I'll tell you how to choose the best homemade frosting for cookies. Get tips and recipes for your treats no matter what kind you are making.
Jump to:
- What frosting is best for cookies?
- Easy sugar cookie decorating ideas
- When to use royal icing:
Do you make cookies at home? Well if the answer is yes, you're in the right place! I love cookies, and all the delicious icings and frostings that go with them.
What frosting is best for cookies?
I prefer confectioners' sugar buttercream for soft sugar cookies.
Fluffy Vanilla Frosting
A basic powdered sugar frosting recipe that comes together with just 4 ingredients. Use the vanilla frosting for cakes, cupcakes, or cookies!
Recipe
Cutout sugar cookies
For cutout sugar cookies that beg for fancy decoration, I use royal icing, because it gets hard and holds design well.
Royal Icing
This is my go-to royal icing recipe! It's a meringue-based decorating icing that dries shiny and hard for perfect cookies. I use meringue powder.
Recipe
Sandwich cookies
For sandwich cookies you can use soft icings with various flavors for fun options. Chocolate ganache, cream cheese frosting and caramel icing are all great fillings for cookies. See below for more!
Meringue Buttercream
This is a double batch of my not-too-sweet buttercream. It is a great alternative to frosting made with confectioners' sugar.
Recipe
Whipped Chocolate Ganache Frosting
Whipped chocolate ganache frosting is smooth, rich and melts in your mouth. It's great for spreading and piping on any cake or cupcakes.
Recipe
Simple Cream Cheese Frosting
This is simple cream cheese frosting that's versatile and delicious. Use it on cakes, cupcakes, cookies, and cinnamon rolls! As a bonus, it can be made with or without butter!
Recipe
Homemade Caramel Frosting
This old-fashioned caramel icing recipe is perfect on spice cake, chocolate cake, and cupcakes. It's a boiled frosting that has the creamy texture of brown sugar fudge!
Recipe
Specialty cookies
Specialty cookies love a shiny glaze, like my Pastel Black and White Cookies, or Brown Butter Frosting on Cashew Oatmeal Cookies. Everyone loves browned butter, with the nutty, caramelized taste.
Pastel “Black and White” Cookies
Pastel Black and White Cookies for spring are simple, elegant and perfect for your party. Add color to the glaze to give them a seasonal flare.
Recipe
Cashew Cookies with Brown Butter Frosting
Cashew Cookies with Brown Butter Frosting are my favorite oatmeal cookie from childhood. Chewy and full of nuts, topped with buttery icing.
Recipe
Easy sugar cookie decorating ideas
Whether you're using an easy cookie frosting like fluffy buttercream, or another powdered sugar frosting for cookies, like cream cheese frosting, you can make fun decorations.
Pipe your frosting onto soft sugar cookie cutouts using pastry tips. I used open star tips #16, #19 #20 and #35 on these Christmas tree cookies. See the recipe post for more on how I made each design.
When to use royal icing:
For a great tasting sugar cookie frosting that hardens, I have two royal icing recipes, classic and lemon.
Royal icing creates clean lines and takes on color to create a vibrant look. It also works for detailed piping and decorating, when you want to make a gingerbread house or small designs.
Tangy lemon royal icing is a delicious frosting for gingerbread cookies. I love how it tastes with the mix of spices.
Lemon Royal Icing
A little citrus tang makes this royal icing flavored with lemon perfect for decorating holiday cookies. It's tasty on shortbread, sugar cookies, and classic gingerbread cookies!
Recipe
I use gel paste food coloring to tint royal icing. It creates deep color without adding too much liquid.
You can make simple royal icing designs like I did on these Spooky Spiral Cookies. And don't miss the darling Santa Faces I created for one of my Christmas cookies!
Spooky Spiral Halloween Cookies
Spooky Spiral Halloween Cookies are the ultimate psychedelic treat! Their swirly design and sweet flavor are sure to wow everyone who tries them.
Recipe
Santa-Face Santa Sugar Cookies
These Santa cookies are the cutest cookies you've ever seen! They're decorated with royal icing and are great for cookie swaps and gifting.
Recipe
The best frosting for cookies depends on the flavor and kind of cookie.
Try homemade marshmallow as a frosting for cookies! I use my Peppermint Marshmallow to fill chocolate Christmas cookies. For Easter, fill the soft chocolate cookies with pastel pink, yellow and green marshmallow. (Leave out the mint extract.)
Peppermint Marshmallow Sandwich Cookies
The cookies are like little mini brownie bites. The peppermint marshmallow filling is divine.
Recipe
Speaking of sandwich cookies, the melt-in-your-mouth frosting that is always a go-to cake topper makes the best cookie filling. For soft, cake-like cookies like Whoopie Pies, I use my Swiss Meringue Buttercream. Candy cane sprinkles make them great for the holidays.
Whoopie Pies for Halloween
Traditionally they are chocolate. A soft, cake-like cookie with the soft white filling. But you may have seen other flavors. They're all delicious!
Recipe
There isn't just one type of cookie, so you can imagine there are a whole lot of frostings too.
Try fluffy peanut butter frosting instead of browned butter icing on my cashew cookies. The two nut flavors compliment each other and create the perfect bite.
Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting
Make Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting like a professional baker. It's fluffy, soft and creamy, and holds for piping. With just five simple ingredients, it's easy to make and perfect to make-ahead too. It has intense nut flavor and is delicious atop cakes, cupcakes, brownies and cookies.
Recipe
Create amazing and fun designs on sheet pan cookies too.
One Pan Sugar Cookie Bars | Tara Teaspoon
Get creative and decorate these One Pan Sugar Cookie Bars in a plaid pattern. You can also ice them in a solid color and add sprinkles.
Recipe
Get creative with your own combinations! Let me know in the comments below what your favorite frosting for cookies is. Or tag a picture of cookies you make on Instagram with the hashtag #TaraTeaspoon.
Tasty cookie recipes!
- Macadamia and White Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Chocolate Chipless Cookies
- Dulce de Leche Cookie Bars
- The Best Gingerbread Cookies
- Oatmeal Carmelitas Recipe
- Pecan Crisp Cookies
- Halloween Graham Crackers: Frosting Sandwiches
- No Bake Pumpkin Cookies
About Tara Teaspoon
I’ve been in the food publishing business for over 20 years, creating recipes & food-styling for magazines, books, television & advertising. Order my new cookbook & stick around for amazing things to eat.
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