This awesome girl turned 7 last week and I thought it would be a fun to do a week of birthday filled ideas. First up is this fun Unicorn themed party with my easy no-chill cut-out sugar cookies. Every little girl LOVES unicorns and would be super excited to invite a group of her friends to make and decorate unicorn cookies.
To make this party simple I used this fun box from Little Miss Party Planner. For some background, I used to make yummy treats for Seri’s Parties when I had my baking business in the city. I still love to follow her and her fabulous parties. When I saw her new Magical Unicorn Party In a Box I immediately wanted to check it out and knew Savanna and her friends would love it.
I did this party as a fun summer get together, but it would also be a cute small birthday party. The box came with a unicorn cookie cutter and I bought a second one. Additionally, I set out stars and hearts so every girl could be using a cookie cutter at the same time. I used the large plates for pizza and the small plates to decorate the cookies on. The girls took the cookies home as favors right on the small plates. There were enough napkins to send each girl home with a special unicorn napkin.
I used my easy no-chill cut-out sugar cookie recipe. You do not need a mixer, just a bowl, a whisk and a spatula 🙂
I separated the dough into 6 equal portions. You can eye ball it but I weighed them so each girl had the same amount.
As a tip, the girls found it easiest to flatten the dough with their hands and then roll it out.
Each girl had their own parchment placemat with their name on it.
I baked the cookies on these placemats as well so it was easy to differentiate everyone’s cookies.
While the cookies were baking the girls made these cute animal paper book marks to take home.
While we eat healthy most of the time, I do bake with real sugar and butter for special occasions. On the contrary, I do think food dyes are really bad for you and you should avoid them at all costs so I bought these great natural dyes for frostings and these fun starfetti sprinkles. I really liked the colors. They were a little different and lighter than your traditional dyes, but perfect for our unicorn cookie making.
Each girl had a set of small cups with their icing (I bought mine at target, but you can easily buy them on amazon) and plastic knives for spreading. I have tried a variety of methods for icing and have found this to be the most simple for a variety of ages. Tubes, bottles and bags can be difficult for them to squeeze.
Each girl was able to make 4 large cookies plus a small round one. I loved their creativity with decorating and how unique each plate was. They also consumed a lot of icing while decorating 🤪
With the holidays around the corner this is also a great recipe holiday cookies! If you are looking for a dairy free and gluten free version you can use the gluten free crust recipe from here!
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup granulated white sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp. pure vanilla
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 2 1/2 - 3 cups all-purpose flour It is usually 3 cups but I like to add the 3rd cup in slowly as you do not want crumbly dough!
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F.
- In a large bowl melt the butter and let cool for 1 minute
- Add in the sugar and whisk together
- Whisk in the egg, vanilla, baking powder and salt
- Fold in the flour with a spatula 1 cup at a time (I add in the last cup 1/2 of a cup at a time)
- Don't chill the dough
- Divide the dough into two balls (or more if using for a party) and roll out to about 1/4" thick on a piece of parchment paper (dust lightly with flour to prevent sticking)
- Cut out desired cookie shapes and place on a parchment lined cookie sheet (leave room for spreading)
- Gather the scraps into a ball and re-roll and cut out until all the dough is done
- Bake at 350F for 8-10 minutes
- Let cool before decorating & Have fun being creative - see notes for buttercream ingredients
Notes
- 2 sticks unsalted butter
- 5 cups powdered/confectionary /10x sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/4 cup milk
