These fall cookies are as festive as they are delicious. A sweet, simple sugar cookie dough is baked to perfection. Then, it’s topped with fall-colored buttercream frosting and themed sprinkles to create a sweet fall treat that’s perfect for desserts or parties.
When the leaves change and the winds get chilly, I dive headfirst into delicious fall desserts! It’s my favorite time of year for sweet treats, and one of my favorite kinds of fall treats to make is cookies.
Whether I’m keeping a batch on hand for visitors, serving a weeknight dessert, or need something sweet for a party, cookies are always one of my top choices. They’re easy to make and easy to add all kinds of festive decorations to.
You’ll find that here, with these easy, delicious fall cookies. I combined a sweet sugar cookie dough with fiery, fall-colored buttercream frosting and festive sprinkles to create autumnal cookies that are perfect for any occasion.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Basic Ingredients: Both the cookie dough and buttercream frosting are made with simple, basic baking ingredients found in any grocery store.
- So Easy: Just mix, bake, cool, and frost. That’s all there is to this one!
- Soft and Tender: The cookie dough is made with sour cream and vegetable oil for an extra soft and tender texture that’s like biting into a cloud!
- Sweet Flavor: Like any good sugar cookie, these are so sweet and buttery, and the buttercream frosting adds even more sweet flavor.
- Festive: The frosting colors and sprinkles create a festive look of fall leaves on each cookie.
- Customizable: You can easily change up this recipe to suit any holiday.
- Versatile: These are perfect for a weeknight dessert, afternoon snack, or fun addition to any potluck or holiday gathering.
Ingredients
See the recipe card at the end of the post for a full list of ingredients and their exact amounts.
Variations
- Holidays: Change the frosting colors and sprinkles to create delicious Easter sugar cookies, Halloween sugar cookies, or Christmas sugar cookies.
- Special Events: You can adjust the colors to create variations for special events like birthday parties or themed parties.
- Sour Cream: Full-fat Greek yogurt can be used in place of sour cream for the same flavor and texture.
How to Make These Fall Cookies
- Whisk the dry ingredients in a medium bowl and set aside.
- Beat the butter, oil, and sour cream until combined. Then, mix in the remaining wet ingredients.
- Mix the dry and wet ingredients on low speed until the dough forms a ball.
- Use a 2-inch cookie scoop to play dough balls onto a prepared baking sheet or sheets.
- Spray the bottom of a glass with nonstick spray and lightly press down each cookie. Then, bake until the edges are set and the centers are still soft.
- Let the cookies cool on the sheet(s) for 5 minutes. Then, transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Mix the frosting ingredients until smooth and creamy. Then, add your choice of food coloring or separate the frosting into batches of a few different colors.
- Frost the cooled cookies and top with festive fall sprinkles. Enjoy!
Tips
- Mix your dough just enough to allow it to form a ball. Overmixing will make the cookies dense and tough.
- Bring your sour cream and butter to room temperature before mixing the dough for better emulsification and a more tender cookie.
- Your cookies will NOT look done when it’s time to remove them. That’s okay! The edges should be set when you remove them from the oven, but the centers should still be soft. The heat from your baking sheets will finish the cookies to perfection.
- FULLY COOL your cookies before frosting them. Otherwise, the heat – even from a slightly warm cookie – will cause the frosting to thin and slide off the cookies.
Fall Cookies FAQ
These cookies start with a sugar cookie dough with an infusion of almond flavor. Then, they’re topped with buttercream frosting that’s colored with fall hues. Finally, their sprinkles imitate the look of fallen leaves, making these cookies excellent for fall.
If you use too much flour, your cookies will be dry. To avoid using too much flour, loosely spoon it into your measuring cup, rather than using your measuring cup to scoop it out directly.
You can go the simple route of using a knife or spatula to easily frost your cookies. You can also be a bit fancier and use a piping bag with your tip of choice for a look that’s a bit prettier but still easy.
More Delicious Cookies to Enjoy
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Fall Cookies
Ingredients
Cookie Dough
- 4 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ cup butter softened
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1½ cups sugar
- 1 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
Buttercream Frosting
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- ½ cup butter
- 3 tablespoon milk
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- Fall colors of gel food coloring: red yellow, brown, orange, optional
- Festive sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350° and lightly grease a baking sheet(s).
Cookie Dough
- In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder and salt together. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, beat butter, oil, and sour cream together on medium speed.
- Add sugar, vanilla and almond extract. Beat until smooth.
- Add dry ingredients into wet ingredients and mix on low speed just until dough forms a ball.
- Using a 2-inch cookie scoop, place dough balls on the prepared baking sheets.
- Spray the bottom of a glass with non-stick cooking spray and gently press each cookie to flatten them a bit.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes.
- Remove cookies from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes and then remove and place on a wire rack to cool completely.
Buttercream Frosting
- In a medium mixing bowl, cream butter, milk and vanilla together. Gradually add powdered sugar and beat until smooth and creamy.
- Add food coloring until desired consistency is obtained.
- Frost cookies once they have completely cooled, and sprinkle with candy sprinkles.
Notes
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
- Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to a week.
- Mix your dough just enough to allow it to form a ball. Overmixing will make the cookies dense and tough.
- Bring your sour cream and butter to room temperature before mixing the dough for better emulsification and a more tender cookie.
- Your cookies will NOT look done when it’s time to remove them. That’s okay! The edges should be set when you remove them from the oven, but the centers should still be soft. The heat from your baking sheets will finish the cookies to perfection.
- FULLY COOL your cookies before frosting them. Otherwise, the heat – even from a slightly warm cookie – will cause the frosting to thin and slide off the cookies.
Nutrition
These cookies are so festive and add a lovely pop of color the holiday table. Sugar cookies are a staple when it comes to holiday dessert. Great recipe!
I baked a batch last night and the mix of spices made the whole kitchen smell like autumn. Soft in the middle with crisp edges—just perfect!
These cookies are pure autumn joy! It’s soft, buttery, and dressed up in the prettiest fall colors. This will be perfect for sharing at our family events this fall.
These are as adorable as they are delicious. We loved the flavor, and I adored how cute they are.
These are absolutely perfect for the season. The butter cookie flavor and texture are on point, and the decorations are so cute!
I love these cookies so much! The texture is perfect, and the frosting and sprinkles make me feel like I’m looking at a fall forest.