Whip up a batch of colorful iced sugar cookies in no time with this doughnut sugar cookie tutorial! It’s so easy to make these colorful cookies – even if you’ve never decorated a sugar cookie before.
Many moons ago, before my small children, I had time to play with royal icing on cookies pretty regularly. In fact, it was still possible with just 1, because my oldest napped like a champ. The second one was another story. So what’s a girl to do when she wants decorated sugar cookies on a whim one Friday afternoon and has exactly 1.5 hours or less to bake AND decorate the sugar cookie dough in the fridge? She makes doughnut sugar cookies, with the easiest sugar cookie glaze recipe ever.
Naturally this is how one invests nap time. And I think you’ll agree with me that this was a wise investment of my time. Because these doughnut sugar cookies are cute. I didn’t even intend to blog these originally. The plan was to use some of the sprinkles in the pantry and a little sugar cookie dough I had mixed up with no clear plan. Well, I had a plan, and it involved royal icing, but time was not on my side that week.
This of course means we have no step by step pictures, but I know you’ll be able to follow along. I believe in you.
Super Easy Doughnut Sugar Cookie Tutorial
- First, you’ll need to mix up a batch of my cut out sugar cookie dough. Come back when you have your dough sheets chilling in the refrigerator. I’ll be here. 😉 Leave the tab open so you can look up the baking instructions.
- Gather your cookie cutters. If you have a doughnut cutter, be fancy and use that. I am not fancy, so I just selected two cutters from this handy dandy circle cutter set that I use more than any other cookie cutters I own. I chose a large one and a small one that seemed to me about correct for a sugar cookie doughnut.
- Cut out your cookies and bake according to the recipe instructions. (I told you we’d go back to the recipe)
- Choose and set out out any sprinkles you may want to use in decorating, and pick out a few colors to use when you mix up your sugar cookie glaze. I used gel food coloring, you may use liquid too, but gel is more vibrant. Set up your little station with different colors of sugar cookie glaze, sprinkles, and an empty cooling rack set over some parchment paper, a baking tray, silicone mat, something to catch drips.
- Mix up the sugar cookie glaze using the recipe included below. Divide into as many bowls as you have colors (make sure they’re wide enough to dip your cookies!), and add your colors. By now, your cookies should be completely cool. Be sure they’re completely cool, trust me.
- Now the fun part! Pick up a cookie, dip the top into your selected glaze color and shake off excess glaze. Place the cookie on your drying rack, and top with desired sprinkles. Repeat until you’re done!
- Allow the cookie glaze to set for a few hours, then package your cookies in an airtight container for storage.
- Enjoy the fruits of your labor with a glass of milk! Or maybe coffee? Because coffee and doughnuts… get it? *ba dum cha* I’ll be here all week, folks!
Don’t forget to bake your sugar cookies before getting to the cookie glaze recipe!
Only emphasizing this because I often get excited and forget minor steps like this… oops. You won’t, I know.
I hope you love this tutorial. I hope it’s a good excuse to get creative with all sorts of sprinkles. My oldest little helped me with these, and that made them all the sweeter. <3
Enjoy!
p.s. – If you’re looking for “real” doughnuts, I have some recipes for you here, here, here, here, and here. 😉
Easy Cookie Glaze Recipe
Whip up a batch of colorful iced sugar cookies in no time with this doughnut sugar cookie tutorial! It's so easy to make these colorful cookies - even if you've never decorated a sugar cookie before.
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups powdered sugar, sifted to remove lumps
- 1 1/2 tablespoons light corn syrup or honey
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 tablespoons milk, divided
Instructions
- In a bowl, stir together the sugar, corn syrup or honey, vanilla extract, and 2 tablespoons of the milk until smooth. Use a fork or small wire whisk.
- If the glaze is too thick, add more milk 1/2 teaspoon at a time. You'll know it's the right consistency when you can dip a cookie into it (don't forget to gently shake off the excess glaze), set the cookie aside for 30 seconds or so, and any lumps smooth out, leaving just a nice glaze coating. Start with a glaze that looks slightly too thick since it's easier to add more liquid than sift more sugar.
- Eat the test cookie(s). (Optional)
- Color the glaze with gel food color, and be sure to allow several hours for the glaze to set before handling the cookies. Store cookies in an airtight container on the counter for 2-3 days or in the refrigerator up to a week.
LeanneB
Sunday 14th of February 2021
Can you tell me if this glaze dries hard enough to stack cookies without them becoming a mess or stuck together?
Mary (The Goodie Godmother)
Tuesday 16th of February 2021
In my experience, yes! You have to wait to be sure it's completely dry. I've stacked the cookies 3-deep in a container before (with parchment between each) and no issues at room temperature.