Here is the critical point in which I could easily lie and tell you that children painted these Watercolor Easter Cookies in my photos, but no, I am a truthful person. I painted them and I have zero artistic ability!
I’m sure you can tell, hehehe.
Watercolor Easter Cookies can be made for any holiday, but I like them best for Easter. Basic sugar cookie cutouts with an artistic twist.
However, if it is easy enough for me to do it, that also means it is the perfect activity for children! Watercolor Easter Cookies can be made for any old day or on a special holiday, like Easter. I happen to love the gentle glow watercolor gives off on an Easter Egg Cookie.
The biggest decision you will make are what shapes to make your cookies and if you want to also include flavor painting, which is adding clear extracts, thus flavor, to your “watercolors.”
You do need to use a good sugar cookie cutout recipe though. If not, the cookies will fluff up and lose their shape. I have provided my favorite recipe below.
Clear extracts can be purchased at art or baking supply stores. Also, be mindful of time. The cookies will need time to cool and the glaze frosting will need time to set. I recommend preparing your sugar cookies the day before you want to paint them.
The end result will be a watercolor or stained glass effect and will certainly be fun for the kiddos. Much more fun than mere sprinkles and frosting tubes.
- What do you need?
- cut-out sugar cookie dough (recipe below)
- frosting glaze (the type that gets hard and forms a shell, use Wilton’s
or the recipe below) - cheap paint brushes
- liquid food coloring (gel doesn’t work as well for this project)
- clear extract(s) (optional)
- small ramekins
- water
- paper towels
or the recipe below)
(gel doesn’t work as well for this project)
(s) (optional)
Start your project by preparing sugar cookies. The recipe doesn’t matter much as long as they are cut-outs and uniform height, meaning flat. I included the handy, dandy recipe straight from Betty Crocker below. Make cookies according to the recipe and allow to cool.
Next, glaze the cookies. Place them on a dry rack so the glaze can drip off the sides and you can get nice, clean covered shapes. You can use a regular cookie icing or the recipe below.
Allow plenty of drying time for glaze frosting to harden. If you use Wilton’s, please be mindful that one bottle only frosts 12 cookies, so purchase accordingly.
Lastly, set up your painting space! Use as many small ramekins as you have colors. Remember your color wheel
and you can blend to make your own special colors.
If you wish to flavor paint, add only a small drop of desired extract to each color bowl. Also set up and water dish and paper towel nearby for cleaning brushes.
Pro Tip: White vinegar will take food coloring right off the skin.
lastly, have at it! Paint away my foodie friends! Allow colors to dry before stacking. Or eat right away like I did! Enjoy your Watercolor Sugar Cookies!
Here are a few more fun Easter Recipes:
- Bunny Cupcakes
- Peepin’ Chicks Deviled Eggs
- Cadbury Creme Egg Cupcakes
- Homemade Chocolate Easter Eggs
- Tie Dye Sugar Cookies
- How to Dye Eggs
- Easter Poke Cake
Watercolor Easter Cookies
Ingredients
Sugar Cookie Cut-Outs
- 3/4 cup shortening
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
Sugar Cookie Icing Recipe
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoons milk or water
Instructions
- Cream together shortening and sugar. Add eggs, continue to beat. Add vanilla through salt and blend.
- Refrigerate for a minimum of an hour.
- Heat oven to 400 degrees.
- Divide dough into fourths and roll out on a lightly floured surface. Cut into desired shapes. Bake on a cookie sheet for 6-8 minutes. Remove and allow to cool.
- For cookie icing, blend both ingredients in a small bowl. Add a little more or less milk and powdered sugar until you get the desired consistency.
- If you’ve tried this recipe, come back and let us know how it was!
This is such a fun idea! I made these with my kids and they had so much fun “painting” their cookies!
How creative- I love these. I would almost not want to eat them!