Description
Delightful sugar cookie cups filled with creamy buttercream frosting, perfect for bite-sized treats. These sweet, buttery cookies are baked in mini muffin tins and shaped into cups to hold rich, colorful frosting topped with sprinkles—ideal for parties or any sweet craving.
Ingredients
Scale
Sugar Cookie Dough:
- 3/4 cup salted butter, softened
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract (optional)
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
Buttercream Frosting:
- 1/4 cup salted butter, softened
- 1 1/3 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon milk or heavy whipping cream
- Food coloring (optional)
- Sprinkles (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat and prepare pans: Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C) and grease 36 mini muffin cups thoroughly with cooking spray to prevent sticking.
- Mix cookie dough base: In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the softened butter and sugar until the mixture is light and well-combined, ensuring a smooth texture.
- Add wet ingredients: Incorporate the egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract (if using), mixing until all are fully blended into the dough.
- Add dry ingredients: Sprinkle in the baking powder and flour, then stir or mix gently until the dough forms a uniform consistency without overmixing.
- Shape dough in muffin tin: Scoop out the dough using rounded tablespoons (about 1-inch diameter), roll into balls, and place one ball into each greased mini muffin cup. Press the dough balls flat using your fingers—do not shape them into cups yet.
- Bake the cookie bases: Bake in the preheated oven for approximately 10 minutes or until the edges turn golden brown, indicating they are done.
- Form cookie cups: Right after baking, use a bottle cap (such as a vanilla extract bottle cap) to gently press into the center of each cookie to create a cup shape while the cookies are still warm.
- Cool cookie cups: Let the formed cookie cups cool in the muffin tin for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.
- Prepare frosting: In a clean bowl of a stand mixer, beat the softened butter until smooth and creamy, then add powdered sugar and vanilla extract, mixing well.
- Adjust frosting consistency: Add milk or heavy whipping cream and beat until smooth, adding an additional 1/2 to 1 tablespoon milk if needed to reach the desired piping consistency. Add food coloring if desired and mix evenly.
- Pipe frosting into cookie cups: Fill a piping bag or resealable plastic bag with the prepared frosting, then pipe the frosting into each cooled cookie cup evenly.
- Add sprinkles: Optionally, top each frosted cookie cup with sprinkles to add color and texture before serving.
Notes
- You can substitute homemade sugar cookie dough and frosting with store-bought versions and follow the same baking and assembling instructions.
- Pressing the cookie cups while warm helps achieve the perfect cup shape; wait for them to cool fully before adding frosting to prevent melting.
- Adjust the amount of milk in the frosting to achieve the ideal thickness for piping.
- Use mini muffin tins for the perfect bite-sized cookie cups.
- Store leftover cookie cups in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or refrigerate for up to a week.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie cup
- Calories: 120
- Sugar: 9g
- Sodium: 55mg
- Fat: 6g
- Saturated Fat: 3.5g
- Unsaturated Fat: 2g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 16g
- Fiber: 0.3g
- Protein: 1g
- Cholesterol: 20mg
