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Cookies are so easy to bring to a picnic in summer that they make the ideal 4th of July treats. No mess, no melting. A simple icing on a sugar cookie and sprinkle of powdered freeze-dried berries gives you that traditional color palette making them the perfect treat–4th of July Fireworks Cookies.

I may just be boring. But I like vanilla ice cream. And I loooove a good sugar cookie recipe. Last year I used our vegan sugar cookie recipe to make the most adorable Pinwheel Cookies. Do you remember these!? So cute. You could easily make them with this year’s regular ‘ole sugar cookie recipe too. Or you could substitute the vegan sugar cookie dough for these “fireworks” cookies. Either recipe, either shape, they’re pretty darn adorable and fun.

This sugar cookie recipe is sure to become your run of the mill, old faithful. It barely spreads or rises when you bake them which makes it perfect for shapes. There’s no chilling the dough. Roll them, cut them out, put them on the baking sheet, and bake. But here’s the deal, you always slightly under bake these suckers and then let them sit for a bit on the cookie sheet. They should look pale colored when you take them out of the oven. No longer glossy or “wet” looking, only slightly puffed but NOT golden brown in any way. Every oven is different so the time is approximate, know yours and watch them.

INGREDIENTS

1 C Salted Butter, room temperature

3/4 C Granulated Sugar

2 tsp Vanilla Bean Paste (extract works as well)

1 Egg

3 C Flour (I used 1 C white whole wheat, 2 C All-Purpose)

2 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Salt

1 C Powdered Sugar

Handful of freeze dried berries (blueberries for the blue and strawberries/raspberries for the red)

2 Tbsp water

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Add parchment paper or silpat to a baking sheet. In a small bowl, combine flours, baking powder and salt.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together with a hand held mixer or Kitchen Aid Mixer until creamy, a full 2-3 minutes. It should change texture and color, to almost a light creamy yellow. Scrape down the bowl as needed.

Add egg and vanilla bean paste. Beat just until combine. Slowly add flour also mixing just until combine. It should have the texture of playdough and easily pinch together. Add a little flour or water to get to that consistency if needed.

Turn out onto a floured surface and knead into a ball. Roll to about 1/2″ thick. I used a 2″ biscuit cutter to make my rounds. Place on lined cookie sheet and bake for 8-11 minutes. Remember you’re looking for pale cookie, no longer shiny on the tops and only slightly puffed. Take them out and let them sit on the baking sheet for at least 10 minutes.

Fully cool them. Mix the powdered sugar and water together, adding the water until you have a loose frosting, almost the consistency of honey. Using a spoon, place a dollop of frosting, spread it around the cookie with the back of the spoon and then take a freeze-dried berry and crumbled it in your fingers sprinkling it onto the wet frosting.

Don’t precrumble the berries as the dust will pick up any humidity in the air and you won’t be left with dust, rather a soggy mess. It’s also best to use a freshly opened bag. My kiddos love these as a snack so we always have opened bags. I had to open a new one though to get that fresh, crunchy berry to crumble to dust.

A pretty and easy treat to bring to an outdoor picnic or set on a table for a festive look. And after such a long quarantine season we could all use some celebrations and treats. Captured every so beautifully too by Ruthie of Ruth Eileen Photography. Happy almost 4th of July.