What comes to mind when you think of Easter? For me, it's Peeps and bunnies! Every year, as Easter approaches, stores fill up with Peeps and bunny-themed decorations. Peeps are so colorful, fun, and incredibly easy to eat—it's no wonder they've been around for so long! Inspired by these beloved marshmallow treats, these simple Peep cookies are the perfect Easter treat.
While these Peeps-inspired cookies require a bit of time to prepare, trust me, they're absolutely worth the effort! You can never have too much vanilla—the extra vanilla extract adds a sweet warmth to both the frosting and cookie dough. Bake up these buttery, sweet, and tender cookies for your party, and you'll be more popular than the Easter Bunny himself this year!
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Things You'll Need
Stand mixer or hand mixer
Rubber spatula
Parchment paper
Peeps bunny cookie cutter
3 resealable plastic bags to mix the colored sugar
3 dishes to hold the sugar, wide enough for dipping cookies flat
3 small bowls to mix frosting colors
4 piping bags
1 circle piping tip (optional)
For Cookie Dough1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
For Colored Sugar1 ½ cup granulated sugar (1/2 cup for each color)
Red, blue, and yellow food coloring
For Buttercream Frosting1 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
¼ semisweet chocolate chips (for the faces)
Step 1: Make the cookie dough
Cream the butter, sugar, and vanilla together, making sure to scrape down sides of bowl. Add in egg.
Step 2: Add dry ingredients
Add flour and salt to bowl. Mix on low until just incorporated. Form dough into disk and chill for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
Step 3: Roll out cookie dough
Roll out cookie dough between 2 pieces of parchment paper; remove paper. Use your bunny cookie cutter to cut out shapes. Bake at 350°F for 10 to 12 minutes.
Step 4: Make colored sugar
While cookies are baking and cooling, make the colored sugar. Fill each plastic bag with ½ cup of sugar.
Step 5: Add food coloring
Add 1 drop of food color to each bag (making red, yellow, and blue sugars) and shake until the coloring in the sugar is evenly distributed. Pour into the dishes you will be using for dipping the cookies.
Step 6: Make buttercream
Make the buttercream frosting. With your mixer, whip butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract together until fluffy.
Step 7: Add color to buttercream
Scoop out frosting into each mixing bowl and mix in food coloring.
Step 8: Fill your piping bag
Fill your piping bag with the frosting and pipe a bunny shape onto the cookie.
Step 9: Smooth out
Smooth out the frosting gently.
Step 10: Dip cookie into colored sugar
Dip cookie, frosting side down, into the bowl of matching colored sugar.
Step 11: Melt chocolate
Melt chocolate chips and fill a piping bag. Pipe on small dots for the bunny eyes and nose.
