Watermelon Sugar Cookies
With a buttery sugar cookie dough made from scratch, these watermelon sugar cookies will become a party staple! Perfect for summer, watermelon cookies brighten up any
Skip the store-bought cookies and whip these watermelon sugar cookies up instead, the rich, buttery flavor is worth the time.
These summery cookies are cute, festive, and a great recipe to start with if you’re a beginner in the kitchen. The design isn’t too difficult to pipe on and everyone loves the bright colors.
Use these watermelon cookies for summer parties, and barbeques or as a cute
What You Need to Make This Recipe
Since these watermelon sugar cookies are made entirely from scratch, you really only need some pantry staples for them to come together.
For the sugar cookie base:
- Sugar
- Unsalted butter
- Eggs
- Vanilla
- Flour
For the icing
- Sugar
- Meringue powder
- Vanilla
- Water
- Corn Syrup
- Pink and green food coloring
The seeds are made from mini chocolate chips though you could use sprinkles instead.
Fun Variations
These summer cookies are pretty basic; however, you can change them up a bit if you want to try your hand at a new flavor or color:
Orange: Make them into orange slices by piping on orange icing with white piping along the outside.
Extracts: Add in lemon extract, orange extract, or a hint of coconut to the sugar cookie itself for a bit of a fresh taste.
Tools You Need
You’ll need basic cookie-making staples like a rolling pin and a round cookie cutter. You’ll need 3 piping bags and a small round tip for each bag. You can also just cut the tip off your piping bag to make a the right sized hole.
Tips To Make the Best Watermelon Sugar Cookies
Use gel food coloring the vibrant colors work really well in frosting without diluting it. Adjust the color of your frosting as per your color preferences by adding more or less food coloring.
Though cute and delicious, the summer cookies don’t taste like watermelon. If you want to add an extra watermelon kick, substitute watermelon flavoring for the
Do not stack the cookies unless they have been sitting for over 24 hours. This is how long it takes them to fully set, and during this time they can be on a cooling rack or baking sheet at room temperature. Stacking them before 24 hours will cause them to sitck to each other.
Other Cookie Recipes We Love
Cookies are a staple in this house, and our summertime favorites are listed below!
Can I leave sugar cookies out overnight to dry?
Yes. These sugar cookies need a minimum of 24 hours to set before they can be stacked or packaged. Let them sit overnight to dry and then you can package them up.
How To Store Watermelon Cookies
Once the cookies are decorated and have had time to set, they need to be stored in an airtight container. Like this, they will stay delicious for up to a week. This means that these watermelon sugar cookies are a great recipe to make in advance and save yourself from rushing around before a party.
Likewise, you can freeze the cookies for up to 3 months. Store them in a freezer-safe container instead of a plastic baggie so that they don’t get crushed.
Watermelon Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
For the cookies
- 1 c sugar
- 1 c unsalted butter softened
- 2 eggs
- 1 t vanilla
- 1 tsp salt if using salted butter, you can leave this out
- 3 c flour
For the icing
- 4 c sugar divided
- 2 T meringue powder
- 2 t vanilla divided*
- ½-¾ c water divided
- 2 T corn syrup
To decorate
- Pink and green food coloring
- Mini Chocolate Chips
Instructions
- preheat the oven to 350 degrees
- line your baking sheets with parchment and set aside
- in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the sugar and butter, cream until smooth
- add in the vanilla and egg, mix well
- stir the salt and flour together and then mix it into the butter mixture
- mix until the dough balls together and pulls away from the sides of the bowl
- Using a lightly floured work surface, roll the cookie dough out until it’s about ½ – ⅝ of an inch thick
- cut out 18 3-inch circles, you can gather and reroll the dough once to make enough circles
- cut each circle in half
- carefully transfer your cut out shapes to the parchment lined baking sheets
- bake in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes. Watch closely – over baking will cause hard cookies. Cookies are done when the edges are set and the center is no longer shiny.
- Allow to cool before decorating.
- For the soft-bite icing – In the bowl of the stand mixer, combine the 2 c powdered sugar, meringue powder and 1 t vanilla. Using the paddle attachment, mix on low speed for about 30 seconds
- add in 3 teaspoons worth of water as the mixer is going. Allow to mix until combined. Increase the speed to medium for another 2-3 minutes. The icing will be very stiff. Transfer to another bowl and cover with a damp paper towel.
- using the same mixing bowl, combine the other 2 cups of powdered sugar, corn syrup, 2 tablespoons of water and the other teaspoon of vanilla. Mix on low speed until combined with the whisk attachment
- combine the two icing mixtures into one bowl and whisk until smooth
- Use this method to test for proper thickness of the soft bite royal icing: Using a spatula, scoop a bit of icing up and allow it to drop back into the bowl. if it incorporates back into the icing by the count of 15 it is just about perfect
- if your mixture is very thick—add in a little additional water if needed to thin the mixture.
- if your mixture seems to thin—a too thin of icing will need a bit more powdered sugar and too thick of icing will need another dash of water
- transfer the icing to three separate bowls and tint one bowl pink, one green and keep one white.
- transfer the icing to piping bags
- when ready to decorate, snip a tiny bit off the tip of the piping bag. You can always cut the hole bigger if the icing is not flowing as quickly as you’d like.
- start with the green icing and pipe a thick border around the curved side of the cookies.
- follow up with a thin line of white icing.
- then fill the remaining semi-circle pink. Immediately after piping the pink, use a toothpick to help settle the icing, if needed. Set the individual mini chocolate chips before the icing begins to crust.
- Cookies will need about 24 hours for the icing to set before they can be stacked. During this time, they can be on a cooling rack or baking sheet at room temp. Once decorated and set, they need to be stored in an airtight container for up to a week or frozen for 3 months.
