At this point in time, my royal icing skills could definitely use some improvement. Heck, marbled sugar cookies are about all I can do when it comes to that type of thing. But you know what I do love to decorate with? BUTTERCREAM! I decided to be a rebel and ditch the royal icing to make these buttercream cookies.

To be fair, these cookies were for a Christmas party. My friend who was hosting the party is obsessed with frosting and she specifically asked be to bring something with frosting on it.

While I considered buttercream cookies taking the easy way out, I was just being a good friend, right??

Either way, these soft, chewy sugar cookies with buttercream frosting will knock your socks off. They’re not too sweet on their own, which makes them the perfect base for my sweet buttercream frosting.

They’re easy to make and in my opinion are just as pretty as a fancy sugar cookie.

The Secret Ingredient(s) in These Buttercream Cookies

These cookies are pretty unique. They have a tender texture and are oh so tasty.

What gives these cookies that unique texture and taste? We can thank a bit of cream cheese and cornstarch for making these cookies so delicious.

Both help the cookies bake up soft so they’re still chewy once they’ve cooled.

In fact, I feel like these cookies should be named cream cheese cookies. Is that too weird??

Now I know cream cheese is probably not an ingredient you’d expect to find in a cookie recipe. But trust me, it makes all the difference.

It also brightens the color of the cookies by giving them a lighter color. I love this because it really helps the colorful buttercream pop once the cookies are frosted.

And the cornstarch? It helps soften cookies by “softening” the proteins found in the all-purpose flour.

The end result is almost like you’re using cake flour in this recipe! It creates a super tender, melt-in-your-mouth cookie.

Making Sure Your Cookies Are Soft & Fluffy

While I love getting caught up in the decoration of my desserts, it’s super important that my recipes are just as delicious.

When I eat a sugar cookie, I want it to be thick, soft, and buttery.

Now, this isn’t the easiest thing to accomplish. Even if you have the best sugar cookie recipe, so much comes down to the technique you use and how you make the cookie dough.

The first thing to keep in mind is measuring the right amount of flour. Some home bakers tend to really pack flour into their measuring cup.

Unfortunately, this can cause a person to add a lot more flour to a recipe than it calls for.

I like to use a kitchen scale to be exact, but you can also fluff your flour up in your bag with a spoon, then add spoonfuls into a measuring cup and level it off with a knife.

It’s also important that you chill your dough and liberally flour your counter or surface before rolling out the dough.

This makes the dough easier to roll out and prevents the cookies from spreading. I know it can be hard to be patient but it’s worth taking the extra time to chill the dough!!

I’m actually a big fan of the double chill. I chill the dough before I roll it out, and one more time once they’re cut out.

I’ve found that a lot of the time once I’m done cutting out my cookies the dough has warmed up to room temperature!

I pop the cut cookies into the freezer for about 10 minutes before baking them. The second chill ensures the cookies are still cold when they go into the oven. This really helps them keep their shape.

The Buttercream Frosting

Now onto my favorite part, the buttercream frosting. These buttercream cookies are decorated with my American buttercream.

While this frosting is amazing for making cakes, it also is fantastic for cookies! I add a tiny bit more heavy cream to make it easy to pipe with.

An added bonus is that this type of frosting hardens! American buttercream crusts as it sits and is exposed to air.

It might sound creepy, but it’s a totally natural reaction caused by the high sugar content in the frosting.

Making frosting from scratch can be intimidating the first time, but I promise once you try it, you’ll never go back to canned or pre-made frosting.

My buttercream frosting for cookies only uses 5 ingredients and comes together in about 5 minutes. It doesn’t get easier than that!!

Another great thing about my buttercream recipe? It can be made in advance, and keeps in the fridge for months!

I love prepping things in advance so that I don’t have to make everything in one day. It makes the decoration process so much easier and more enjoyable.

Decorating These Buttercream Cookies

Now it’s time to discuss my favorite part, decorating these cookies!

If we’re going to spend a bunch of time baking these buttercream cookies from scratch, we should take a little extra time to make them beautiful too.

All you need are some piping bags and maybe a frosting tip or two. The beauty of this recipe is that you can cut out any shape you want and decorate it accordingly!

I made half of this batch into festive sugar cookies and decorated the other half in a less seasonal way 🙂

Don’t be afraid to get creative! Whip out all the fun colors of gel food coloring you have, invite your friends or your kids into the kitchen with you and have some fun.

And if all else fails, throw some fancy sprinkles on top and call it a day 😛

Tips for Making the Best Buttercream Cookies:

• Liberally flour your counter before you roll out your cookie dough and move it around while you roll and cut your cookies.
• Also flour your cookie cutters before each cut! It helps the dough easily pop out of the cutter and helps the cookies keep their shape.
• Really cream together the butter, cream cheese, and granulated sugar in the first step of this recipe. It helps incorporate air into the dough which makes fluffy and soft cookies.
• Don’t overwork your cookie dough! It can over-work the gluten and result in tough and dense cookies
• Roll your cookie dough out to a consistent thickness of 1/3 inch. If some are thicker or thinner than others, they may over or under bake in the oven.
• Chill your cookie dough. It helps prevent your cookies from spreading while they bake.
• Don’t over bake your cookies. Err of the side of underbaking your cookies and remember that the cookies continue to bake for a few minutes once they’re out of the oven.

Making These Buttercream Cookies in Advance and Storage Tips

You can store frosted cookies in an airtight container for up to 2 days at room temperature or for up to 5 days in the fridge. The buttercream won’t spoil, I promise!

If you want to stack the cookies on top of one another, I recommend adding a layer of parchment paper between them.

This cookie dough can also be frozen for up to 1 month if wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and stored in an airtight container.

I like to move the cookie dough to the fridge the night before I plan to roll it out and bake the cookies.

Baked, unfrosted cookies can also be frozen! These cookies last for up to a month if frozen in an airtight container.

I recommend waiting to frost them until they’ve thawed to room temperature.

Move them to the fridge the day before you plan to eat them, then let them sit out at room temperature for a few hours before frosting them.

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Let Me Know What You Think!

If you try this recipe for my buttercream cookies, I’d love to hear what you think of it! Please leave a rating and let me know your thoughts by sharing a comment.