Our speckled robin egg sugar cookies are easy to make and so pretty for spring and Easter! Frosted in buttercream and speckled with Oreo cookie crumbs. Makes 32-36 speckled sugar cookies. This post contains an affiliate link.
You might also like our Peeps sugar cookies, our Easter basket sugar cookies or our soft sugar cookies with marshmallow frosting.
Watch our step by step video!
It’s no secret that sugar cookies are my favorite cookie. It’s also no secret that I’m not a fan of using royal icing for anything except assembling pop tart houses, so if you’re looking for fancy cookies that take all day to make—I apologize. That’s not what I make. I’m team buttercream in taste, convenience, and style. I like to think of buttercream sugar cookies as “homestyle” sugar cookies. They are beautiful, but still have a homemade look to them.
My robin egg cookies are SO easy to make. No frosting tips are necessary, simply spread the beautiful frosting over each egg-shaped cookie!
BEST SUGAR COOKIE DOUGH AND FROSTING
You’ll need a batch of my sugar cookie dough and a batch of vanilla buttercream (recipes are at the end of the post). The buttercream frosting will set up enough (after an hour or so) to allow you to stack the cookies 2 cookies tall for storage.
Speckled Robin Egg Frosting
Many times when you see a robin egg-speckled dessert it requires flicking chocolate or food coloring diluted with vodka over the finished product. Not these. Again, I’m a “homestyle” type of cookie baker. My speckled frosting is buttercream mixed with Oreo cookie crumbs. It’s super easy to make and a little goes a long way so you don’t need very many crushed cookies. You can use this technique to make beautiful robin egg speckled frosting for piping onto cupcakes or spreading over cakes, too.
Note: If you like the flavor of Whoppers and Robin Egg candy you can add a bit of powdered malted milk to the frosting.
Speckled Egg Sugar Cookies Supplies
- sugar cookie dough (recipe below)
- buttercream (recipe below)
- egg-shaped cookie cutter
- food coloring
- 3 Oreo cookies, filling removed and crushed
- offset spatula or butter knife
How to decorated Robin Egg Sugar Cookies
Roll out cookie dough, cut into shapes, and bake sugar cookies. Let cookies cool completely before frosting.
Beat frosting ingredients together.
Twist Oreo cookies to open, scrape out filling, and crush cookies into small crumbs.
Separate frosting into bowls. Tint frosting, using food coloring, and stir. 1-2 drops is usually enough to achieve the pastel shades.
Stir in a small amount of crushed cookie crumbs into each bowl. Start with 1/2 teaspoon and add more as necessary. A little goes a long way, and you won’t use all of the crumbs.
Spread speckled frosting over sugar cookies.
For best results store decorated sugar cookies in an airtight container at room temperature or chilled in the refrigerator.
You can also bake cookies ahead of time and freeze undecorated cookies in a freezer bag until ready to decorate!
Speckled Robin Egg Sugar Cookies Recipe
Speckled Robin Egg Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup salted butter softened
- 1/2 cup shortening
- 1 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 teaspoon almond extract
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 cup corn starch
- 4 cup all purpose flour
Frosting
- 1 cup butter softened
- 6 cups powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 6-8 Tablespoons milk
- 3 Oreo cookies filling scraped off, cookies crushed
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl combine butter, shortening, and sugar. Beat until fluffy with an electric hand mixer or stand mixer. Turn the mixer down and add egg, vanilla, and almond extract. Add baking powder. Sift in flour* and cornstarch and mix thoroughly.*Start with 3 1/2 cups of flour, and if the dough seems too soft add the last 1/2 cup of flour. If the dough seems too dry, add a tablespoon or two of water.
- Lightly flour your work surface and shape dough into a large ball.
- No refrigeration necessary.
- Press ball of dough into a disk shape and roll dough out to desired thickness using a rolling pin (I usually do 1/4-1/2") and cut into shapes. Add flour to dough if it feels too sticky but a nice soft dough is what you want. Carefully transfer cut out cookie shapes with a spatula to a baking sheet.
- Bake on baking sheets at 325 degrees for 9-10 minutes. Cookies will be soft. Let sit on baking sheet for 5 minutes before carefully moving to a wire rack. Cool completely before frosting.
Frosting
- Twist Oreo cookies to open. Scrape filling out with a butter knife. Discard filling and crush cookies into small crumbs.
- Beat frosting ingredients together. Add more/less milk until desired consistency is achieved. Divide frosting into bowls and tint with a couple of drops of food coloring.
- Stir in a small amount of cookie crumbs to each bowl of frosting. A little goes a long way. Start with 1/2 teaspoon and continue adding until you are happy with how your frosting looks.
Decorating
- Spread frosting over cooled sugar cookies.
Notes
- No salt is necessary in this recipe.
- You may have extra frosting leftover. We like making extra so that we can make as many colors as we'd like.
- If you don't care for almond extract you can omit it and use your favorite flavoring (lemon, coconut, etc.)
- Cookies can be made ahead and stored in the freezer until ready to decorate.
- Store frosted cookies in an airtight container (or cookie sheet covered with plastic wrap) at room temperature or in the refrigerator.
- Cookies can be stacked once the frosting has had a chance to set up. I wouldn't stack them more than 2 cookies tall.
Nutrition
Welcome! I'm Brandy, mother to 5 darling kiddos and a cute black lab named Toby. My husband is in the Coast Guard so we've lived all over the place, turning each house into a home. I love baking, sewing, making cute things with my kids, and sharing what I've learned with all of you!
These look amazing! What will I do with those darn Oreo middles??? 😀
Haha! I’ll leave that up to you. 😉
Does the recipe really call for a 1/2 cup of cornstarch?
Yes