Whether celebrating the 4th of July or just want some fireworks, create these festive sugar cookies. Simple ingredients, butter, sugar, flour, eggs mixed and chilled then rolled into 2 ” round cut out cookies. After baking, the cookies are frosted with red, white and blue buttercream. With a wooden pick, lines are drawn into a web making the cookies look like they are fireworks bursting in air.
Super easy cookie to make and bake. Cookies can be made ahead. baked and frozen without frosting until ready to serve. On day of serving, remove from freezer to thaw.
Purchased canned buttercream frosting was tinted with red and blue food gel. White was left the natural vanilla color. Once frosting is tinted fill 3 disposable piping bags with tip # 5 with each tinted frosting color.
To pipe the cookies, begin in the center with blue frosting, followed by red then white.
Pipe red frosting around the blue frosting, following same direction as the blue frosting in circles.
Pipe white frosting around red frosting last.
With a toothpick, drag from center of cookie to outer edge. Repeat technique all around the cookie creating the fire works display.
Because decorating these cookies take some time; bake the sugar cookies a day or two ahead. Wrap and freeze the unfrosted cookies until ready to decorate. Thaw the cookies before frosting with red, white and blue buttercream.
Quick video below showing you how to make Festive Fireworks Sugar Cookies
Great cookie recipe for decorating cookies.
Cookies will stay the shape you cut them during baking. Use tip # 5 for piping ease.
PrintFestive Fireworks Sugar Cookie Recipe
Fireworks Cookies are butter flavored sugar cookies cut into 2″ round cookies using a scalloped edged cookie cutter. Frosted with red, white and blue buttercream canned frosting.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes + 60 minutes decorating
- Cook Time: 8-10 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours
- Yield: 24-36 cookies depends on cookie cutter size 1x
- Category: Desserts- Cookies
- Method: Baking-Decorating
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder-tested Rumford
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 egg
- 1 cup butter (2 sticks)-not margarine-tested: Land o Lakes salted
- 1 teaspoons vanilla or creme bouquet extract
- 1 cups granulated sugar
Frosting:
2 cans purchased White Buttercream Frosting- Tested Betty Crocker
2-3 drops red food gel
2-3 drops navy food gel
3 Disposable pastry bags with tips # 5 per bag
Toothpicks
Instructions
- With a stand mixer prepare cookie dough, cream sugar and butter until fluffy, about 5 minutes.
- Add eggs and flavoring.
- Mix dry ingredients in separate bowl and add to butter mixture. Mix well.
- Divide dough in half and place between two sheets of parchment paper to roll into desired thickness, 1/4 to 1/2″. Repeat with the rest of the dough.
- Put the rolled dough including the parchment paper on a baking sheet and refrigerate for 10 minutes or longer. Your dough will be chilled and ready to cut and bake with no wait and no added flour! Repeat the process with scraps after cutting cookies.
- With 2″ round scalloped edged metal cookie cutter, cut out several rounds of cookies. Remove excess dough, roll and repeat.
- Bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Do not allow to brown. Let cool on rack.
Frosting Cookies
- In three separate bowls, add 1/2 cup canned frosting to each bowl.
- Drop red food gel in one bowl, navy food gel in second bowl and no gel in third bowl.
- Stir to blend with separate spoons.
- Fill each pastry bag with each colored frosting.
- With a shallow bowl, add 1/2 cup white frosting to bowl. Microwave 15 seconds until melted.
- With cooled cookie, dip one cookie upside down into melted white frosting. Allow to drip excess frosting off cookie. While frosting is soft, pipe red center in round strings, pipe white rings around the red, and pipe blue around the white. Repeat process until entire cookie is covered with rings of colored frosting.
- With a tooth pick, beginning in center of cookie, lightly drag the wet frosting to the outer edge of cookies. Divide the dough into quarters and drag three passes with in each quadrant. Sounds complicated but once you do it you will see that you are forming a spider type web.
- Allow cookies to dry before serving. You can refrigerate these cookies until ready to serve.
Notes
If you want to bake the cookies ahead you can, just don’t frost and freeze.
Wrap cookies in plastic and foil then place in zip lock freezer bag for up to 3 months.
Thaw before frosting.
Recipe inspired by http://blessusolord.blogspot.com/2011/07/firecracker-sugar-cookies.html
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