American Flag Sugar Cookies
These American Flag Sugar Cookies are soft, buttery, and decorated with red, white, and blue vanilla buttercream. Perfect for Fourth of July parties, summer cookouts, and patriotic celebrations, they have a bakery-style look while being surprisingly easy to make at home.
Equipment
- Wilton Star (1M) tip
- Rectangle cookie cutter
Ingredients
Sugar Cookies
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp almond extract optional
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
Vanilla Buttercream
- 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter softened
- 6 cups powdered sugar
- 3 tbsp heavy cream
- 3 tsp vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
Decoration
- red gel food coloring
- blue gel food coloring
- white star sprinkles
Instructions
Make the Cookies
- In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 to 4 minutes.
- Add the egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract (if using). Mix until fully incorporated.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing on low speed just until combined.
- Divide the dough into two discs. Wrap tightly and refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Roll dough to approximately ¼-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface.
- Cut into rectangles approximately 3 x 4 inches or use a rectangular cookie cutter
- Transfer cookies to prepared baking sheets.
- Bake for 9 to 11 minutes, or until the edges are just beginning to turn lightly golden.
- Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Make the Buttercream
- Beat butter for 2-3 minutes until light and creamy.
- Gradually add powdered sugar.
- Add heavy cream, vanilla extract, and salt. Beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
- Divide frosting evenly into three bowls.
- Tint one bowl red, one bowl blue, and leave one bowl white.
Decorate
- Transfer each frosting color to piping bags fitted with a Wilton 1M piping tip (or another large open star tip).
- Pipe blue dollops in the upper left corner of each cookie to create the stars section.
- Immediately top the blue frosting with white star sprinkles before it crusts over.
- Pipe alternating rows of red and white buttercream dollops across the remaining cookie surface until completely covered.
- Allow the buttercream to set for 30-60 minutes before stacking or serving.
Notes
Decorating Tip: I used a Wilton 1M piping tip for these cookies. If you don't have one, any large open star piping tip will create a similar bakery-style look.
Nutrition
Serving: 1cookieCalories: 515.9kcalCarbohydrates: 67.21gProtein: 2.8gFat: 26.95gSaturated Fat: 16.88gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1.13gMonounsaturated Fat: 6.96gTrans Fat: 1.03gCholesterol: 79.7mgSodium: 97.2mgPotassium: 38.5mgFiber: 0.56gSugar: 50.52gVitamin A: 837.83IUVitamin C: 0.02mgCalcium: 27.45mgIron: 1.07mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
