I always enjoy baking for the holidays, and Easter is right up there with Christmas in my book. A few months ago, I stumbled upon a cute set of cookie cutters that included flower, carrot, and bunny shapes. I knew I had to have them for Easter!
I had trouble saving the cookie cutters for Easter, though, and I used the flower shape to make my Thanks a Bunch cookies a little while back. I managed to contain my excitement, though, and save the carrot and the bunny shapes for this week. I also made some Easter eggs, as well.
This time around, since the cookies are for friends and family and aren’t going to be mailed across the country, I decided to make softer cookies than the vanilla bean cookies I made before. Instead of using sour cream, I used some of the Greek yogurt that I had in the fridge. I also decided to go with a vanilla almond flavor, so added some ground almond flour to the dough in addition to the almond extract. I find that adding ground nuts to a recipe (just substitute for a bit of the flour in the original recipe) is a fun way to adapt existing cookie recipes and add new flavors.
I decorated all of the cookies with royal icing – first using flood icing to get a base layer of color and then piping stiffer icing on top the next day to add all of the details. I’m finding that each time I make cookies the icing is getting a bit easier for me, which makes me super happy… But, there’s definitely still some room for imrprovement!
Once all of the cookies were done (and had dried overnight), I packaged them up in clear cellophane bags and tied them with curling ribbon. Now they are ready to go into everyone’s Easter baskets!
Vanilla Almond Sugar Cookies
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 cup almond flour (ground almonds/almond meal)
- 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 6 ounces non-fat Greek yogurt (plain or vanilla)
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper (or lightly grease) and set aside.
Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract, and beat until fully incorporated into the creamed mixture.
Meanwhile, combine the almond flour, all purpose flour, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl. Gradually add in the dry ingredients into the creamed mixture, alternating with the Greek yogurt. Be sure to start and end with dry ingredients. Mix just until a dough forms. Shape the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for 30 – 60 minutes.
Once the dough has chilled, roll out on a floured surface (or between two sheets of parchment) to about 1/4-inch thickness. Use cookie cutters to cut shapes from the dough and place them on the prepared baking sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the cookies are slightly golden.
Allow the cookies to cool slightly on the pan before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Decorate with icing, if desired, once the cookies are completely cooled.
Wow your cookies are STUNNING. I can’t decorate a cookie to save my life. You are very talented!
I love the almonds in there! Your cookies are too cute! I love them!
I agree with Jessica….STUNNING!!! Did you outline them first? I don’t see an outline really…they look great that way!
Bridget – I did an outline with the flood icing in a pastry bag (which wasn’t super thin), and then I filled them in right away without drying. I used a toothpick to fill in the gaps and smooth so that it would dry evenly. I have trouble with the stiff icing and then filling in with flood, and I find that medium icing and a piping bag works best for me!
Oh my! These are some of the most beautiful cookies I have seen. I wish that I had some at this moment to eat. Your recipe sounds amazing!
Great looking cookies Jen and I bet they are delicious too. Really like the way you did your carrot tops.
These cookies are gorgeous!!!
These are super cute Jen! I really love the carrots :)
Absolutely gorgeous cookies! You did a fantastic job decorating them.
GORGEOUS! I love Easter treats–so easy to have fun with them! I love the idea of replacing some of the flour with almond meal, yum!
They look great, I love the lavender bunnies!
I just found your site through Bake at 350, I love it. GORGEOUS pics! I am going to be a “regular” here!
OMG, I heart all of these cookies! I always see iced sugar cookies with only the smooth royal icing, but I LOVE these with the extra texture!!
Oh my gosh Jen those are so cute I can’t stand it! I love sugar cookies. Great job!
These are absolutely adorable!!
These are absolutely adorable! Nicely done :)
Just realised I left the same comment as above! But these are fantastic, I’m green with envy :)
It’s really cute. The kids will love this. Great pictures. :-)
Gorgeous post, Jen! :)
Absolutely beautiful; I used to made bunches of holiday cookies when my kids were little but now wondering why I don’t make them for myself!
Wow – quite the epic baking adventure Jen! I used to love decorating these type of cookies with my mum when we were little – thanks for the memories!
I absolutely love these cookies, I just made them about a week ago and they turned out perfect. What’s great about them is that neither me or my family are big icing fans (too sugary for our taste) so with just a small dusting of icing sugar on top they were just right. And the dough is not too sweet if we ever decided to convert to icing ;) will be a staple cookie in our household thanks for the recipe
They are all simply adorable!
Do you know how long do they last? After icing do you keep them in the fridge?
I mean in the absence of those willing to devour them! :-)
Thanks
Nina – The cookies last about a week… There’s no need to refrigerate them. Let the icing dry overnight and then either individually wrap them or keep them in an airtight container.
hi just wanted to know how do u make the iceing can i have the recipe for it and how many drops for the colouring thank u
Hi, Lisa – I use meringue powder to make royal icing. The recipe depends on the brand you buy, but I typically use 3 tablespoons meringue powder, 6 tablespoons warm water, and 1 pound of confectioner’s sugar. The amount of coloring will depend on the the color of icing you are making and the shade you want. My advice is to just add a drop or two at a time and keep adding it until you achieve the color you want.
WOW! These are so great!
How did you achieve the textured icing? Is it just a stiffer royal icing that you piped?
They look amazing!
Chantel – Yes, I just used a stiff royal icing and piped it using various different pastry tips. Thanks for your sweet comment! :)