marbled sugar cookies

last updated on October 29, 2026

For the next day of my 12 days of holiday cookies we are making marbled sugar cookies! These sugar cookies are soft and perfect for holiday shapes, and are finished off with a beautiful and easy marbled icing.

This recipe is a modified version of the sugar cookies my grandma made all growing up. She would frost hers with buttercream frosting and ALWAYS had a stash of them in her freezer. Plus she would always add almond extract which gave them such a distinct taste. You can leave the almond extract out if you want, but I think it works perfectly in these!

ingredients needed

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marbled sugar cookies

[category] Dessert

[published] December 7, 2023

[PREP] 30 minutes mins

[COOK] 15 minutes mins

[TOTAL] 45 minutes mins

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Ingredients

sugar cookies

• 1/2 cup butter softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup buttermilk at room temp (or 1/2 cup milk + 1 tsp of vinegar)
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp almond extract optional
• 3 – 3 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt

marbled icing

• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tbsp milk
• a few drops of food coloring

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 325F. Add the softened butter and sugar to a bowl. Use a stand mixer or hand mixer to mix until the butter and sugar are fully incorporated and fluffier.
2. Add the egg, buttermilk, vanilla extract, and almond extract (optional). Make sure the buttermilk is room temp so the butter doesn't become cold and lumpy. Mix until fully combined.
3. Add 3 cups of flour, the baking soda, and salt. Mix until just combined. If the dough is still very sticky, add small additions of flour until the dough is no longer sticky. The dough should be very soft and easy to work with.
4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough about 1/4" thick. Use whatever cookie cutters you'd like to cut out the dough. Once there is not space left to cut out, gather all the leftover dough and re-roll it out, repeating the process until all the dough is used.
5. Transfer the cut out dough to a parchment lined baking sheet. Transfer to the oven and bake for 8-11 minutes, until the cookies are just set in the middle.
6. When the cookies cooled, make the icing. Add the powdered sugar and milk to a bowl and whisk until smooth. If the icing is a little runny, add extra powdered sugar. If it is too thick, add more milk.
7. Add some of the icing to a small plate. If using gel food coloring, put a few little dots of food coloring on top of the icing. If using liquid food coloring, put one drop in the middle. Drag a toothpick or something similar gently through the food coloring, swirling it through the icing. Don't go overboard here.
8. If you would like to do multiple colors, add more icing to a separate plate (I don't recommend adding multiple colors to the same plate — after a couple cookies the food coloring will blend too much) and add a different food coloring, then swirl it with a toothpick.
9. Carefully dip a cookie in the icing, letting the excess drip off. The icing should look beautiful and marbled! Transfer the cookie to a cooling rack to let any excess icing drip off. Repeat with the remaining cookies. Let the icing set up for 10-15 minutes, then it should be mostly dry. Enjoy!