sugar cookie frosting recipe that's pink and in a small white bowl. Red cookies all around the bowl

Why you’ll love this buttercream frosting!

This earns a repeat making kitchen-made cutout cookies around any holiday but what I’m not a huge fan of is royal icing. It looks adorable but I find it so finicky. Especially when the kids want to help out. That’s why this earns a repeat this straightforward frosting recipe.

If you’re looking for a simple frosting that comes together in no time, this is the recipe for you!

WHY YOU’LL LOVE THIS

Simply 4 ingredients and one bowl
Ready in 5 minutes, no chilling or waiting required – such an unfussy recipe
Easily made vegan with plant-based butter and milk
Customizable with food coloring and extracts for any occasion

ingredients needed to make sugar cookie frosting including powdered sugar, vanilla, milk, and butter

Basic ingredients needed

The simple ingredients for this straightforward sugar cookie icing recipe are listed fully down in the recipe card but let’s briefly go over the pantry staples needed including a few substitutions you can make as desired!

Butter – softened, plus regular or vegan butter both work great here (I like Country Crock Plant Butter for the vegan version). Unsalted butter works go-to but you can also use salted.
Powdered sugar – this is where all the sweetness and structure comes from. Aka confectioners’ sugar.
Milk – any kind works, dairy or plant-based, oat milk is great here. I prefer whole milk in this method.
Vanilla extract – the old-school flavor base, swap in almond extract for a fun twist.

buttercream cookie frosting in the base of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment sitting in the bowl

How to Make Kitchen-made Sugar Cookie Frosting

Only a reminder that you can find the FULL written sugar cookie frosting recipe down in the recipe card, but I want to quickly go over how to make them with visuals for you:)

powdered sugar and butter being blended in a food processor

Beat butter and sugar. In the large bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the softened butter and half of the powdered sugar. Some recipes have you use the paddle attachment but I prefer the whisk attachment for this.
You can also do this with a hand mixer and a large mixing bowl!

ingredients being added to a white stand mixer from the top

Mix in the remaining ingredients. Add in the remaining ingredients (minus the food coloring) and whisk until fluffy, fully combined, and the right consistency for your liking. Add a small splash of additional milk as needed. Use it to decorate your go-to sugar cookies (I prefer to do this with a piping bag but you can also spread it in a thin layer on the top of the cookies using a butter knife)! Store any leftovers in an airtight container.

food coloring being added to the base of a food processor

Add optional food coloring. Drop in the optional food coloring and whisk once more until the color comes together and no streaks remain.

red heart cookies topped with a light pink zig zag frosting. the middle cookie is being frosted with a piping bag

Recipe Tips

This is a buttercream-style frosting, not royal icing – it stays soft and won’t harden into a shell, so it’s not ideal for stacking cookies or shipping them.
Add milk slowly, one teaspoon at a time, to control the thickness – it’s straightforward to go too thin.
For deeper color, gel food coloring works better than liquid food coloring since it won’t thin out the frosting.
Add a little more powdered sugar if your frosting ends up too thin.