Frosted Turtle Sugar Cookies
These adorable frosted turtle sugar cookies are easy and fun to make! Here's how.
Ingredients
- ¾ cup Crisco butter flavor shortening
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2½ cups flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
Frosting
- 2 cups confectioner's sugar sifted
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1-2 tbsp water
- green food coloring
Instructions
- Beat shortening, sugar, eggs, and vanilla until well mixed and slightly fluffy.
- Add flour, baking powder, and salt; mix well.
- Chill for at least 3 hours.
- Preheat oven to 400°. On a lightly floured pastry cloth, roll out dough fairly thin and cut with a turtle cookie cutter. Place cut cookies on ungreased cookie sheets, and bake for 5-8 minutes. If you prefer thicker sugar cookies, roll them thicker and bake for slightly longer than that.
- Leave on pan for a minute or two, then move cookies to a cooling rack. Cool completely.
- For frosting: Combine sifted confectioner's sugar and vanilla. Split into two bowls, with about 1½ cups of sugar in one and the other ½ cup in the other. Add enough water to create desired consistency in each. For the larger amount, make slightly thinner, with just enough give to easily spread. For the smaller dish, make fairly thick, since this will be for creating eyes and piping designs if desired. Add enough green food coloring to each to make the shades you want. Cut the tip of a sandwich bag and put thicker frosting inside.
- Put down plenty of waxed paper on table or counter. Using a knife or frosting spatula, coat the "shell" area of each with a light coat of frosting from the larger bowl. You can also flood the cookies (like I tried to do in the picture above) by piping the thicker frosting around the edge and spreading thinner frosting in the center. Using the thicker frosting in the sandwich bag, pipe eyes onto each. Keep all frosted turtles in a single layer until dry. Enjoy!
Notes
*These recipes were adapted from Betty Crocker's New Picture Cookbook, First Edition, McGraw Hill 1961. The cookie recipe was adapted from "Ethel's Sugar Cookies" on page 199, and the frosting is a combination of "Easy Creamy Icing" and "Easy Creamy Decorating Icing" on page 202.