Painted Sugar Cookies
This post is in partnership with McCormick.
If you’re looking for a fun, creative Valentine cookie, make painted sugar cookies! These are easy enough for a toddler and equally fun for adults. Make sure to lay down parchment to protect surfaces and paint away!
These are simple to replicate using my signature sugar cookie recipe and mixing up edible “paint” using food color and pure vanilla. McCormick makes a great red food color that pairs wonderfully with their delicious pure vanilla extract, creating an edible paint that is easily transferred to cookies! No fuss to make, just a few drops of each and you’ll be ready to grab a paintbrush!
Once your cookies are baked and cooled completely, you can begin painting. I gave my cookies a gradient look using four paint shades ranging from red to a pale pink. To achieve the gradient colors of pink and red “paint”, I combined different drop amounts of McCormick red food color and pure vanilla. Their pure vanilla is my favorite! After over a decade of baking, I’ve experimented with many other brands but always come back because of the flavor and quality of McCormick.
One of the best parts of my painted sugar cookie recipe is how quickly they dry! Some cookies require lengthy dry times while these cookies dry in about 15 minutes, making it easy to package for gift giving or stacking on a dessert table.
These cookies are gorgeous on their own or paired with marble and buttercream cookies as pictured below. A gift of homemade cookies is the perfect way to ask someone to be your Valentine!
Get other Valentine cookie ideas here: Marbled Sugar Cookies, Buttercream Sugar Cookie Hearts
Print the recipe!
Painted Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- 3 CUPS ALL-PURPOSE FLOUR PLUS MORE FOR ROLLING
- 2 TSP. ALUMINUM-FREE BAKING POWDER
- 1 CUP 2 STICKS SALTED BUTTER, AT ROOM TEMPERATURE
- 1 CUP SUGAR
- 1 LARGE EGG
- 2 TSP. MCCORMICK PURE VANILLA EXTRACT plus extra for painting
- MCCORMICK RED FOOD COLOR
Instructions
- 1. Into a medium bowl, whisk together flour and baking powder. Set aside.
- 2. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on medium speed, beat butter and sugar for about 1½ minutes, or until smooth. Beat in the egg and vanilla until well combined. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
- 3. Turn the mixer speed to low and carefully add the flour mixture a little at a time, occasionally stopping to scrape the sides of the bowl. Once all the flour has been incorporated, the dough should form a ball around the mixing attachment and feel soft but not sticky.
- 4. Wrap the dough ball in a piece of plastic wrap press down to create a disc shape. Refrigerate for at least 10 minutes before rolling.
- 5. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- 6. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured flat work surface to about ¼-inch thickness, using additional flour as necessary to prevent sticking. Use cookie cutters to create desired shapes, and carefully transfer with a cookie spatula to a nonstick baking sheet, placing the cookies about ¾ inch apart.
- 8. Bake one sheet at a time in the middle of the oven until puffy, about 7-8 minutes. Allow the cookies to rest for 2 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- 9. Repeat with the gathered scraps and remaining disk until all the dough has been used.
Making Cookie Paint:
- Red: 1 teaspoon McCormick Pure Vanilla Extract and 1/2 teaspoon McCormick Red Food Color??Dark
- Pink: 1 teaspoon McCormick Pure Vanilla Extract and 10 drops McCormick® Red Food Color
- ??Medium Pink: 1 teaspoon McCormick Pure Vanilla Extract and 4 drops McCormick® Red Food Color
- Light Pink: 1 teaspoon McCormick Pure Vanilla Extract and 1 drops McCormick® Red Food Color
Painting the Cookies:
- Paint stripes of red then medium pink then light pink on each cookie starting with the darkest color to the lightest, giving cookie a gradient colored design.
Notes
Photos by Kelly Clare Photography
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THIS IS A SPONSORED POST. JENNY COOKIES HAS RECEIVED PAYMENT, TRADE AND/OR PRODUCTS IN EXCHANGE FOR PROMOTING, HOWEVER ALL OPINIONS STATED ARE MY OWN AND I ONLY PROMOTE PRODUCTS/COMPANIES I LOVE.
I’m wondering about the recipe above. 1 cup of sugar is listed twice??? Is that a typo or are we using 2 cups of sugar? Thx!