Description
Soft, buttery sugar cookies infused with lemon and vanilla, decorated like fireworks with royal icing and sprinkles. Perfect for 4th of July fun!
Ingredients
Units
Scale
Cookies:
- 2 1/4 cups (281g) all-purpose flour (plus more for rolling)
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup (170g) unsalted butter, softened
- 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg (room temp)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon lemon extract
- Optional: 2 teaspoons lemon zest
Royal Icing:
- 4 cups (480g) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
- 3 Tbsp meringue powder
- 9-10 Tbsp water (room temp)
- Gel food coloring (red, blue, white, etc.)
- Optional: sanding sugar, star sprinkles
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
- In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until creamy (about 2 minutes).
- Add egg, vanilla, lemon extract, and optional zest. Beat until combined.
- Add dry ingredients and mix on low until a soft dough forms.
- Divide dough in half and roll each to ¼-inch thickness on parchment.
- Stack rolled dough sheets with parchment in between, cover, and chill for at least 1–2 hours.
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Cut dough into firework or star shapes.
- Place cookies 3 inches apart on lined baking sheets. Bake 11–12 minutes.
- Cool on pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool fully.
- For royal icing: Beat sugar, meringue powder, and 9–10 Tbsp water on high for 1.5–2 minutes until icing drizzles and smooths in 5–10 seconds.
- Divide icing into bowls, tint with gel colors, and transfer to piping bags with fine tips.
- Pipe curved lines from center outward. Dip into sprinkles if desired.
- Let cookies dry for 2 hours before stacking, gifting, or packing.
Notes
- Chill dough for clean shapes and no spreading.
- Decorated cookies keep 5 days at room temp or 10 days in fridge.
- Freeze dough or baked cookies for up to 3 months.
- Royal icing can be made ahead and refrigerated (cover tightly).
- For gifting, layer cookies with parchment in a tin and cushion with bubble wrap.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 130 kcal
- Sugar: 12g
- Sodium: 55mg
- Fat: 5g
- Saturated Fat: 3g
- Unsaturated Fat: 2g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 20g
- Fiber: 0g
- Protein: 1g
- Cholesterol: 15mg