Easy Patriotic Sugar Cookies perfect for celebrating Memorial Day, 4th of July or just because. These soft sugar cookies are decorated with red, white and blue chocolate drizzles for a quick and easy patriotic dessert everyone will love.
You are going to love how easy these cookies are to make. Decorated with already colored candy melts (white chocolate) these cookies can be decorated in just 10 minutes. Once decorated, they only take 10-15 minutes to set and are ready to serve. Talk about easy!
This sugar cookie recipe has been a favorite of mine for years. The sugar cookie dough recipe comes from one of my favorite cookbooks, the King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion Cookbook. If you love baking cookies, I cannot recommend this cookbook enough!
What I love about these cookies is that they are so easy to make but still look impressive. They are not just for Memorial Day or the 4th of July you can decorate them for any occasion. You can even decorate them with colored frosting or sprinkles.
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE PATRIOTIC SUGAR COOKIES
With just a few basic pantry staples, these sugar cookies come together in no time.
- Butter – Unsalted butter for the cookie dough.
- Sugar – Plain granulated sugar is needed.
- Egg – Always try to use room temperature eggs when baking, this helps with better incorporation.
- Salt
- Baking Powder
- Vanilla Extract – Always use pure vanilla extract for the best flavor.
- Almond Extract – Although optional, I highly recommend using almond extract to add flavor to the cookie dough. The recipe calls for 1/2 teaspoon, which I find is the perfect amount.
- Heavy Cream
- Cornstarch
- Flour – Plain all-purpose flour is needed.
- Candy Melts – This recipe uses red, white and blue candy melts for decorating the cookies.
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HOW TO MAKE PATRIOTIC SUGAR COOKIES
The full recipe is in the recipe card below.
The hardest part of this recipe is waiting for the sugar cookie dough to chill before you can roll it out. Which only takes about 1 hour. These cookies are really easy to make and even easier to decorate.
STEP 1
Cream together the butter, sugar, salt, baking powder and extracts. Once light and fluffy, add in the egg and beat until fully incorporated.
STEP 2
Now add in half of the heavy cream, all of the cornstarch and half of the flour. Mix until combined. Now add in the remaining heavy cream and flour. Mix until combined. Be careful to not overmix the cookie dough.
STEP 3
Divide the dough into 2 equal portions, flatten out each portion into a disc shape and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
CAN SUGAR COOKIE DOUGH BE MADE IN ADVANCE?
Yes, sugar cookie dough can be made in advance. You can make the dough and refrigerate it overnight. Then roll it out, cut into shapes and bake the next day.
STEP 4
On a lightly floured surface, roll out the cookie dough to 1/4 inch thick. Using cookie cutters cut out the shapes, place them on a parchment lined baking sheet. Place in a 350°F and bake for 10-12 minutes. Cool completely before decorating.
STEP 5
Drizzle melted candy melts over the cookies. Cool for 10-15 minutes or until chocolate is set. Enjoy!
MORE WAYS TO DECORATE
Some of the cookies I decorated by dipping them in one of the colors to fully cover their tops before drizzling the other two colors over the cookies. This looks really good with white dipped stars drizzled with the red and blue.
Another way to decorate the cookies is to add sprinkles after decorating with the chocolate.
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STORING PATRIOTIC SUGAR COOKIES
Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week.
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Patriotic Sugar Cookies
Easy Patriotic Sugar Cookies perfect for celebrating Memorial Day, 4th of July or just because. These soft sugar cookies are decorated with red, white and blue chocolate drizzles for a quick and easy patriotic dessert everyone will love.
Ingredients
Instructions
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In the bowl of a mixer, cream together the softened butter, sugar, salt, baking powder and both extracts. Once light and fluffy, add in the egg and beat until fully incorporated.
-
Now add in half of the heavy cream, all of the cornstarch and half of the flour. Mix until combined. Now add in the remaining heavy cream and flour. Mix until just combined. Be careful to not overmix the cookie dough.
-
Divide the dough into 2 equal portions, flatten out each portion into a disc shape and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
-
Preheat an oven to 350°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
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Working with one portion of the dough, lightly flour your work surface and roll out the cookie dough to 1/4 inch thick. Using cookie cutters cut out the shapes, place them on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes. The cookies should not be browned but set. Cool completely before decorating.
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In three separate bowls melt the candy melts, following the directions on the packages. Pour the melted chocolate into piping bags, snip the ends to make a small whole and drizzle each color over the cookies. Allow to set before serving. Enjoy!
Note
This recipe can make up to 42 cookies depending on the size and shape you make them.
Using a 4-inch star cookie cutter and a 2 1/2-inch circle cookie cutter I was able to get about 30 cookies out of the dough.
So easy to make!