes you will be able to. They aren’t very stackable (the icing will flatten a bit under too much weight) but the icing won’t stick to the bag like store bought frosting would.
Emily —Reply
Officially the BEST cookie frosting I have EVER had. I made it along with your best sugar cookie recipe for Christmas in 2018, and they were a HIT. Thanks, Katrina!! Stay safe!!
Peggy Rofkahr —Reply
Do you have a book for sale on how to decorate designs on Christmas cookies
Brianna —Reply
Would you recommend this frosting for piping cupcakes?
Elaine —Reply
Just made your sugar cookie recipe it came out so yummy I have them frosted with this recipe too very good was surprised I liked it cause I love butter frosting but I really like the taste and I am a frosting snob if it’s made with unsalted butter it tastes like lard to me yucky anyway how long before it hardens? They are still gooy?
Judy —Reply
Hi! I’m going to make these, I love sugar cookies. I heard that almond extract wasn’t made from almonds. Have you ever heard this?
Thank you!
Lorenza —Reply
I need to try your frosting this year with my Christmas cookies. I normally use icing and couldn’t find a frosting that would crisp. Thank you for sharing!
Ashley —Reply
about how many cookies can be frosted with these amounts?
Nicole —Reply
How long does it take for the frosting to harden up once on the cookies? I would like to use this recipe for a cookie decorating party for 1st graders. They will be taking the cookies home that day, maybe 10-15 minutes after decorating. Thank you
Katrina Bahl —
That may be a bit too quick but here is a tip that we do with kids- place the cookies on a rimmed paper plate and place in a zip top bag. As long as they don’t stuff them in their backpack they should be fine!
Christine Hayes —Reply
Hi. I used your cookie and frosting recipes for neighborhood Christmas celebration. Got rave reviews and no leftovers! I am working on Easter cookies for pre school party and really want to flood the cookies like with Royal icing but your frosting is so much better. Is there a way to thin it to be able to flood cookies with an outline? Thank you so much.
BABS —Reply
Where did you purchas the frosting bag clips I see in the photo?
Amy —Reply
Awesome recipe. I was skeptical but it is delicious! I used butter flavored Crisco and substituted butter extract for the almond in a few of the several batches I made. Thanks for the recipe! Everyone loved it!
Dawn Calvert —Reply
Hello,do you know how many cookies that will frost?Thanks
Susan Purdy —Reply
Made these cookies and frosting for Christmas! They are amazing!
John V —Reply
Great to read this! This has always been my favorite frosting recipe, which I call wedding cake frosting.
Our school lunch lady used to make it when I was a kid, but would not share the recipe. So as an adult I combed every cookbook in the library until I found the one that tasted like it.
The one thing that you omit, which I highly recommend including, is 1/2 TSP of salt (or 1/4 TSP for a one pound box of sugar, which is the size batch I make for a cake). It really enhances and brings out the flavor without being enough to taste the salt.
Also, I like to make it a day in advance to give the 3% cornstarch found in all confectioners sugar, a chance to diminish in taste.
We have been using your cookie recipe for a number of years too. It’s the best and agree not having to refrigerate the dough is a big plus!
One other tip…a lot of Christmas cookies use lemon flavored frosting, so I make half the frosting with that instead of almond.
Zulay —Reply
Hi! I’m interested in testing out this frosting, but I don’t see how much frosting this makes…I’m planning on making about 4 dozen cookies, would this recipe work?
Julie —Reply
I made this yesterday for our annual cookie decorating, was great except for some reason it just wouldn’t ‘stick’ to the cookies?… When we spread the frosting, it just wanted to come back up – so had a tough time decorating.
Misty Williams —Reply
Hi Katrina!
I read through the comments so sorry if I missed this question previously, but is there a way to thin out a bit of the frosting so I can flood some of the cookies? I don’t want an entire batch of thin frosting but I did want to do some of them that way… thank you and I’m so excited to use this recipe!!
STEFANIE DUGGAN —Reply
Hi there! We used your icing recipe at Christmas and loved it! We are gluten/dairy free and it worked so well with our coconut milk. I am curious, do you think this will go well on cupcakes? Or would you recommend a different icing for cupcakes? Thanks so much!
Barbara Thomsen —Reply
I plan to use your fabulous sugar cookie recipe to make Easter bunny cookies. If I would want to make some of the frosting recipe chocolate, how would you suggest might be the best way to do that?
I gave away a collection of great cookie cutters because I couldn’t make a really good, workable sugar cookie dough. Thanks to you after 20 years of failure, now I can! Wish I had my collection of cookie cutters back.
Linda Johnson —Reply
I made your recipe for my Valentine cookies and everyone loved it. Will this frosting work for roses made ahead of time on parchment paper, and then transferred to cookies a few days later?
Katrina Bahl —
Yes definitely!
Joie —Reply
I made these cookies with a Gluten Free (one to one flour mix) at Christmas and we all loved. Them! In fact, some friends brought some non-GF cookies they had made over and I tried a bite of one….they were not nearly as good, my husband agreed. So THANKS for sharing this! We just made it again for V-Day. I am going to try your icing recipe and was curious if you posted a link to organic shortening. I am not opposed to Crisco but was curious what else you have tried. Thanks so much.
Bm —
What gf flour did you use? I can’t seem to get a good gf recipe
Ariel —Reply
This was the worst icing I have ever made. I followed the directions to a tee and it still turned out bad. The cream and colour separated from the shortening within minutes of piping. So small chunks of shortening clumped up the icing. It was disgusting. Very mad. Made the whole recipe to go straight to the trash can.
Dawn Neumann —Reply
Just made these for the second time. These are amazing cookies and pairs very well with the frosting. So very easy to make!! This will be my go to sugar cookie recipe!! Thank you for sharing this great recipe!
Kim —Reply
Can you use this on cup cakes?
Laura —Reply
This will be my new “go to” frosting recipe! Thank you for sharing!
Kris-a very happy cookie baker! —Reply
I tried the sugar cookie and frosting recipe for the first time. I was to bring cookies and frosting to two Christmas parties for a cookie decorating table. The cookies were easy to make and yummy! The frosting had a nice flavor and was very easy to work with. Everyone enjoyed decorating and loved eating them. Thank you!
Jackie —Reply
I see that you recommended using artificial almond flavoring if you have a almond allergy. What if you also can’t use artificial flavorings because of what they use to make it. I have a allergy list you would not believe and I cant use artificial flavorings. Can I use vanilla in place of the Almond flavoring.
A Ansari —Reply
Love the cookies and this frosting! I used vegetable shortening Crisco and was delighted with the taste and so were the lil chefs. The only complaint I have..if it is one is..what do I do with all the extra frosting?? I kept it in the bags and placed them in a gallon ziploc and placed in the fridge.. Ugh, frosting problems..
I do have to confess using piping bags was a disaster for us.😟 Don’t do cookies ever and the lil chefs have now got the frosting bug😬
Angela —Reply
Excellent recipe! Worked perfect with your cut out cookie recipe. Thank you so much for sharing this! For those on the fence, don’t hesitate, try this recipe!
janine —Reply
Just made these! super yummy and happy I didn’t have to chill first. The frosting came out delicious as well. A little sweet on its own but on the cookie perfect match! Thank you for sharing your recipe.
Poppy —Reply
This worked so beautifully! I made your sugar cookie recipe and this frosting, and I’m so impressed. Both came out so well, especially with your instructions and tips.
Jennifer H —Reply
I am confused. the promo for the cookie says to chill the batter, but in the video you say that you definitely chill it overnight or at least 4 hours. Can you clarify this please?
Violet —Reply
In New Zealand the only readily available shortening is called kremelta. It is a solid waxy form. I don’t use it much, only for chocolate rice bubble crispy cakes. I usually have to melt it. How do you just start beating it in your recipe? Do we melt it first? I am keen to try as the royal icing on my gingerbread cookies was very hard and tasteless with the slight risk of salmonella from the eggs. I’m very keen to try your recipe.
Karen —Reply
This is very close to the recipe we use. Since Crisco took out the trans fat from it it doesn’t crisp up as soon. We add a little more powdered sugar.
Leigh —Reply
I just want to give a heads up to all those baking for people with peanut allergies. There are warning labels on Wilton products telling consumers that they are made in a facility that processes peanuts and other nuts. At least in Canada anyway. Make sure you check your labels.
Stephanie —Reply
Looks so yummy! By chance know how many cookies you can frost with this exact recipe?
Krista —Reply
We have always used brushes to decorate our Christmas cookies. Do you think I could thin it out enough with the milk and still have icing crispy enough to stack? Thank you.
Sara —Reply
How much frosting does this recipe make? How could I make just 1/3 of this amount?
Kasey —Reply
Just finished making the cookies and frosting. So amazing, so easy. I can’t get over perfect this recipe is.
Alejandrina —Reply
Hello, thanks for the recipe! How much frosting does this make?
Sharon Shutovich —Reply
I was wondering if frosted cookies can be frozen? I need to bake earlier then I plan to deliver the cookies.
Jen W —Reply
Hello! Love this recipe!! Question I’m making this for a class of 20 4 year olds to decorate cookies with; can I make it the night before? Any suggestions??
Katrina Bahl —
Yes you can make them ahead. Seal in an airtight container after having cooled completely. Thanks! Have fun!
Debbi M. —Reply
To the refrigeration question, I made these last year. I did not refrigerate the cookies once decorated. Refrigerating the frosting just helps keep it fresh. (in my opinion) Love both, the cookie and frosting recipe! very easy to work with!
Karen —Reply
Hi Katrina, I made your cookies and frosting and thank you. What a great easy recipe and fun for me and my son! Question. I made the frosting this morning and the cookies have been setting all day but the icing is not set yet. I wonder if leaving them overnight will help them totally setup? I didn’t deviate from the recipe. Thanks!
Renee —Reply
This frosting is awesome!
Amy M —Reply
I just made a batch of our favorite cut-out cookies and a batch of this frosting. Oh . My . Gracious! This IS the BEST Christmas Cookie frosting ♡ !
Thank you so much for sharing your recipe. You have improved our holiday season! !
Amy —
This is our fourth year running using this frosting and your cookie for our annual cookie decorating party. Both recipes are MUCH loved. Last year we made 18 dozen cookies and could have used more for all our guests. The compliments roll in like crazy!
Holly —Reply
Hey! I see one person has used fairlife milk… has anyone used an almond, cashew, or rice milk instead? :/ I have about 8 dairy free family members and need to have these be dairy free. These sound amazing and I really really really want to try them. If anyone has any suggestions let me know. I usually use earth balance butter as a substitute and have never noticed a difference in any recipe.
Sara —Reply
Hi Katrina,
I am making this in Germany and I have made double the recipe, I am not sure how to make sure its the right texture to crisp up? I have left a bit of it out and it has been almost 24 hours and only the edges are truly crisp. Did I not add enough sugar or maybe the milk was low fat so it changed the texture?
Thanks in advance!!
Katrina Bahl —
Yes the frosting crisps just enough to stack the cookies. It will not harden. That would be royal frosting that completely dries hard.
Patti —Reply
Can you use the Crisco butter flavored shortening?
Virginia —Reply
I’m assuming from all I’ve read that frosted cookies do not need to be refrigerated even though leftover frosting is refrigerated. Is this correct?
Samantha —Reply
I’m sorry if I missed this in the reading, but how much frosting does this make? I don’t plan to make many cookies, so I don’t want to over-do it.
Becky —Reply
I love love love your sugar cookies. I made them yesterday and iced them today, however I can’t seem to get my icing to set?! I really wanted to stack them and post them to a friend. Adventurous I know!! But please any tips would be great. P.S I live in the U.K. So it’s freezing out side at the moment but heating on inside. Should I get them cooler?! Thanks Becky.
ProChef —Reply
No, you can’t flood with this frosting. It is much too thick and fluffy. You’ll need a royal icing. The icing needs to be thin enough to “flood.”
Jackie —Reply
Can you use this icing to flood cookies?
Kelly B —Reply
Can you use butter flavored crisco?
Tahirih Gutelius —Reply
This frosting tasted great, but it did not stick to the cookies. It was really odd. I added a little extra cream to each color, which helped, but it was still difficult. Is this normal?
Michelle G —Reply
I made your sugar cookies and icing this week for Christmas and they were perfect!
Jme —Reply
How did you get that gorgeous red frosting? Even with gel it can be tough. I have had good luck mixing liquid red with cocoa into a paste and using that as I would normal Wilton gels, but it isn’t nearly so brilliant. Thanks!
Alex —Reply
I made the frosting today and it taste good and pipes well however I did notice the color kinda separate. Any recommendations?
Marie Simone —Reply
Crisco ?.. Just because you don’t care about your own health, or the health of you kids, don’t push your unhealthy food habits on the public ! Shameful 🙁
Mimi —Reply
Made the cookies yesterday – made frosting this morning. Spread the frosting on the cookies and dusted with crunched up candy canes. The hardest part of all of this was getting the wrappers off the candy canes! Husband was home by 10:30 this morning – and snitched a cookie while I was cleaning up my mess. And then he went back for a few more. His reasoning…”These are the best cookies ever!” He’s right – they are the best cookies ever. The frosting tastes just as good if not better than those high dollar individually wrapped cookies that you see for sale on a certain TV show.
Using Crisco…not a problem for me…I used the butter flavored, because that’s what I use to make chocolate chip cookies, so had it in the pantry.
Thank you Katrina…for recipes that make it fun to bake/decorate cut out sugar cookies!
Cecile —Reply
I’m so happy that I found both your recipe for sugar cookies AND this great frosting!! You have an excellent blog & I’m going to start following you. Wishing you and your a very Merry Christmas. ; o ) (I discovered you on PINTEREST.)
Jennifer Blackford —Reply
Just made this frosting and decided after making it as written, to tweak it a little for my tastes. The consistency was fabulous for piping! I did end up adding just a bit more cream to thin it but I am in a dryer climate so that might be why. After tasting the recipe as written I felt like it was a little sweet for my taste so I added a good sprinkling of salt and then about 1/2 tsp of butter flavoring. I was really missing the butter flavor with just the shortening and the butter flavoring helped with that. It is very good! Thanks for sharing a great recipe. I will definitely use it again!
Kay —Reply
Can you use the frosting to outline? The cookies turned out great! Can’t wait to frost them. Thank you and Merry Christmas!
Carmen Garcia —Reply
Will their be any change in the consitency if I use liquid food coloring over the gel food coloring you prefer?
Jen —Reply
Hi!I don’t know if I missed this detail but about how much frosting will this make or how many cookies can it frost?
Miranda —Reply
So if the frosting needs to be refrigerated then I assume I need to refrigerate the cookies after frosting. Won’t this make the cookies soggy?
K —
You only refrigerate or freeze the EXTRA frosting as you would after you open the store bought stuff. Cookies don’t have to be refrigerated. If you’re making them earlier then the holiday season you can freeze frosting cookies to retain freshness
Danielle —Reply
Might be a little TOO thick…just blew the motor on my mixer 😠
Jean Anderson —Reply
I laughed at the Crisco comments. One of our friends makes the BEST brownies with Maple frosting and her secret? Yep, crisco. Everyone raves about them and she just chuckles. I think they are a mix of butter and crisco, but it does make it better.
Laura Sauer —Reply
Hi Katrina, When I click on the Best Sugar Cookie link I am getting a McAfee-Website Safety warning. I clicked and saved several of your other recipes with no problem. I don’t know why it’s giving me the warning on this recipe. Can you email me the recipe? I would like to make it Thursday so I can give them as a gift on Friday. Thank you!
Mel —Reply
A few questions: Does this work for “flooding” like royal icing? I dislike royal icing and trying to find something that would have a similar effect. (I guess i could also spread it.) Also i noticed your piping thick on the cookie, do thinner lines work like writing names on cookies? Does the shortening make it “greasy”?
Briana Goodpasture —Reply
Our son is lactose intolerant is there a substitute for the cream or milk that can be used? We usually cook with almond milk but didn’t know how this would turn out.
Sheri —
Yes definitely!!! I used Fairlife Milk in this recipe and it came out awesome! Our whole family had to swap over to lactose free milk when 1 became lactose intolerant. This recipe is one of the best I’ve found, so glad she shared it!! Use the dark blue bottle of Fairlife, the light blue label is super low fat or fat free and it made the icing come out a lil too thin
Debbie Eccles —Reply
Can I use butter flavored crisco and get the same crispness?
Amber —
I was wondering the same thing.
Sharon Schroeter —Reply
Hi Katrina,
I’m looking forward to trying your sugar cookie & frosting recipes, but…..
I have always used Crisco shortening, but a couple of years ago, I made a pie crust with it & it wasn’t very good. I checked the label, & now Crisco is made with soybean oil. Is that what you use in your frosting?
Thanks,
Sharon
Marina —Reply
Hi! Can kids eat these cookies right after frosting them or will it make a big mess? You said it takes 24 hours to let the frosting set, should they be out in the open or in a covered container for this part?
Katrina Bahl —
You can eat immediately! I would only suggest setting them out to crisp up if you plan on stacking them.
Michellene —Reply
Does this work ok if you plan to frost with a knife instead of bags. My kids like to use knives verse a bag while they decorate. Thanks for the yummy recipe, cant wait to try them this year.
Katrina Bahl —
Yes! Spreads easily. You may want to add a bit more milk or cream up to 3/4 cup instead of 1/2 cup. You can tell while you’re mixing it if it’s your desired consistency. Happy baking!
Steph —Reply
Thank you for this magical recipe! I have always used butter in my frosting, and now I know why it didn’t get “crispy” like I wanted!
(Your q and a cracked me up. Food bloggers have got to be some of the most patient people on the planet, I swear. You rock.)
Bianca —Reply
How long can the frosting be stored?
Katrina Bahl —
Great question! I added it to the post but will leave it here too: Leftover frosting should be transferred to an airtight container and stored in the refrigerator or freezer until ready to use. It can be stored in the refrigerator for about a week and frozen for several months. Use leftover frosting just as you would freshly whipped frosting once it is warmed up and ready to spread. Bring it back to room temperature or to just slightly chilled.
