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Easter Sugar Cookies in four pastel colors, sandwiched around fluffy vanilla buttercream, are the prettiest thing on the spring dessert table, and when we baked them on a rainy Saturday before Easter, Maddie and Lizzie each claimed a color and argued over who got teal. If you love a classic batch too, our sugar cookies are the recipe that started it all.
The dough is one bowl, the colors come from a few drops of gel, and the sandwich trick makes a simple cookie look like it came from a bakery case.
Easter Sugar Cookies Quick Look
- 🕒 Prep Time: 20 minutes
- 🌡️ Cook Time: 10 minutes
- ⏳ Total Time: 30 minutes
- 🍽️ Serving: 12 servings
- ⚡ Calories: 714kcal
- 🌶️ Flavor Profile: Buttery vanilla sugar cookie with sweet, silky vanilla buttercream in the middle
- ✋ Difficulty: Easy, the same beginner-friendly dough as our strawberry sugar cookies
Quick Answer
Make a soft sugar cookie dough with creamed butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla, then divide it into four bowls and tint each with pastel gel food coloring. Roll into balls, bake at 350 degrees for 7 to 8 minutes, and cool completely. Whip butter and powdered sugar into a fluffy buttercream, then pipe it between two cookies and press gently into sandwiches.
Jump to:
- Easter Sugar Cookies Quick Look
- Quick Answer
- Why This Recipe Works
- Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Key Ingredients
- Variations and Substitutions
- How to Make Easter Sugar Cookies
- Recipe Tips & Tricks
- Serving Ideas and Suggestions
- Easter Sugar Cookies FAQs
- Other Recommended Easter Dessert Recipes
- Easter Sugar Cookies
Why This Recipe Works
Click to see the technique science
- Gel color, not liquid. Gel food coloring is concentrated, so a few drops give a deep pastel tint without thinning the dough. Liquid coloring would loosen the dough and make the cookies spread flat.
- Creaming builds the texture. Beating the butter and sugar until light and fluffy whips in air, which is what makes these cookies soft and thick instead of dense and greasy.
- A short bake keeps them soft. Seven to eight minutes, just until the edges barely brown, means the centers finish setting on the hot tray. That carryover is the secret to a soft sandwich cookie.
- Baking soda plus baking powder. The soda gives spread and browning while the powder gives lift, together they bake a cookie that is flat enough to sandwich but still thick and tender.
- Cooling before filling. Buttercream melts on a warm cookie. Fully cooled cookies hold the filling in a clean, bakery-style layer that stays put when you bite in.
- Piping from a bag. A zip top bag with the corner snipped puts an even round of buttercream in the center of every cookie, so each sandwich squeezes out to a perfect edge with no mess.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Four pastel colors from one bowl of dough, they look like a bakery box but there is zero decorating skill required.
- The fluffy vanilla filling is the same homemade buttercream frosting we swear by, so they taste as good as they look.
- They are a fun bake with kids, everyone picks a color, everyone rolls dough balls, and everyone fights over the bite shot.
Key Ingredients
This is a classic sugar cookie pantry list, the gel colors and the buttercream are what turn it into an Easter showpiece.
- All-Purpose Flour: The structure of the cookie. Measured right, spooned and leveled, it keeps these soft and thick instead of dry and crumbly.
- Unsalted Butter: Softened butter gets creamed for the dough AND whipped for the filling, it is the flavor backbone of both halves of the sandwich.
- Two Sugars: Granulated sugar sweetens the cookie dough, while powdered sugar whips into the buttercream for a silky, pipeable filling.
- Gel Food Coloring: Gel is the secret to those vivid pastel colors. It tints the dough deeply without adding liquid, so the cookie texture never changes.
- Vanilla Extract: A full teaspoon and a half in the dough plus more in the filling keeps every bite tasting like bakery vanilla, not just sugar.
See recipe card for exact quantities.
Variations and Substitutions
The pastel sandwich formula is endlessly adaptable, change the colors or the filling and it fits any occasion.
- Lemon filling: Beat 2 tablespoons of lemon curd into the buttercream for a bright spring citrus middle.
- Chocolate filling: Swap in chocolate buttercream, the pastel cookie with a cocoa center looks like a fancy French sandwich cookie.
- Christmas version: Tint the dough red and green and you have our Christmas sandwich cookies energy in a homemade dough.
- Red velvet twist: If you like a deeper flavor, our red velvet sandwich cookies use the same sandwich trick with cream cheese frosting.
- Sprinkle edges: Roll the exposed buttercream edge of each sandwich in pastel nonpareils for an extra bakery finish.
How to Make Easter Sugar Cookies
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt, then set it aside.
- In a large bowl, beat the softened butter and granulated sugar with a hand mixer until the mixture is light and fluffy.
- Add the egg and vanilla extract and mix until fully combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients about a cup at a time, beating after each addition, until a soft cookie dough forms.
- Divide the dough evenly into 4 bowls. Add 2 to 3 drops of a different gel color to each bowl and mix each one with clean beaters until the color is even.
- Scoop about 1 tablespoon of dough, roll it into a ball, and place the balls 1 1/2 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheet.
- Bake 7 to 8 minutes, until the edges are barely browned, and cool completely on a wire rack. Meanwhile, beat the butter with the powdered sugar in two additions, then whip in the vanilla and salt until pale and fluffy.
- Pipe buttercream onto the flat side of one cookie using a zip top bag with the corner snipped, top with a second cookie of the same color, and press gently. Repeat with all the cookies, then serve.
Recipe Tips & Tricks
- Use gel coloring only. Liquid food coloring waters down the dough and the cookies spread thin, gel tints deeply with just 2 or 3 drops.
- Wash the beaters between colors, or mix the lightest color first and work toward the darkest, otherwise the pastels muddy each other.
- Keep the dough balls the same size, a level tablespoon scoop, so every sandwich gets two cookies that match up edge to edge.
- Pull them at barely browned edges. They look underdone at 8 minutes, but they finish on the hot tray and stay soft, overbaked cookies make a crumbly sandwich.
- Cool completely before filling, even slightly warm cookies melt the buttercream into a slick instead of a fluffy layer.
- Match the sandwich colors. Pink with pink, teal with teal, the monochrome pairs are what make the plate look bakery-professional.
Serving Ideas and Suggestions
Stack them on a tiered stand by color for the Easter dessert table, the pastel gradient does all the decorating for you.
They are perfect next to our Easter bunny cookies and a pan of Easter cookie bars for a full spring cookie spread.
Tuck one into each kid’s Easter basket wrapped in cellophane, they hold up beautifully and feel like a bakery treat.
Store the filled sandwiches in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days, and let them sit at room temperature for 15 minutes before serving so the buttercream softens.
Easter Sugar Cookies FAQs
Bake them only 7 to 8 minutes, until the edges are barely starting to brown, and let them finish setting on the hot cookie sheet. Overbaking is the main reason sugar cookies turn hard. Once filled, the buttercream actually helps keep the sandwich soft, and an airtight container does the rest.
Yes. The baked, unfilled cookies keep in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 days or in the freezer for up to 2 months. The buttercream can be made 3 days ahead and refrigerated. Assemble the sandwiches the day you serve them, or up to a day before, for the freshest texture.
The usual culprits are butter that was too warm or liquid food coloring thinning the dough. Use gel coloring only, and if your kitchen is hot, chill the rolled dough balls for 15 minutes before baking. Measuring the flour with a spoon and level also prevents a too-loose dough.
Gel food coloring is the right choice for Easter Sugar Cookies. It is concentrated, so 2 to 3 drops tint a whole bowl of dough a rich pastel without changing the dough consistency. Liquid coloring adds water, which makes the cookies spread and bake up thinner and crisper.
The unfilled cookies freeze beautifully for up to 2 months, layered with parchment in an airtight container. Filled sandwiches can also be frozen, though the buttercream is best fresh. Thaw them in the refrigerator overnight and bring to room temperature for 15 minutes before serving.
A simple vanilla buttercream, softened butter whipped with powdered sugar, vanilla, and a pinch of salt, is the classic filling. It is sturdy enough to hold the sandwich together but fluffy enough to bite through cleanly. Lemon curd buttercream and chocolate buttercream are both easy swaps.
Want a spring cookie with no sandwich step? Our Easter bunny cookies are just as cute with half the assembly.
Easter Sugar Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 & 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 & 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 & 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- gel food coloring
For the buttercream filling
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt and set aside.2 & 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt
- In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar with a hand mixer until light and fluffy.1 cup unsalted butter, 1 & 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- Add in the egg and vanilla extract and mix to combine.1 large egg, 1 & 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Add in the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients slowly, about 1 cup at a time. Beat using a hand mixer to mix.
- Divide the dough into 4 bowls, add about 2-3 drops of the food coloring to each one, 2-3 drops of pink in one bowl, 2-3 drops of blue in another bowl, etc.gel food coloring
- I used clean beaters and used the hand mixer once again to combine the cookie dough with the food coloring. Just make sure to wash them each time before mixing each color.
- Scoop about 1 tablespoon of dough, roll into a ball, and place on the prepared cookie sheet, leaving about 1 1/2 inches apart from each dough ball.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 7-8 minutes or until the edges are slightly getting brown. Let them cool for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
- While the cookies cool, make the buttercream frosting. In a large bowl add 2 sticks of butter and 2 cups of powdered sugar and beat together using a hand mixer.1 cup unsalted butter, 4 cups powdered sugar
- Add the other 2 cups of powdered sugar and mix again. Add in the vanilla extract and salt, and beat until it’s a pale color and fluffy, about 3 minutes.1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Once the cookies are completely cool, add the buttercream to a zip lock bag and cut a small piece of the tip-off, pipe the buttercream on the bottom of one cookie and then take another cookie and place it on top and slightly press down so it sticks and makes a sandwich.
- Repeat with all the other colors of cookies and then serve and enjoy!
Notes
- Chill the dough for at least 30 minutes to make handling easier.
- Bake cookies on a prepared baking sheet lined with parchment paper for easy removal and cleanup.
- Let cookies cool on a wire rack before frosting to prevent melting.
- Get creative with frosting and decorations – this is where the fun really begins!
Nutrition
Love This Recipe?
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Thanks for the feedback, I’m going to review and adjust if needed!
After adding 2 c of flour, the dough was so stiff, there was no way I could work in another 3/4 c, so I didn’t add it in. The consistency is similar to other sugar cookie dough I’ve made, so I wasn’t too worried. I tried making 1 teaspoon sized cookies, but well before 8 minutes, they were scorched (I double checked the oven temperature with a thermometer so it was definitely at 350). I scaled up the size to 1 tablespoon and at 8 minutes, they were done, but crispy with brown edges. I kept experimenting with each batch & eventually nailed it down to 1 T dough at 350 for 7 minutes … and that meant the last 3 sandwich cookies were perfect. The buttercream frosting was another mystery … again, once I added 3 cups of powdered sugar, it was incredibly stiff, just sticking to the beater, so I stopped before adding 3 more cups and just added the vanilla. The cookies are pretty & edible, but I don’t think I’ll ever make them again.
I enjoy receiving all your recipes, whether I make them or not. I really enju that you recognize each recipe is individual. My mother worked as a sous-chef and chef for many years, plus feeding an ever growing number of children grandchildren etc on what seemed like pennies. She had two firm rules all of us cooks still follow: You eat with your eyes 1st, ut better kook good, and the first time, follow the recipe. After that, have fun!