Bourbon Buttercream Sugar Cookies
These Bourbon Buttercream Sugar Cookies are so delicious! A sweet sugar cookie recipe comes together with rich bourbon buttercream frosting to create a delicious treat that’s loaded with sweet flavors.
These delicious sugar cookies are one of our favorite cookie recipes to make. They’re great for an after-dinner dessert, afternoon snack, or as an addition to any potluck or party. We’ve made tons of cookies over the years, and this is one that always finds itself in our rotation. We make it more than even we thought we would!
Bourbon Buttercream Sugar Cookies
What’s better than sugar cookies? Frosted sugar cookies. And what’s better than frosted sugar cookies? Sugar cookies that have a bit of a boozy flavor! These cookies are absolutely fantastic, let us tell you.
First, we start with a simple sugar cookie recipe to which we’ve added a bit of bourbon. That’s where the foundation of these great flavors begins. Then, we make a rich, sweet, bourbon-infused buttercream frosting. Finally, we put them together, serving the cookies in one of two ways. We either frost them and serve them as a cookie with a frosted top, or we sandwich the frosting between two sugar cookies. Either way, it’s absolutely fantastic.
Bourbon Buttercream
Bourbon buttercream is what makes these cookies extra special. Yes you can make these with plain buttercream (just omit the bourbon) but you won’t get that extra deliciousness you deserve!! Believe me give the bourbon a shot! You won’t regret it. Either way you will love these sugar cookies with buttercream filling. You just can’t go wrong with this cookie!
Ingredients
This recipe only uses basic baking ingredients. Both the sugar cookie and buttercream frosting recipes are straightforward, with only bourbon being an additional ingredient to those classic recipes.
For the Sugar Cookies
- Unsalted butter, softened
- Powdered sugar
- Egg
- Bourbon, optional
- Vanilla extract
- All purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Cinnamon
- Nutmeg
For the Bourbon Buttercream
- Unsalted butter, softened
- Powdered sugar
- Whole milk
- Vanilla extract
- Borubon
- Salt
**See the recipe card at the end of the post for quantities.
Instructions
Making these cookies is incredibly easy. It only takes a few steps, and you’ll have some of the tastiest cookies you’ve ever made.
Step 1: Prep
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees, line two large baking sheets with parchment paper, and set out your butter to soften. Measure out all of your ingredients.
Step 2: Combine the Wet Cookie Ingredients
In a large bowl, beat the softened butter, egg, powdered sugar, bourbon, and vanilla on medium speed until they become fluffy.
Step 3: Combine the Dry Cookie Ingredients
In another bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
Step 4: Make the Cookie Dough
Sift one cup of the dry ingredients at a time into the wet ingredients while mixing the wet ingredients until all of the dry ingredients have been incorporated and a ball of dough has formed.
Step 5: Bake the Cookies
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll it out to 1/4 – 1/2-inch thickness using a floured rolling pin. (¼ inch thickness will yield a crispier cookie, while ½ inch thickness will be much softer). Cut out the cookies and place them on the prepared baking sheets, leaving about an inch of space around each cookie.
Finally, bake on the middle rack of the oven for 9 – 12 minutes or until the edges begin to turn golden brown. Cool the cookies completely.
Step 6: Make the Bourbon Buttercream Frosting
Cream together the softened butter, milk, vanilla, and bourbon on medium-high speed until smooth and fluffy. Then, add the powdered sugar and salt mixture about a half cup at a time, beating for 2 – 3 minutes until the frosting is light and fluffy.
Step 7: Put the Cookies Together
Using a piping bag and a large, open star piping tip, frost each cookie. You can also frost half of the cookies and make cookie sandwiches.
Hint: When frosting for sandwich cookies, only frost from the center to about halfway to the edge of the cookies. When you press the top cookie down, the frosting will spread.
Storage
These cookies will keep for about a week in the refrigerator. You must refrigerate them because of the buttercream frosting. We don’t recommend freezing them.
Tips
Even recipes as simple as this one have little tips to help you make them even better or make your life easier. The following tips are simple but important, so give them a read.
Fully Softened Butter: Always fully soften your butter for the best texture in your baked goods and frostings.
Start Your Mixer on Low: To avoid a massive mess, always begin mixing at low speed when adding the flour to the cookie mixture and the powdered sugar to the frosting.
Cut out any shape: These cookies hold their shape extremely well, so go ahead and cut out any shape you like! During Christmas cut out your favorite shape. Same for Valentine, Easter ect.
When in doubt, sift it out: If your icing sugar is clumpy, it would be a good idea to take the extra couple of minutes to sift out the clumps.
Extra bourbon taste: Feel free to swap out the vanilla in the buttercream frosting for another tablespoon of bourbon if you’re looking for a stronger bourbon taste! (We do this often!)
More Sugar Cookie Recipes
If you love sugar cookies, then we have some recipes that we think you’ll really enjoy.
PIN IT!!
FAQ
If you have questions about these bourbon buttercream sugar cookies, then we have answers. The following FAQ answers all the most common questions about sugar cookies and buttercream frosting.
How long are these cookies good?
Because they’re frosted with buttercream, they’ll only keep for about a week in the refrigerator in a tightly covered container, and they must be refrigerated.
Can I freeze these cookies?
We don’t recommend freezing these cookies.
Why are my sugar cookies crumbly?
They’re too dry. This usually happens if you accidentally measure out too much flour.
Why are my butter cookies greasy?
If you let your butter get too warm, as in starting to melt, it will make your cookies feel greasy and spread too much.
Why is my buttercream not smooth?
You might have used too much sugar in the recipe.
Why is my buttercream runny?
You might have added too much butter.
Try These Bourbon Buttercream Sugar Cookies
These bourbon buttercream sugar cookies are absolutely delicious, and they’re always a hit at any party or simply as a dessert after dinner. With a delicious kick of bourbon flavor in both the cookies and the frosting, and a recipe that is so simple even newbies can make it, this recipe is begging to be made. Give it a try, and we know you’ll love it as much as we do.
MORE RECIPES YOU WILL LOVE:
Birthday Cake Sugar Cookies
Triple Chocolate Cookies
Copycat DoubleTree Chocolate Chip Cookies
Butter Pecan Snowball Cookies
Giant Chocolate Chip Cookies
Bourbon Buttercream Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
For the Cookies:
- 1 cup Butter (unsalted) softened
- 1 ½ cups Powdered Sugar
- 1 large Egg
- 1 teaspoon Bourbon
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 3 – 3 ¼ cups All-Purpose Flour
- 2 teaspoons Baking Powder
- 1/4 teaspoon Cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg
For the Frosting:
- 1 cup Butter (unsalted) softened
- 4 1/2 cups Powdered Sugar
- ¼ cup Whole Milk
- 1 tablespoon Vanilla Extract
- 1 tablespoon Bourbon
- 1/8 teaspoon Salt
Instructions
Directions for Sugar Cookies
- Preheat the oven to bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl or in the bowl of your stand mixer beat the softened butter, egg, powdered sugar, bourbon, and vanilla on medium speed. Beat until ingredients come together and start to become fluffy.
- Sift in the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg one cup at a time. Make sure if you are using a mixture to start on low to avoid getting flour everywhere. Mix until all the flour has been absorbed and a ball of dough has formed.
- Turn the cookie dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll it out with a large, floured rolling pin. Roll the dough to approximately ¼ – ½ inch thickness. Cut out desired shapes and place onto the lined baking sheet leaving roughly an inch of space around each cookie.
- Place into the preheated oven onto the middle rack and bake for 9-12 minutes or until edges of the cookies start to turn golden brown. Allow cookies to cool completely on a cooling rack before attempting to ice them.
Directions for Bourbon Buttercream:
- In the bowl of a stand mixer using the whisk attachment, cream the softened room temperature butter with the milk, vanilla, and bourbon. Cream on medium-high speed until the mixture becomes smooth and fluffy.
- Begin adding in the powdered sugar and salt, half (1/2) a cup at a time, making sure to start the mixer at a low speed each time you add in more sugar. Continue beating for 2-3 minutes until the frosting has become light and fluffy.
- Spoon the frosting into a large piping bag and pipe onto the cooled cookies using a large, open star piping tip.
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 7 days.
