Watercolor Tree Sugar Cookies with Printable Gift Tags
These watercolor tree sugar cookies are quick, easy and fun to make with royal icing and food coloring! Grab the free printable tag below to make a lovely gift for someome special.
These classic sugar cookies are fun to make for a party or to bring to your next event! I’m a huge fan of creating treats for every occasion, especially delicious ones like these.
Too busy to make this right away? Pin it for later! Pin this easy recipe to your favorite board on Pinterest and it will be waiting there when you’re ready.
Sugar cookie dough is super versatile and easy to make with only a few ingredients from the grocery store. You will need simple ingredients like butter, granulated sugar and all purpose flour.
Be sure to set aside enough time to decorate the 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.
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.
This post contains affiliate links.
Sugar cookie supplies:
- KitchenAid Stand Mixer
- Baking sheets
- Parchment paper
- Rolling pin
- Mixing bowls
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Cookie cutters
- Icing bottles
- Food Writer Pen
- Wire cooling rack
- Cookie scribe or toothpick
- Blue and yellow gel food coloring
- Food grade paintbrush
- Vodka or other quick drying pure alcohol
This is my grandma’s classic sugar cookie recipe – time tested and delicious. The only thing that I have changed over the years is swapped out shortening for butter.
Sugar Cookie Recipe:
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
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!
Directions:
1. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl with an electric mixer or stand mixer with paddle attachment, combine dry ingredients. Add butter, egg, milk and extract. Mix on medium speed until a soft dough forms.
3. Chill the dough 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 surface with flour and use a rolling pin to roll the dough to 1/4″ thickness on the floured surface.
6. Use cookie cutters to cut shapes from the dough. Place the cookies on the prepared baking sheet.
7. Bake until the cookies are lightly brown around the edges, about 7 minutes.
8. Place the cookies on a wire rack to cool.
This recipe will make about 70 2″ circle shaped cookies.
Use my Easy Royal Icing Recipe to make the best icing for these cookies! You will need only white royal icing.
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 a 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.
These instructions will show you how to decorate watercolor tree cookies like these ones. The sky is the limit though, have fun with this process!
How to decorate tree sugar cookies:
1. Outline each circle with a line of white icing and flood the center. Allow the icing to dry for at least two hours before moving on to the next step.
2. Add a drop of blue food coloring and a drop of yellow food coloring to a small dish. Use the vodka to combine the two colors to create various shades of green.
3. Using a food grade brush, paint trees onto each cookie.
4. Have fun with this and add various colors and shapes to the trees. Splatter a bit of food coloring onto the cookies to create a watercolor effect.
5. Add dots of white royal icing to each cookie to create “snow”.
These watercolor tree 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.
Allow the icing to completely harden for at least four hours before packaging or storing the cookies. These look amazing wrapped in cellophane and tied up with a bit of twine.
Add my free printable gift tag and voila! These easy tree sugar cookies make a delicious treat!
Be sure to check out all of the fun sugar cookie ideas on the blog!
This post contains affiliate links.
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.
Enter your name and email below to get an instant download of the files! You are then registered for my weekly email Newsletter that is full of fun recipes, easy crafts and free printables.
File usage
- All digital files on Homemade Heather are for personal use only.
- Please direct others to the original website link when sharing.
- Digital reselling, resharing or distribution is prohibited and NOT allowed.
If you love these watercolor tree sugar cookies, please give them a five star review and help me share them on Facebook or Pinterest so that others can enjoy them too!
Be sure to check out our other Sugar Cookie Recipes!
Watercolor Tree Sugar Cookies
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
Instructions
- 1. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- 2. In a large bowl with an electric mixer or stand mixer with paddle attachment, combine dry ingredients. Add butter, egg, milk and extract. Mix on medium speed until a soft dough forms.
- 3. Chill the dough 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 surface with flour and use a rolling pin to roll the dough to 1/4" thickness on the floured surface.
- 6. Use cookie cutters to cut shapes from the dough. Place the cookies on the prepared baking sheet.
- 7. Bake until the cookies are lightly brown around the edges, about 7 minutes.
- 8. Place the cookies on a wire rack to cool before decorating with royal icing.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Save this recipe?
I’m happy to email it to you, so that you can come back to it later!
