I can tell you with certainty that this is the best sugar cookie and butter cream frosting recipe you will ever have. This is the recipe that my Grandma Peggy used, and it is the recipe that my mother used. It is the recipe that has family and friends in a frenzy for at the holidays, and it's the recipe that I crave all year long.

We lost Grandma Peggy to cancer 9 years ago, and I don't think I will ever quite get over that. In my mind, she was the quintessential loving grandma, and one thing she loved best was baking. Everyone remembers her cakes, cookies, pies, biscuits, and breads. I want her legacy as a baker to live on, and so I am sharing this recipe with you so that others can enjoy it.

People love the cookies that come out of this recipe because they are light, fluffy, and soft. The butter cream frosting is the perfect consistency for spreading. It tastes like a sweet explosion, but it's never too sweet. These sugar cookies topped with this frosting is the perfect combination.

Now, I took these pictures of the winter holiays, so don't be thrown off by the candy cane and star shapes - this recipe is perfect all year round. We made bunnies and egg for Easter, pumpkins and black cats for halloween, and you can do circles or what ever you like, any time of year.

So, please enjoy this recipe, and if you share it, print it, or write it down - mark them down as Grandma Peggy's cookies :)

Grandma Peggy's Sugar Cookies and Butter Cream Frosting

2 sticks butter – softened
¼ c. milk
2 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla
3 eggs
2 cups sugar
4 cups flour


1. Mix butter and sugar.

2. Add eggs and vanilla, followed by milk. Add dry ingredients - we sometimes use a little less than 4 cups of flour, because when you are rolling out the dough, you use flour which adds to the dough. If there is too much flour it can make them very dry.

3. Stir until smooth. Refrigerate dough for at least 1 hour before rolling and cutting cookies. For fluffier cookies, refrigerate dough overnight.

4. Remove dough from refrigerator, and roll out onto floured surface. Remember not to roll the dough out too thin unless you like them thin and crispy.


Bake at 350 degrees for 9-11 minutes depending on your oven and what you are cooking them on.

Let cool before frosting.

Butter Cream Frosting
1 stick butter softened
¼ tsp. salt
Up to 4 tablespoons of milk – start with 2 and go from there
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Powdered sugar- continue to add until the right consistency for frosting

So you've noticed that I did not put an amount for the powdered sugar. The amount of powdered sugar you will use depends entirely on the desired consistency of the frosting. Mix together your softened butter, salt, 2 tablespoons of milk, and vanilla.

Start with 1/2 cup of powdered sugar, and stir in. In 1/4 cup increments, add more powdered sugar and stir, until it's as thick or thin as you like. If you find that you have added too much sugar and it's too stiff, then add another tablespoon of milk, up to four tablespoons total.


When you are happy with the consistency, separate your frosting into however many colors of frosting you will be using. Once separated, add in you food coloring.

After frosting cookies, leave them in the open air so the frosting can harden just a bit.


We also separate each layer of cookies with waxed paper so they don’t stick together, and add a slice of bread inside of the container, which keeps the cookies moist while the bread dries out.

These cookies also freeze and thaw really well - we've made them up to a month in advance of eating them and kept them fresh by freezing. They'll also store well in an air-tight container for over a week - if you don't eat them all first :)