Easy Frosting Recipes for Sugar Cookies

Looking for the best frosting recipe for decorating sugar cookies? Here's the good news, you have lots of options! Whether you want a smooth and shiny glaze like royal icing or you prefer to spread the frosting with a knife and top with sprinkles, you'll find lots of cookie decorating ideas here!

Two Heart Cookies with Blue Frosting are decorated with sprinkles on half of the cookie.

The girls and I have been known to sneak a few of the sugar cookies just as-is without any frosting on top on baking day.

We love these cut out sugar cookies and these soft frosted sugar cookies that much!

However, assuming you want to dress up the cookies you've baked with your kids, you have several options for decorating sugar cookies.

While royal icing on a sugar cookie is really popular and traditional, there are many other options for easy cookie decorating with your kids.

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Vanilla Glaze

This thicker vanilla glaze can be tinted a variety of colors. I used it to frost cupcakes to make them more travel-friendly but it would be a great choice to frost a simple sugar cookie shape, no piping required!

Simply spread the glaze on with a knife or dip the cookie face-down into a shallow bowl of glaze. Top with sprinkles for the finishing touch.

Vanilla Glaze

This easy one-bowl vanilla glaze takes just a couple minutes to whisk together and is perfect for topping "vanilla donut" cupcakes. Add a dash of sprinkles for the perfect treat that travels well.

4.69 from 19 votes

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A vanilla cupcake in a white wrapper has white vanilla glaze and rainbow sprinkles on top. More cupcakes are in the background.

Royal Icing

The perfect choice for cookie decorators that want precision designs and fun patterns on their sugar cookies, royal icing is a classic for great reason.

If you've been anxious about the tools needed and the techniques to get that perfect finish, my recipe has all the step-by-step photos and instructions you need to make gorgeous and simple sugar cookies for any holiday all year long.

Easy Royal Icing

This easy royal icing recipe is perfect for beginner sugar cookie decorators. The cookie icing can be made a couple days in advance to break up the process of making gorgeous decorated sugar cookies into a manageable timeline.

5 from 3 votes

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A platter of green Christmas tree sugar cookies have been decorated with royal icing in simple patterns.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Whether you're baking cut out gingerbread cookies or cut out sugar cookies, this tangy cream cheese frosting is the perfect fit for your holiday cookie decorating. It's a natural pick for my soft frosted sugar cookies, too.

You can add sprinkles or tuck in simple chocolate candies for pretty decorations.

Easy Cream Cheese Frosting

This easy cream cheese frosting is the perfect dessert topping for everything from chocolate cake, carrot cake, cupcakes, brownies, bars, tarts, and more!

5 from 38 votes

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Vanilla cupcakes have been topped with a swirl of cream cheese frosting and sit on a cake plate. There's a frosting piping bag on the counter in front.

Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

Want to try something different with your soft sugar cookies? Frost them with this rich and tangy chocolate cream cheese frosting for a special touch!

Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

Rich and delicious chocolate cream cheese frosting is a tangy way to top a vanilla birthday cake or cupcakes and is so easy to make.