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Sugar Cookie Snowflakes with Royal Icing
Learn how to bake and decorate snowflake sugar cookies with royal icing, including dough chilling and icing consistency tips for festive gifts.
Snowflake Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing are crisp, buttery cut-out cookies shaped into delicate snowflakes and finished with a smooth, fast-drying icing that allows for intricate decoration. The dough is prepared from pantry staples—flour, granulated sugar, unsalted butter, eggs, vanilla, and a touch of leavening—yielding a tender yet sturdy cookie that keeps its shape during baking. Once cooled, the cookies are coated or piped with royal icing made from powdered sugar, egg whites or meringue powder, and a small amount of water, creating a matte surface that hardens to a glossy, break-resistant finish. These cookies are most commonly enjoyed during the winter holiday season, appearing at Christmas gatherings, cookie swaps, and festive dessert platters, where their snowflake motif and customizable icing make them both a centerpiece and an edible gift.
Sugar Cookie Snowflakes with Royal Icing
The dough and icing can be prepped days in advance, so you can bake one evening and decorate the next without feeling rushed. Quick-setting icing layers cleanly, making these cookies perfect for decorating parties, edible place cards, or easy-to-pack gifts that travel well.
Prep Time
120 minutes
120 minutes
Cook Time
20 minutes
20 minutes
Total Time
380 minutes
380 minutes
Ingredients
All-purpose flour 3 cups
- Baking powder 1 teaspoon
- Fine salt ½ teaspoon
- Unsalted butter (softened) 1 cup
- Granulated sugar 1 cup
- Large egg 1
- Pure vanilla extract 1 teaspoon
- Almond extract ½ teaspoon (optional but enhances flavor)
- Confectioners’ (powdered) sugar 4 cups
- Meringue powder 3 tablespoons
- Warm water 5–6 tablespoons (adjust for desired icing consistency)
- Clear vanilla (or other clear flavoring) extract 1 teaspoon
- Gel food-coloring assorted colors (optional for tinted icing)
- Sanding sugar or edible glitter for decorating as desired (optional)
Method
Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl until evenly combined
- Beat softened butter and granulated sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy
- Beat in the egg until fully incorporated
- Beat in vanilla extract and almond extract until blended
- Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix just until a soft dough forms
- Divide the dough in half
- Flatten each half into a disc
- Wrap each disc tightly in plastic wrap
- Refrigerate the dough until firm, at least 1 hour
- Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C)
- Remove one dough disc from the refrigerator and let it sit until slightly pliable
- Lightly flour a work surface and a rolling pin
- Roll the dough to about ¼-inch thickness
- Dip snowflake cookie cutters in flour
- Cut snowflake shapes from the rolled dough
- Transfer each cut-out to a prepared baking sheet
- Space the cookies about 1 inch apart
- Gather the dough scraps and reroll them once to cut more cookies
- Repeat rolling and cutting with the second dough disc
- Bake the cookies until the centers look set and the edges remain pale, 8 to 10 minutes
- Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for 5 minutes
- Move the cookies to a wire rack and let them cool completely
- Combine meringue powder and warm water in the bowl of a stand mixer
- Whisk the mixture until foamy
- Sift powdered sugar into the bowl
- Mix on low speed until the sugar is moistened
- Add vanilla extract
- Increase the mixer speed to medium-high
- Beat the icing until stiff glossy peaks form, about 5 to 7 minutes
- Stir in a few drops of water until the icing reaches piping consistency
- Spoon some of the icing into piping bags fitted with small round tips
- Stir additional water into another portion of icing until it reaches flood consistency
- Transfer the flood-consistency icing to squeeze bottles or separate piping bags
- Outline the edge of each cooled cookie with the piping-consistency icing
- Let the outlines stand for a few minutes until set
- Flood the inside of each outlined cookie with the flood-consistency icing
- Use a toothpick to nudge icing to the edges and pop any air bubbles
- Pipe decorative lines or dots on the wet icing for snowflake designs if desired
- Sprinkle sanding sugar or edible glitter onto the wet icing if desired
- Arrange iced cookies in a single layer on a flat surface
- Leave the cookies at room temperature until the royal icing is completely hard, at least 4 hours or overnight
Nutrition (whole recipe)
Calories
5830 kcal Protein
63 g Fat
192 g Carbs
962 g Fiber
10 g Sugar
688 g
5830 kcal Protein
63 g Fat
192 g Carbs
962 g Fiber
10 g Sugar
688 g
Notes
Roll the dough on parchment, cut the shapes, then freeze the tray for 10 minutes—ultra-cold dough goes into the oven firm, so every snowflake keeps razor-clean points. For a flavor twist, replace half the vanilla with ½ tsp almond extract or a swipe of citrus zest to make the cookies taste as bright as they look.
why this recipe
There’s something irresistibly charming about a batch of snowflake sugar cookies with royal icing: each delicate, buttery bite melts on the tongue, while the crisp edges give way to a tender center that stays soft for days. The dough rolls out effortlessly without excessive flour, ensuring intricate snowflake shapes hold their details, and the glossy, quick-setting icing dries to a smooth, satiny finish that invites endless decorating possibilities. With its balanced sweetness and subtle vanilla notes, this recipe delivers bakery-quality cookies that taste as stunning as they look, making every winter gathering feel a little more magical.
FAQs
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Frequently Asked Questions
How far in advance can I make and store these snowflake sugar cookies, and what’s the best way to keep them fresh?
The baked, fully iced cookies stay fresh for 1 – 2 weeks when kept in an airtight container at cool room temperature, separated by parchment to protect the decorations, or for up to 2 months if frozen (thaw in the closed container to prevent moisture beading). You can also make the dough up to 3 days ahead and refrigerate it tightly wrapped, or freeze it (well-wrapped) for 2 – 3 months and thaw overnight in the fridge before rolling and baking.
What’s a good substitute for meringue powder in the royal icing, and will it affect drying time?
Use 1 large pasteurized egg white (or 2 tablespoons boxed liquid egg whites) plus a pinch of cream of tartar for every tablespoon of meringue powder the recipe calls for. The icing sets just as firmly but may take an extra hour or two to dry completely, so allow a little more time before stacking or packaging the cookies.
How do I prevent my royal icing colors from bleeding together on the cookies?
Use gel food coloring and keep your piping and flood icings on the thicker side so they set quickly. Let the first color crust (10–15 minutes under a fan or dehydrator, or 30 minutes uncovered in a low-humidity room) before adding the next shade, and avoid storing freshly iced cookies in airtight containers until the surface is fully dry. Low humidity and good airflow are the keys—excess moisture or very thin icing encourages colors to migrate.