Just like classic vanilla buttercream frosting you love on cakes and cupcakes, this 5-ingredient cookie decorating buttercream is deliciously creamy and sweet. It’s perfect for cookie decorating beginners, and soft-sets after a few hours. You can pipe designs onto cut-out cookies, like sugar cookies and gingerbread cookies, or simply spread it on and top with sprinkles! See video tutorial in the recipe for inspiration.
One reader, Maliaka, commented: “Sally’s buttercream is always a favorite and her sugar cookies are SO good! I wouldn’t have thought of putting them together… it works, though! I love that buttercream is easy, requires no unique ingredients, and opens up the possibility of piping with different tips! ★★★★★“
Another reader, Meredith, commented: “I love this icing! The flavor is rich and well-balanced, and it sets just enough to be able to stack the cookies without problem. The only issue is getting the icing onto the cookies before my kids eat them all! We made it with Sally’s sugar cookies and they are a family favorite! ★★★★★“
While royal icing is my first choice when it comes to decorating sugar cookies, I know it’s not everyone’s favorite cookie icing to work with. Which is why I developed this easy cookie icing, a wonderful glaze-like alternative. But sometimes you just don’t want to mess with either!
It’s good to have options.
If you want a creamy buttercream frosting, that holds its piped shape and can be tinted any color you wish, then this cookie decorating buttercream is for you. And it tastes SO delicious on top of a cookie!
This Cookie Decorating Buttercream:
- Is quick and easy to make
- Can be tinted any color with gel food coloring (here is my favorite brand)
- Is sweet and creamy and flavored with real vanilla
- Can be piped into designs with different piping tips or simply spread onto cookies
- Is wonderful on top of so many types/flavors of cookies
- Soft-sets after a few hours
The cookies you see here are my classic sugar cookies. They have an irresistible buttery vanilla flavor and soft, thick centers. Plus, they hold their shape when baking and have a flat surface that’s perfect for decorating.
But feel free to use this cookie decorating buttercream on another flavor of cut-out cookies, like:
- Gingerbread Cookies
- Brown Sugar Cut-Out Cookies
- Chocolate Sugar Cookies
- Raspberry Sugar Sookies
- Pecan Sugar Cookies
- Cream Cheese Cut-Out Cookies
Or simply spread it on top of another kind of cookie, like we do on these soft and cakey sugar cookies.
Grab These 5 Ingredients:
- Butter: You can’t make buttercream without butter! Though salted is fine, I recommend using unsalted butter so you can control the added salt. Whichever you use, make sure you are using proper room-temperature butter.
- Confectioners’ Sugar: Sweetens vanilla buttercream and adds stability and pipe-ability to the frosting.
- Heavy Cream: A little cream smooths out the frosting. Though whole milk or half-and-half are perfectly acceptable, use heavy cream for maximum richness. I use less in today’s buttercream than in my regular vanilla buttercream, to keep it thicker.
- Vanilla Extract: Because this is the main flavor in the frosting, I strongly recommend using high-quality pure vanilla extract (not imitation vanilla). You could also use homemade vanilla extract.
- Salt: Just a pinch, to balance the sweet.
How to Make It
American-style buttercream is quick and easy.
Make sure your butter is softened to room temperature before beginning. Use a hand or stand mixer to beat it until smooth and creamy. Beat in the remaining ingredients. At this point, you can add more confectioners’ sugar to thicken, a splash of heavy cream to thin out, or a bit more salt if desired. That’s it!
I have the full written-out, printable recipe below.
How to Rid Buttercream of Air Bubbles
Over-whipping buttercream creates air bubbles. The taste is no different, but the buttercream is no longer smooth and velvet-y. Here’s how to get rid of air bubbles in your frosting:
Turn off the mixer and grab a wooden or metal spoon or silicone spatula and begin stirring the buttercream by hand. Mash the frosting up against the sides of the bowl to “pop” the bubbles. Do this until most of the air bubbles deflate, about 1–2 minutes. This trick requires a lot of arm muscle!
Tint the Frosting and Fill Piping Bags
You can keep the buttercream white or tint it with gel food coloring. To color it, divide it into small bowls. Add gel food coloring to each bowl and mix well. For lighter tints, I recommend using the tip of a toothpick to add color, rather than squeezing a whole drop into the bowl of frosting.
Grab a piping bag for each color of icing. Fit each with a coupler and piping tip. When I’m using multiple colors with the same piping tip, I always use couplers.
What are couplers? Couplers are 2-piece devices that attach to small piping tips, and keep them OUTSIDE of the piping bag. This makes it easy to swap piping tips among the different colored bags of icing.
Fill the piping bag: Spoon the buttercream into the piping bag, making sure to leave a few inches of space at the top of the bag. A tall cup makes this easier! Place the piping bag inside, with the tip near the bottom of the cup, and fold the end of the bag over the sides of the cup, then fill with frosting. You can see me doing this in the video below.
While not absolutely necessary, I use these clips to secure the end of the piping bag, so the frosting doesn’t leak out the end of the bag.
Piping Tips I Use to Decorate Cookies With Buttercream
This cookie decorating buttercream holds shape beautifully and works for intricate designs. To decorate the sugar cookies you see pictured today, team members Allison and Stephanie and I used piping tips from this exact Wilton 55-Piece Piping Tips Set.
- Pink & green frostings (on stockings & snowmen): Wilton Piping Tip 10 (round tip)
- Green frosting (on trees): Wilton Piping Tip 21 (open star tip)
- White frosting (on snowflakes & log cabins): Wilton Piping Tip 16 (open star tip)
- Red & green frostings (cable-knit mittens): Wilton Piping Tip 16 (open star tip)
- Brown frosting (on log cabins): Wilton Piping Tip 44 (basketweave tip, included in this set); note that you can also use chocolate buttercream for brown-colored frosting
- Pink, green, white, red, and brown frostings (smaller round piping on trees, snowmen, and log cabins): Wilton Piping Tip 8 (round tip, included in this set)
Again, you can get all of these tips in a handy Piping Tips Set, which also includes the piping tips I use to decorate cookies with royal icing.
You can pipe zig-zags, swirls, lines, or whatever your heart desires! See video tutorial below for inspiration. We used white balls from these sprinkles for tree “ornaments” and coarse sugar on the “snow.”
If you want to skip piping bags and tips, use a knife or icing spatula to frost the cookies.
It doesn’t fully crust, but it does “soft set,” which means it sets enough to be dry on top. You’ll still have to be a bit careful stacking the decorated cookies. To make a crusting buttercream, replace half of the butter (1/2 cup) with shortening.
Yes, absolutely! Reduce the vanilla extract to just 1/2 teaspoon, and then you can use another extract such as peppermint, coconut, lemon, maple, or almond. I would start with only 1/2 teaspoon of any of these, taste, and then beat in more if desired.
Depending how much frosting you put on each cookie, this buttercream is enough for at least 24 to 30 cookies.
Yes, you can use this buttercream to decorate a gingerbread house. See my gingerbread house recipe. The recipe below doesn’t crust as much as the buttercream recipe I include in the gingerbread house recipe, as that one contains shortening (which aids in crusting). Today’s buttercream is not ideal as a “glue” for the gingerbread house pieces. For that, you’ll need royal icing.
More Decorating Tutorials
Want to learn how to decorate cupcakes? Watch my how to use piping tips video to learn 5 basic but beautiful ways to pipe frosting onto cupcakes.
Want to give royal icing a try next? Here’s my how to decorate sugar cookies with royal icing video.
And these are my top recommended cookie decorating supplies.
Print
Cookie Decorating Buttercream
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 2.5 cups (at least 24-30 cookies)
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Mixing
- Cuisine: American
Description
Just like classic vanilla buttercream frosting you love on cakes and cupcakes, this 5-ingredient cookie decorating buttercream is deliciously creamy and sweet. It’s perfect for cookie decorating beginners, and soft-sets on the cookies after a few hours. You can pipe designs onto cut-out cookies, like sugar cookies and gingerbread cookies, or simply spread it on with a knife and top with sprinkles! See video tutorial in the recipe for inspiration.
Ingredients
Cookies
- 1 batch sugar cookies, baked & cooled completely
Buttercream
- 1 cup (16 Tbsp; 226g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 4 cups (480g) confectioners’ sugar
- 2 Tablespoons (30ml) heavy cream, half-and-half, or whole milk, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- optional: gel food coloring, for tinting
Instructions
- Have your cookies baked and cooled completely. You can use this recipe, or your favorite recipe for cookies.
- Make the buttercream: With a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the confectioners’ sugar, heavy cream, vanilla extract, and salt. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds, then increase to medium-high speed and beat for 2 full minutes. Taste. To thicken the buttercream, beat in more confectioners’ sugar. To thin out the buttercream, beat in more heavy cream. To help offset more sweetness, beat in an extra pinch of salt.
- Color the icing: If you’d like to tint the frosting, divide it into separate bowls for each color, or tint the entire batch one color. A little gel food coloring goes a long way, so use a toothpick to dot the gel into the icing. Stir it in, and then add more to deepen the color if desired.
- Use piping tips or knife/icing spatula: You can use a knife or icing spatula to frost the cookies. Or, if using piping tips, fit a piping/pastry bag with a piping tip (and use a coupler if you plan to switch frosting colors and/or piping tips). Spoon the buttercream into the bag, making sure to leave a few inches of space at the top of the bag. Twist the end of the bag or use a clip to seal it shut. You can pipe zig-zags, swirls, lines, dots, or whatever your heart desires! See video tutorial below for some inspiration.
- Cover and store decorated cookies at room temperature for 1 day, or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Frosting “soft-sets” on the cookies after a few hours, meaning it will slightly dry on top.
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: Freeze in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight, then beat the frosting on medium speed for a few seconds so it’s creamy again. After thawing or refrigerating, beating in a splash of room temperature heavy cream or milk will help thin the frosting out again, if needed. You can freeze cookies frosted with this buttercream for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator or at room temperature.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand Mixer) | Silicone Spatula | Gel Food Coloring | Disposable or Reusable Piping Bags | Couplers | Wilton 55-Piece Piping Tips Set | Bag Clips | Small Icing Spatula | White Sprinkles | Coarse Sugar Sprinkles
- Quantity: Depending how much frosting you put on each cookie, this buttercream is enough for at least 24 to 30 cookies.
- Confectioners’ Sugar: If your confectioners’ sugar is particularly lumpy, I recommend sifting it before measuring and using.
- Heavy Cream: You can use half-and-half or whole milk instead if needed. The lower the fat, the less creamy your buttercream will be. Whichever you use, make sure it’s at room temperature. Otherwise your frosting could separate or appear grainy.
- Does This Buttercream Crust? It doesn’t fully crust, but it does “soft set,” which means it sets enough to be dry on top. You’ll still have to be a bit careful stacking the decorated cookies. To make a crusting buttercream, replace half of the butter (1/2 cup/8 Tbsp/113g) with shortening.
- Can I Flavor the Buttercream with Other Extracts? Yes, absolutely! Reduce the vanilla extract to just 1/2 teaspoon, and then you can use another extract such as peppermint, coconut, lemon, maple, or almond. I would start with only 1/2 teaspoon of any of these, taste, and then beat in more if desired.
Reader Comments and Reviews
This was easy and timely! Loved that it crusts some too.
So yummy and perfect for decorating! It’s soft but hardens just enough for the perfect Christmas cookie look! We used Sally’s sugar cookie recipe as well and had a decorating party with the buttercream! Highly recommend!
Delicious icing!! It really brought the cookies to life and was easy to pipe.
This was a great and quick recipe
Love how well this sets up! I was able to stack the cookies to store them and they seem to be doing fine so far. Delicious buttercream.
This was a perfect buttercream for decorating cookies. I don’t love royal icing so I love to be able to decorate cookies without using royal icing. My favorite were the snowflakes – so sparkly and cute. The buttercream whipped up perfectly using Sally’s instructions.
Delicious on top of the gingerbread cookies I made. After frosting the cookies, they can remain covered on the counter right? Or do they need to be refrigerated because of the milk in the frosting? Thanks!
Hi Kendal, cover and store decorated cookies at room temperature for 1 day, or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
This recipe was so fun for a Friday night activity. I was surprised by how well the buttercream crusts. I made both the sugar cookies (as mittens) and the brown sugar cookies (as trees). I liked using the brown sugar cookies for trees because the trunks looked brown without me having to make brown icing.
Easy to make buttercream for my sugar cookies.
What a fun afternoon spent with my family. The recipe was delicious and didn’t harden too quickly
This was the perfect buttercream for my Christmas Tree cookies! I will definitely be keeping this recipe in my arsenal.
Hi, How do you do the sugar on the snowman’s face? I didn’t see the instructions anywhere. Thank you!
Hi Sandi! After applying the white buttercream, dip the face of the cookie in a plate of sparkling sugar, then add the pink hat, eyes, and carrot nose.
This is a great recipe! Defiantly Recommend!!!
Great recipe! It is very easy to pull together and makes decorating easy.
Delicious! This icing made decorating cookies this year so much easier and we all loved the flavor with Sally’s cutout sugar cookie recipe.
I baked my cookies and couldn’t find my piping bag and tips! I spread the icing on my Christmas tree cookie’s and decorated with lines of black writing icing for tree string lights and then used mini M&M’s cut in half for the lights. They came out great. Beautiful icing to work With and it was super easy to make and delicious. Will be my go to recipe for cookie icing going forward!
Lovely
We had to make Christmas cookies during this season! My toddler loved helping roll out the dough!
This buttercream was delicious! Next time I’d get piping bags and tips to make more intricate designs, but it also worked well in a Ziploc bag with the tip cut off. My 3.5 year old was also able to decorate with this easily and she liked to taste test it. This recipe will be a staple for our future Christmas cookies!
Super easy and delicious! It came together quickly. Can’t wait to try it with peppermint or maple extract next time!
Are you able to share what piping tip (or even type of piping tip) you used for the design on the snowflake cookie?
Hi Amanda, yes, it’s wilton piping tip #16. See Piping Tips I Use to Decorate Cookies With Buttercream if you need a link!
Hi, I made frosted sugar cookies; but, when I go to submit for December 2024, it shows the November Challenge.
Hi KC, I see it says December 2024 Baking Challenge in the box where you add the photo. Are you seeing it?
I had the same issue. When I click “enter here or below” it takes me to the November challenge. I scrolled down and entered on the December challenge box, but it was a bit glitchy. When I clicked on the link to post a review for a bonus entry, my picture entry disappeared and I had to enter again. The comment and review I left are not showing up either.
Hi Elizabeth, we are looking into this. I’m sorry you were having trouble. Is the comment/review showing up now? All comments come through as pending, so yours may just not have been seen yet.
This is a great recipe. It’s sweet, but not too sweet, and we all had some. We used it on Sally’s Cut-Out Sugar Cookies. Our 4-year-old granddaughter had so much fun helping to decorate. It was her first time using icing tips, and for her, the more icing, the better. We just let her go. Some cookies had more icing than cookie, but that’s ok for a first time. Everyone enjoyed this fun activity. We’ll definitely do it again. Thanks, Sally. 🙂
This frosting is very versatile depending on your needs. Also very easy and tasty on Sallys’ Cut Out Sugar Cookies.
Can the cookie decorating buttercream be made chocolate?
Hi Elaine, you can use this chocolate buttercream.
This recipe was easy and delicious!
Can you use this recpie for squeeze bottles also?
Hi MD, it’s too thick to pipe with a squeeze bottle.
This icing is easy to make & so delicious! If you are using it to spread instead of pipe, I recommend thinning it out bit.
So delicious and easy to pipe with!! Made it for the cutout sugar recipe
Really delicious icing! It paired perfectly with the soft sugar cookies. I recommend thinning it out a bit if you are spreading it instead of piping it.
This was very easy and the texture was very luxurious. I added some to not too sweet sugar cookies and the combination worked great. It also made A LOT, so make lots of cookies.