Frosted Sugar Cookies

What are the holidays like without frosted sugar cookies? Not very festive if you ask me! Frosted sugar cookies fall into the top spot for me when it comes to holiday cookies, peanut butter blossoms are also a favorite of mine.

These chewy sugar cookies topped with sweet, sugary icing are perfection! What makes them even better? They are only 60 calories per cookie! The downside, well if you consider this a downside, is the cookie dough does require some chilling, but that’s not abnormal for a delicious cookie, they are worth the wait!

Have you ever had a Crumbl frosted sugar cookie? If you have, you know that they are served chilled, in my opinion, these frosted sugar cookies fit the mold of a chilled sugar cookie and if I were you I would enjoy them this way.

Ingredients needed for the frosted sugar cookies:

Light Butter: I used Brummel and Brown spread, this spread is 45 calories per serving. Since it is a light butter it is a bit softer than a stick of butter, this is one of the reasons that chilling the dough is so important!

Applesauce: Did you know you can replace half of the fat ingredients in a recipe with applesauce? So to lower the calories in this classic dessert I replaced half of the butter usually needed in sugar cookies for applesauce. Again this changes the consistency of the dough so more chilling time is required! 

Lakanto Granular Sugar: I used Lakanto granular sugar for this recipe. After trying many brands this is my favorite, it really does taste like regular sugar to me! When calculating the nutrition for this recipe I do not take into the account the carbs from this sugar because it is 0 calories.

Flour: As in any cookie recipe you need some flour, I don’t think this is any surprise! If you want to make these gluten free I suggest using Pillsburys or Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Gluten Free Flour.

Vanilla Extract: This is important so make sure you do not forget! If you want to really put a holiday spin on this recipe, then add some peppermint extract in place of the vanilla, and make a peppermint frosted sugar cookie.. Yum!

Egg: 1 whole egg is used in this recipe. I have not tried to sub this with egg whites only, I would suggest sticking to the whole egg as the fat in the yolk serves an important purpose!

Baking Soda, Baking Powder, and Salt: All typical sugar cookie leavening agents.

Frosted Sugar Cookie Instructions:

1. To begin, in a KitchenAid mixer, cream your butter until soft 
2. Add in the egg, make sure there are no shells
3. Add in the sugar, vanilla extract, and applesauce
4. Now, gradually add in the flour, I like to do about half of a cup at a time
5. Once this is done add the baking powder, baking soda, and salt
6. After everything is mixed together it is time to chill your dough. Scrape the cookie dough into plastic wrap and secure it tightly! Chill it overnight
7. You can also prepare the frosting the night before as well, it would be easier to handle chilled, beat the butter and cream cheese as you did for the cookies, add in your sugar, and extract, place in a container and store until you’re ready to use it.
8. After your dough has chilled overnight, preheat your oven to 350 degrees
9. Using a small cookie scoop, scoop small balls of the dough onto an non-stick cookie sheet
10. Bake for 6-8 minutes
11. The cookies must cool completely before you frost them. I placed the frosting in a piping bag and created little spirals but you could also use a knife to spread it on, it is all preference!
12. Make sure you top with fun, festive sprinkles!

Frequently Asked Questions:

How many calories are in frosted sugar cookies?

This is a lighter sugar cookie recipe so each frosted sugar cookie is only 60 calories, 7.2 carb, 2.8 fat, and 1.5 protein. If you track macros you can easily find this recipe by searching HNFit Frosted Sugar Cookie in My Fitness Pal.

Why are frosted sugar cookies so good?

Well this is a tough question but if you ask me it is the soft chewy cookie, topped with sweet delicious frosting and fun sprinkles that make it amazing, in addition these cookies are only 60 calories each so that is another huge bonus!

How do you keep frosted sugar cookies soft?

When preparing sugar cookies, it is best to not overmix them! So when you are preparing these make sure you mix them just enough to combine all of the ingredients, this will help keep them softer and chewier. 

How long do these cookies stay good for?

These cookies will stay good for about a week in the refrigerator, after that, the frosting may make them a bit soggy and I would not recommend freezing them so make sure you can share them!

How do you store these cookies?

I store them in the refrigerator, as I noted above they are best chilled so you can enjoy them right out of the cool temp!