Name: Flower Sugar Cookies with Free Printable Gift Tag
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 7 min
Total time: 147 min
Ingredients: 1 cup white sugar; 1/2 cup butter (room temperature); 1 large egg; 4 Tbsp milk; 1 tsp vanilla extract; 2 cups all-purpose flour; 1 tsp baking soda; 1/4 tsp salt

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Spring just got sweeter! These adorable sketchy flower sugar cookies are the ultimate treat—easy to bake, fun to decorate, and perfect for gifting.

Flower Sugar Cookies with Free Printable Gift Tag

These classic sugar cookies are perfect to make for a housewarming party or Mother’s Day tea! I’m a huge fan of creating treats for every occasion, especially delicious ones like these.

Let’s talk about baking therapy for a sec. There’s something magical about rolling out soft sugar cookie dough, blasting some feel-good music, and letting your creativity bloom.

Today’s recipe is just the therapy you need. These spring flower cookies are ridiculously charming and, best of all, they come with a free printable gift tag so you can share your homemade masterpieces with someone special.

Too busy to make this right away? Pin it for later! Pin this post to your favorite board on Pinterest and it will be there when you’re ready!

My teenage boys tried to convince me “sketchy” was a bad thing, but after a few cookies and a half gallon of milk, they decided that, in this case, “sketchy” was delicious. I’ll take that as a win.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

These spring flower sugar cookies, with their sketchy designs, are the perfect mix of simple and stunning. Using just a handful of pantry staples, you’ll whip up a batch of beautiful, buttery, sweet sugar cookies.

Once baked and cooled, you get to unleash your inner artist with royal icing, gel food coloring, and a food writer pen for those cute little flower shapes. These cookies make a darling gift for Mother’s Day, baby showers, housewarming parties, or any special occasion that needs a little extra sweetness.

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Sugar cookie dough is super versatile and easy to make with only a few ingredients from the grocery store. They also make the perfect blank canvas for all your holiday treats.

For more fun cookie decorating ideas using food writers, check out these house plant cookies and these camping-themed cookies.

Before you get started, make sure that you have everything that you need to make and decorate these cookies. I found our cookie cutters and icing bottles at Michaels, but you can also order them from Amazon below.

Also, be sure to set aside enough time to decorate your cookies. You may even want to spread it out over a few days.

When adding food writer details, it’s important to wait until the layer of flooded icing is completely dry. Otherwise the icing may crack and the colors will bleed, making a mess of all your hard work.

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This is my grandma’s classic sugar cookie recipe – time tested and delicious. The only thing that I have changed over the years is to swap out shortening for butter.

Ingredients

White sugar – For that classic sugar cookie flavor and sweetness.
Butter, room temperature – Soft and spreadable, so it mixes in super easily.
Egg – Adds richness and helps hold everything together.
Milk – A splash of moisture to keep the dough from being dry and crumbly.
Vanilla extract – Vanilla adds a warm, cozy flavor, but you could also use almond extract or even lemon.
All-purpose flour – Your base for providing just the right structure.
Baking soda – Gives a little lift so your cookies aren’t flat.
Salt – Balances all that sweetness.

Tip: Pre-made Pillsbury refrigerated sugar cookie dough can be used to create these cookies as well. Simply add 1/4 cup of flour to the dough, combine well, and roll as directed. I love quick mom hacks like this!

Instructions

1. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

2. In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients with an electric mixer (or use a stand mixer with the paddle attachment). Add butter, egg, milk, and vanilla. Mix on medium until a soft dough forms.

3. Cover the dough in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least one hour. This helps to prevent the dough from spreading when baked.

4. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

5. Dust your work surface with flour and use a rolling pin to roll the dough to 1/4-inch thickness.

6. Use cookie cutters to cut shapes from the dough. Place cookies on the prepared baking sheet, leaving about an inch of space between them.

7. Bake until the cookies are lightly golden around the edges, about 7 minutes.

8. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

This recipe will make about 70 1.5″ circle-shaped cookies.

Use my Easy Royal Icing Recipe to make the best icing for these cookies! You will need light pink, dark pink, and white royal icing that has been tinted with food coloring.

I prefer to use icing bottles over a piping bag because I find them easier to handle. Here I have our different colors of icing ready in each bottle.

Royal Icing Tips

If the icing is too hard, add more water one drop at a time.
If the icing is too soft, add more powdered sugar one teaspoon at a time.
Icing can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container for up to two weeks.
To use, mix the royal icing with a hand mixer so that it becomes smooth and shiny again.
Flood consistency is reached when a spoonful dropped onto a flat surface takes 10-15 seconds to become completely smooth.

How to Decorate Flower Sugar Cookies

I love the sketchy look created with the food writer. I think it gives retro vibes. What do you think?

But seriously, you can decorate each cookie with all sorts of patterns and designs.

Additional Supplies

Royal icing in different colors – I used light pink, dark pink, and white for this design.
Black food writer marker
Squeeze bottles or a piping bag

1. Outline each cookie with a line of white icing. Create a circle of pink icing in the center of the cookie.

2. Flood the center pink circle with icing.

3. Fill the remainder of the cookie with white icing. Use a toothpick or cookie scribe to smooth everything out and pop any air bubbles.

4. Allow the royal icing to completely dry. I recommend at least 4 hours. The pressure of the marker will break through the icing if the cookies are not dry enough.

5. Once completely dry, use the black food marker to sketch floral designs onto the cookies. Watch the video tutorial to see how I did this!

These flower cookies turned out to be simply darling! These are far easier to create than most sugar cookies, because you don’t need to use a lot of piping work.

I found it helpful to practice my flower sketches on a piece of paper with a pencil before applying my favorite sketches to the cookies.

Tips and Tricks

Chill the dough for at least one hour to prevent cookies from puffing or spreading.
Practice your flower sketches with a pencil first before committing to cookie art.
Use gel food coloring for vibrant colors that won’t mess with icing texture.
Store icing in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two weeks.
Wrap cookies in a cellophane bag, add the free printable tag, and tie with twine for a sweet gift that looks like it came straight from a bakery.

Allow the icing to completely harden and the food writer to dry for at least four hours before packaging or storing the cookies.

Add the Finishing Touch

Print out my free printable gift tag, package up these easy sketchy flower sugar cookies in a cute cellophane bag, and you’ve got the sweetest little treat that’s almost too pretty to eat.

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Some of My Baking Essentials

I love using this non-stick bakeware for all of my baking.
These silicone mitts are perfect for grasping hot pans and baking dishes.
This Henckel Knife is my favorite for slicing and dicing in the kitchen.
These parchment paper bags are perfect for packaging and these large Rubbermaid food storage containers are great for storing baking in the freezer.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I get my sugar cookies to keep their shape?
Chill the sugar cookie dough well and avoid over-mixing. Rolling to an even 1/4-inch thickness helps too!

Can I freeze decorated sugar cookies?
Yes! Once the royal icing is completely hardened, layer them between sheets of parchment or wax paper in an airtight container and freeze.

What’s the best way to color royal icing?
Use gel food coloring for bold, beautiful colors without watering down the icing.

Can I make these cookies gluten-free?
Absolutely—just swap the all-purpose flour for a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend.

How long do these cookies last?
Stored in an airtight container, they’ll stay fresh for up to a week at room temperature—though they usually disappear much faster around here!

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