Half the fun of game day is the food, and you’re sure to score points with these adorable homemade football cookies. Soft, buttery, and flavored with a touch of vanilla, they’re topped with reader-favorite sweet royal icing. Serve them during the football game festivities and watch them disappear before you can call foul!
If Super Bowl Sunday is any indication, football snacking is at an all-time high. And sometimes you need a little something sweet after all those snacks. Enter football sugar cookies! I used my classic sugar cookies recipe for these cute football-shaped treats. The dough is similar to a traditional sugar cookie that you roll out and cut into shapes. So, whether you’re gearing up for college football, the NFL playoffs, or the Super Bowl, this fun cookie is sure to become a new fan favorite.
Tell Me About these Football Cookies
- Texture: If you roll the dough out thick enough, the baked cookies are soft and thick with perfectly crisp edges.
- Flavor: These sugar cookies are irresistibly buttery and sweet with hints of vanilla and almond.
- Ease: It’s easy to make with the right tools (see Decorating Tools below).
- Time: I recommend setting aside an afternoon for making and decorating these cookies. The dough requires at least 1-2 hours to chill before baking, and you’ll need to leave time for cooling, making the icing, and then decorating. All told, it’s almost 5 hours from start to finish. There are make-ahead options below, too, including freezing the cookies (see Note).
Order is Important
Order is important when you’re making these football cookies. Each layer of this cookie is divided into steps. Complete each step before moving on to the next one for the best-tasting (and best-looking!) cookie.
Decorating Tools
Decorating sugar cookies with royal icing is one of my favorite creative outlets. I’ve always struggled with making beautifully piped confections, but the more I do it, the better I get. Here are some low-stress tools that make decorating easier and more fun. Gotta show up to practice, right? 😉
- Football cookie cutter – I always use and trust Ann Clark cookie cutters.
- Brown food coloring – You can buy it separately or get the whole Americolor gel food coloring kit I love (brown is included). I used 3 drops for the football shade of brown.
- Wilton piping tip #5 or Wilton piping tip #4 – this is for the brown icing
- Wilton piping tip #2 or Wilton piping tip #3 – this is for the white laces/lines.
Even though I’m not switching tips/colors, I typically use couplers for my piping bags to help prevent icing from seeping through the tip of the bag.
(Beginner’s note: The purpose of a coupler is to allow you to easily switch icing tips. It keeps the tip on the outside of the bag instead of on the inside of the bag.)
Choose Your Favorite Icing: Royal or Easy Glaze
You have two icing options for these football cookies. Both are delicious, so choose whichever works best for you. My secret ingredient for royal icing is meringue powder. No raw eggs required!
1. Royal Icing.. It’s my personal favorite for icing sugar cookies.. Here are a few other reasons you will love this recipe:
- Meringue powder. Traditional royal icing recipes use raw egg whites, but I prefer meringue powder. It results in the same consistency and dries on the cookies within 1-2 hours. You can find meringue powder in most baking aisles, craft stores, or online.
- Softer is better. Royal icing can harden into a cement-like texture, but my recipe is on the softer side and still sets perfectly on the cookie.
- Versatility. This icing is easy to work with, especially on cookie-cutter sugar cookies like this recipe. Add a few drops of gel food coloring if you want to mix up the colors. I use a variety of different colors to make these fun Valentine’s Day cookies and Halloween cookies!
2. Easy Glaze Icing. Another option is my easy cookie icing. This cookie icing is simpler than royal icing because you don’t need an electric mixer or the perfect icing consistency for success here. It’s thinner than royal icing, though, so it won’t have the sharp detail you get with royal icing decorations. It also takes a good 24 hours to dry.
Football Cookies Recipe
Ingredients You’ll Need
Instructions
- Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- In a large bowl using a handheld or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on high speed until completely smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the egg, vanilla, and almond extract (if using) and beat on high speed until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl and beat again as needed to combine.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low until combined. Dough will be a bit soft. If the dough seems too soft and sticky for rolling, add 1 more Tablespoon of flour.
- Divide the dough into 2 equal parts. Place each portion onto a piece of lightly floured parchment paper or a lightly floured silicone baking mat. With a lightly floured rolling pin, roll the dough out to about 1/4-inch thickness. Use more flour if the dough seems too sticky. The rolled-out dough can be any shape, as long as it is evenly 1/4-inch thick.
- Lightly dust one of the rolled-out doughs with flour. Place a piece of parchment on top. (This prevents sticking.) Place the 2nd rolled-out dough on top. Cover with plastic wrap or aluminum foil, then refrigerate for at least 1-2 hours and up to 2 days.
- Once chilled, preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line 2-3 large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Carefully remove the top dough piece from the refrigerator.. Using a football cookie cutter, cut the dough into shapes. Re-roll the remaining dough and continue cutting until all is used. Repeat with 2nd piece of dough. (Note: It doesn’t seem like a lot of dough, but you get a lot of cookies from the dough scraps you re-roll.)
- Arrange cookies on baking sheets 3 inches apart. Bake for 11-12 minutes or until lightly browned around the edges. If your oven has hot spots, rotate the baking sheet halfway through bake time. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before decorating.
- Prepare Royal Icing. Spoon 1/2 cup of the prepared icing into a separate bowl. This icing will remain white. (You won’t use the white icing for a couple hours after the base icing sets, so place a damp paper towel directly on the surface of it. This prevents it from hardening.) Tint the rest of the icing brown. I used 3 drops to get this shade of brown. Spoon or pour the brown icing into a piping bag (disposable or reusable) fitted with Wilton piping tip #5 or piping tip #4. Decorate cookies with brown icing by piping a border around the edges and then filling it. Let the icing-covered cookies mostly set uncovered for about 2-3 hours before adding the white laces.
- Spoon or pour the white icing into a piping bag (disposable or reusable) fitted with piping tip #2 or piping tip #3. Pipe the white laces/lines on top. If desired, sprinkle white icing with coarse sprinkles. Icing completely sets in 2-3 hours.
- Enjoy cookies right away or wait until the icing sets to serve them. Once the icing has set, these cookies are great for gifting or for sending.
- Decorated or plain cookies stay fresh covered at room temperature for 5 days or in the refrigerator for up to 10 days.
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