These Easter Egg Sugar Cookies with Marbled Royal Icing will be the perfect addition to your Easter dessert table!
Hello friends! How is everyone’s week going? I hope you all have been enjoying some nice weather where you live, because where I live it’s been in the 70’s and beautifully sunny! Spring has sprung and I’m soakin’ it all in! I’m sure we’ll still have some cold days, but with Daylight Savings Time starting this weekend and Easter only a few short weeks away it’s full speed ahead to those sunny, warm days we’ve all been longing for!
I’m so excited to share today’s recipe for these Easter Egg Sugar Cookies with Marbled Royal Icing!! This recipe is all about fun in the kitchen! My friend Nina, who helped me make the Samosas a few weeks back has two daughters who are not only incredibly talented singers, but also very talented bakers. When I saw the gorgeous marbled sugar cookies they posted on Instagram, I knew I had to make them! The first thought that came to mind when I saw them was decorating hard-boiled eggs for Easter when I was a kid. I thought the marbled effect would look perfect on an egg cookie cutout for the Easter holiday dessert table!
Now, I’m a little lacking in the artistic talent department, so I have to say, I was a little worried about making these on my own. The girls were nice enough to come over and we spent the afternoon whipping up these beauties! It was so much fun! The girls got the idea for the marbling effect from Meghan over at Nutmeg and Honeybee. Talk about talented! Pop on over to her blog if you get a chance. It’s definitely worth a peek! You can also click here to see her YouTube video for step-by-step instructions on how to do the marbling. She makes it so easy.
I used my favorite sugar cookie recipe for the cutouts. I add some freshly grated lemon zest to my dough, so these cookies have a wonderful lemony flavor. There’s no need to chill the dough with this recipe, so it’s really quick and easy to put together. The amount of cookies you will get from the recipe will totally depend on the size of the cookie cutters you use and how thick you roll out your dough. I used two different size egg cutters and I got about thirty 3 inch eggs and about twenty 1 1/2 inch eggs. The royal icing is a simple mixture of confectioner’s sugar, meringue powder, vanilla and water. You’ll need some bowls, paint brushes, lollipop sticks (optional, if you want to display in a bucket as I did in my photo), a spray bottle and some gel food colorings in whatever colors you like. I used Wilton concentrated gels in pink, yellow, sky blue and violet.
It’s time to have some fun and channel your inner artist friends and create some beautiful treats to celebrate spring! Have a great weekend and see you all back at the BHK on Monday!
Easter Egg Sugar Cookies with Marbled Royal Icing
Print Recipe Pin RecipeIngredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 Tbsp. freshly grated lemon zest
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 large egg room temperature
- Royal Icing Ingredients:
- 1 lb. confectioner's sugar 4 cups
- 3 Tbsp. meringue powder
- 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup warm water
Instructions
Cookies
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a large bowl whisk together flour and baking powder. Use a spoon to measure flour into measuring cup and level with a knife so as not to over measure.
- In the bowl of stand mixer, cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add lemon zest, vanilla and egg and continue to beat until well blended.
- Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture one cup at a time until incorporated.
- If dough appears dry, wet your hands with water to moisten and then gather in a ball.
- Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Separate into three smaller portions. Roll dough out to 1/4 inch thickness and cut with cookie cutters.
- Transfer to prepared sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned. Let cool on sheet until firm then remove to wire rack to cool completely before frosting with royal icing.
Royal Icing
- Combine all ingredients for royal icing in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment. Mix on low for one minute then high for two minutes.
- Transfer about 2 cups to a small bowl. Spray mixture with some water to thin out somewhat before adding gel food colors.
- For complete step by step video instruction click on link above to go to Meghan's video for marbling the cookies.
Cheyanne @ No Spoon Necessary
The weather here has been lovely as well, Mary Ann, makes staying inside very difficult! But I’d totally stay indoors to make these adorable sugar cookies!! These are just too cute for words and absolutely THE perfect Easter treat! Love the egg shape and love love love the marbled icing! Pinned! Cheers, friend!
Mary Ann
Thanks so much Cheyanne! It was so much fun making these! It’s not too often I pick up a paintbrush, so I really enjoyed channeling my inner artist! Ha!
Lu
These look beautiful! I was thinking about doing Easte eggs with my boys, ( 3 and 1)! They don’t like eggs but the younger one has a major sweet tooth. lol
Mary Ann
Thank you so much! They were so fun to make! The You Tube video from Meghan is just perfect and so easy to follow! Your boys would just love these Lucienne!
Rose
Mare, these look fabulous! What a perfect treat for Easter!
Mary Ann
Thanks Rose! So much fun!! You would love making these and Dan would LOVE eating them!
Jennifer @ Seasons and Suppers
Absolutely beautiful and what a fun Easter baking project! Love this :)
Mary Ann
Thanks Jennifer!
Gerlinde | Sunnycovechef
Mary Ann, these cookies are gorgeous and my husband loves sugar cookies. You outdid yourself.
It’s raining her in California and we need it.
Mary Ann
Glad you are getting much needed rain then! These cookies were so fun to make. As I mentioned I am not really artistically inclined in any way, so this was fun to get a paintbrush in hand and go at it! Enjoy your weekend!
Kate @ Framed Cooks
Oh my gosh, those are little works of ART! I can’t imagine a more perfect Easter and springtime cookie.
Mary Ann
Thanks so much Kate! They really are just perfect for Easter and so fun to make!
Cathy | whatshouldimakefor.com
I just adore these Mary Ann! I’m a sucker for royal icing and the marbling technique is the perfect fit for easter eggs. Love, love love!!
Mary Ann
Thanks so much Cathy! So much fun to make! And I’m such a sucker for a lemon sugar cookie!
Kim | Low Carb Maven
It’s been really nice and sunny here in Southern California, too. It’s been making me restless and my thoughts have definitely turned to Spring… These cookies are so pretty! What a great idea to marble the royal icing. My kids would love these. So perfect for Easter.
Mary Ann
Thanks so much Kim! Glad it’s been nice where you live too! The kids will love making these! And eating them too! Have a great weekend!
Vivian | stayaliveandcooking
What were you worried about, these look gorgeous! Such a fun idea!
Here in the Netherlands Spring is also slooowly arriving, I could sit outside on my balcony today… Happy me!
Mary Ann
Yay! So glad you are enjoying some nice weather Vivian!Thanks so much for commenting!
rebecca | DisplacedHousewife
This marbled royal icing is BEAUTIFUL!!! And I love that this dough doesn’t need any fridge time!!! These are so pretty Mary Ann!! Are you west coast? It’s been quite nice out here too! xoxo
Mary Ann
Thanks so much Rebecca. No, I’m from Philly and the Jersey shore! It was close to 80 degrees the last two days! I’m loving it! Enjoy your weekend!
Geraldine | Green Valley Kitchen
These are great, Mary Ann – love that you made these with your friends girls. Super cute cookies! It always seems that baking is so much more fun with kids – I think it’s their excitement and love of decorating!
Mary Ann
Thanks so much Geraldine! We had such a funt time!
Jessica DeMay
These are so cute, Mary Ann! They totally remind me of dying eggs growing up. So pretty! Also- it has been nice here too and I’m loving it. Sunshine and warm days are the best.
Mary Ann
Thanks so much Jessica! So looking forward to warm, sunny days! Have a great weekend!
Tessa | Salted Plains
Mary Ann, these are the best! So beautiful! I think you are super artistic – they turned out incredible.
Also, I’m am super jealous of your 70 degree weather, although we are supposed to have warmer temps this weekend. ;) Enjoy! xo.
Mary Ann
Thanks Tessa! Hoping warmer weather is headed your way! Enjoy the weekend!
Gaila
Mary Ann! these are just adorable! I love the icing!! almost too cute to eat, but I guess with that lemon-y flavor they are not going to last for long on the table!! Just the perfect sweet treat!
Mary Ann
Thanks Gaila! This is my favorite sugar cookie recipe! I LOVE the lemony flavor!
Linda
Not a fan of lemon and substitute or just leave out.
Mary Ann
You can just leave it out Linda. If you like the taste of almond extract, you can add 1/2 tsp. along with the vanilla. Enjoy!
Linda
Thanks – Happy Easter.
Mary Ann
Same to you Linda! I just finished making over three dozen more last night!
Sarah
Wow, I just love this idea! They are Soooooo cute!! Is there anything you can’t do?? ;) Glad to hear about the warmer weather- my parents are visiting us in CA from Michigan right now and have been upset that MI has been just as warm as CA this week!
Mary Ann
My son Casey who goes to UMich is lovin’ the weather there this year! He said last year was brutal! Thanks for the sweet comment! Enjoy your weekend Sarah!
Zainab
Oh my gosh these are so so pretty! And CUTE! And I disagree, you do have the artistic eye my friend. Thanks for sharing these. My niece and I are always looking for cookie decorations to try when she spends the night. These will be next. Have a great weekend. It is Spring and 65s here in Upstate NY as well.
Mary Ann
So glad you liked these Zainab! Your niece will have lots of fun making them and eating them! Yay for the nice weather!
Patty V
Your Easter egg cookies are so pretty. Love your photos. Your niece and nephews will definitely enjoy some of these this holiday season. Can’t wait to make them with Erin. Not sure how long they’ll last with Colin home from college! Brendan will definitely need to hide his share!
Mary Ann
Ha! Erin is going to love making these! You may need to double the recipe for Brendan!
Kathy @ Beyond the Chicken Coop
These are absolutely the most amazing cookies ever! They are stunning and would be fun to make. I love them!
Mary Ann
Thanks Kathy! Trade you for some bread!
Emily
So so festive and beautifu!. I am one that hardly ever has enough patience to decorate cookies, but I have so much appreciation for those that do. :) You did a marvelous job!
Mary Ann
Thanks Emily! I am usually not very patient when it comes to decorating cookies either, but this project was lots of fun! I enjoyed it because they all turned out a little different!
Kathy Rodine
Meghan, for some reason I can’t seem to find the complete instructions for The Marbled Sugar Cookie Eggs. I have tried every way I know to get to the instructions to no avail. Please help me. Would sure love to make these for all my grandkiddies. Thank you
Mary Ann
Hi Kathy! Your grandkids will love these. I have the recipe on my site here and if you read through my post you will see a link that says click “here” in the third paragraph. The word “here” is in purple. If you click that word it will forward you to Meghan’s YouTube video to do the marbling technique. Just a heads up, I used my recipe for the sugar cookies and halved her recipe for the royal icing. Have fun making them Kathy! I am making more tonight!
Christie Fields
I have always loved baking and I must say that cakes have always been my forte; I have to say, though, that your cookies are the most beautiful Easter cookies I have ever seen!!! I only wish I had discovered you and your cookies in time to make them and send them to some of our grandkids!! Beautiful job! Thanks for sharing, Mary Ann.
Mary Ann
That you so much for the sweet comment Christie! As I say in my post, I got the lovely idea from Meghan from Nutmeg and Honeybee. Her baked goods are gorgeous. I thought her marbled technique would look perfect on Easter egg shapes for the holiday and I will say, they have been a huge hit on the blog! To plan ahead, how about making some stars for the 4th of July and use red, and blue gel coloring over the white royal icing for the marbling effect?! I’m definitely planning on that!! Thanks so much for commenting and Happy Easter!
Cynthia
So disappointed. I chose this recipe for the simplicity of the recipe and the adorable icing. I just followed this recipe to a tee and the dough is way too crumbly and will not come together. Totally fell apart. The recipe needs to be adjusted or something, too much flour. I had to throw out the whole batch, so upset.
Mary Ann
I’m so sorry they didn’t work out for you Cynthia. I’ve made these numerous times without an issue. All I can figure is that maybe you packed your flour into the cups. I always measure my flour by spooning the flour into my measuring cups, so as not to over measure. If you choose to try the recipe again when you are done mixing in the flour try wetting your hands when you remove it from the mixer before you roll it out. That will moisten it up a bit.