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Adorable cut-out sugar cookies decorated to look like sprinkle doughnuts! These Donut Cookies are so cute, you will find yourself making excuses to make them all year long. The cut-out sugar cookie dough is so easy to make, and the dough doesnโt require any chilling time!
If cuter cookies exist, I havenโt made them yet! If you love all things donut and sprinkles, these are the cut-out sugar cookie donut cookies for you!
Please, donโt be intimidated by cut out cookies, this is a great recipe to start with because it only has a few ingredients, and the dough is very easy to work with. The hardest part of this recipe is separating the icing into 3 bowls to dye it different colors, but you can make donut cookies all the same color to make it more simple.
This sugar cookie dough is my go-to, and I love it so much because it doesnโt require any chilling time in the fridge. Just make the dough, roll out, cut out and bake! The dough uses just the egg yolks, but we will use the leftover egg whites in the frosting, so do not worry about leftovers.
You can technically decorate these donut cookies any way you like with any color frosting or any type of sprinkles. Christmas donut cookies would be so cute with red and green sprinkles. Valentineโs Day donut cookies in all pink, white and red is my next project!
Rolling and cutting out cookie dough is obviously more work than a simple drop-and-bake cookies, but the effort is always worth it. These cookies are so adorable that I often use them for party favors after a kidsโ birthday party.
The Ingredients
- Flour. Regular all-purpose flour, not cake flour or pastry flour for these cut out sugar cookies. You will need 1.5 cups for the dough, plus extra for dusting the counter so that the cookies donโt stick during the cutting process.
- Baking Powder.
- Butter. One-half cup of unsalted butter is 8 tablespoons/ 1 stick/ 4 ounces.
- Sugar. Regular granulated white sugar.
- Eggs. We need 2 whole eggs for this recipe; we will use the egg yolks only in the dough, and the egg whites for the frosting. The egg white in the frosting is what helps these cookies dry after being decorated. You can stack these cookies after being decorated because the frosting dries semi-hard!
- Vanilla. A small amount of vanilla extract makes the donut cookies sweet and fragrant.
- Powdered Sugar. We need powdered sugar, also called confectionerโs sugar for the frosting.
- Lemon. The smallest amount of fresh lemon juice to flavor the icing.
- Food Coloring. The color of frosting on your donut cookies is entirely your choice. I give instructions for a plain white, bright pink and chocolate brown frosting.
- Sprinkles. Classic rainbow sprinkles match the donuts from the donut shop, but you can use whatever sprinkles you have.
How to Make Donut Cookies
In a mixing bowl, add the softened butter and sugar. Beat with an electric mixer on HIGH until fluffy and pale yellow (about 2-3 minutes).
Add the egg yolks and vanilla, and beat just to combine.
Sprinkle the flour, baking powder and salt evenly over the surface of the butter mixture. Beat just to combine.
The dough will never clump together into a ball fully, but the warmth of your hand should bring it together. The โdrynessโ of this dough is what eliminates the need for chilling.
Sprinkle flour over a surface on which to roll the cookies. Scoop out half of the dough and place it on the surface. Flour a small rolling pin, and roll out the dough until 1/4-inch thick. Use a 3-inch round cookie cutter to cut out as many circles as you can. Then, use a piping tip to cut out the center hole to make a donut shape. Re-roll scraps to get about 16 donut cookies.
Move the cookies to a cookie sheet, keeping 1-inch of space in between them (they donโt spread much at all). Optional: place the cookie sheet in the freezer while you preheat the oven to 350. They just need 5-10 minutes in the freezer, no exact time, really. Bake for 10 minutes.
Next, make the frosting: combine the powdered sugar, lemon juice, and the leftover egg whites from the dough. Whisk together very well.
Divide the frosting into 3 bowls, and color one bowl with the hot pink food gel and another bowl with the brown food gel.
Move the frostings to a piping bag or piping bottle fitted with a fine tip. Pipe a wavy outline on each cookie, flood the rest, and decorate with sprinkles. Let these cookies dry and then serve.
Other Cut-Out Cookies Recipes:
Donut Cookies
Cut out donut cookies with sprinkles!
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups flour, plus extra for rolling
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon of fine sea salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large egg yolks (save the whites for the frosting)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the frosting:
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 2 large egg whites
- 5 drops hot pink gel food coloring
- 5 drops brown gel food coloring
- Sprinkles
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, add the softened butter and sugar. Beat with an electric mixer on HIGH until fluffy and pale yellow (about 2-3 minutes).
- Add the egg yolks and vanilla, and beat just to combine.
- Pour the dry ingredients over the wet ingredients, and beat to combine. It might seem dry at first, but just keep beating. It will never clump together into a ball fully, but the warmth of your hand should bring it together into a dough ball. This recipe is no-chill and doesnโt spread while baking, so the dough has to be somewhat dry to accomplish this. So, trust me and keep working with the dough, even if it feels too dry :)
- Sprinkle flour over a surface on which to roll the cookies. Scoop out half of the dough and place it on the surface. Flour a small rolling pin, and roll out the dough until 1/4-inch thick. Then, use a 3-inch round cookie cutter to cut out as many circles as you can. Then, use a piping tip to cut out the center hole to make a donut shape.
- Move the cookies to a cookie sheet, keeping 1-inch of space in between them (they donโt spread much at all). Optional: place the cookie sheet in the freezer while you preheat the oven to 350. They just need 5-10 minutes in the freezer, no exact time, really.
- Bake the cookies for 10 minutes, or until very lightly golden brown on the bottom. Let cool on the baking sheet.
- Now, make the frosting: combine the powdered sugar, lemon juice, and the leftover egg whites from the dough. Whisk together very well. Divide the frosting into 3 bowls, and color one bowl with the hot pink food gel and another bowl with the brown food gel.
- Move the frostings to a piping bag or piping bottle fitted with a fine tip. (Use a funnel to help!)
- Pipe a wavy outline on each cookie, flood the rest and decorate with sprinkles, and serve. These cookies dry completely and can be stacked.
Notes
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
16Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 188Total Fat: 7gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 50mgSodium: 81mgCarbohydrates: 29gFiber: 0gSugar: 20gProtein: 3g
I am a cookie decorator and donut cookies are one of my favorite cookies to do. Always cute and super easy!