Decorated Basketball Cookies
These Decorated Basketball Cookies feature buttery, tender sugar cookies topped with vibrant orange icing and classic black basketball lines. Perfect for birthdays, team celebrations, and game-day parties, they deliver bakery-style looks with simple, approachable techniques.
Equipment
- mixing bowls
- hand or stand mixer
- Rolling Pin
- round cookie cutter
- baking sheets
Ingredients
- 226 g unsalted butter, softened
- 200 g granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 360 g all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 0.5 tsp salt
- 300 g orange royal icing or buttercream
- 40 g black royal icing or decorating gel
Instructions
- Cream softened butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
- Add the egg and vanilla extract, mixing until smooth and fully incorporated.
- Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl, then gradually mix into the dough until just combined.
- Wrap dough tightly and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Roll dough to 1/4-inch thickness and cut into circles.
- Place cookies on parchment-lined baking sheets and bake for 10–12 minutes until edges are lightly golden.
- Cool cookies completely on a wire rack before decorating.
- Cover each cookie with orange icing and let set until dry.
- Pipe black basketball lines over the set icing and allow to dry fully before serving.
Notes
Chill the dough well to maintain clean cookie shapes. Allow icing layers to dry completely before adding details for the sharpest basketball design. Cookies can be baked ahead and decorated closer to serving.