Easy Easter Cross Cookies (& Gift Idea)
Are you looking for something easy and fun to do with your kids to celebrate Easter? How about some simple cross cookies? This is a fun baking idea for kids as well as a yummy treat for Easter Sunday or to share as a gift for your neighbors and teachers!
A Super Easy Easter Treat
I need to say right off the bat: this post is more of a proof of concept than an instructional post.
I feel like most people know the basics of cookie cutter sugar cookies. Today, I just want to share a few ways my sons and I decorated Easter cross cookies.
The big idea here is that we wanted a fun, Christ-centered Easter activity as well as a small Easter gift that we could share with others to demonstrate the true meaning of Easter.
At the end of the post, you can download a sticker that you can use on the cookies if you want to give them as gifts or even sell individually at an Easter bake sale!
So, let me share what we did.
Sugar Cookie Crosses How-To
This post contains affiliate links. See Disclosures for details.
Cookie Cutters
First, you’ll need the cookie cutters. I got mine at Hobby Lobby. You can also grab them here on Amazon if you need to!
Sugar Cookie Recipe
For the cookies, I used good ole’ Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix. If you’re a purist and want to bake from scratch, you can try this recipe – it has a ton of 5-star reviews and great comments (it actually convinced me to try it next time!).
Sugar Cookie Tips
For the cookies, I have a few basic tips and hacks that have worked for us.
First, do the best you can to make sure the dough is 1/4 inch thick – which is really tough for me personally to judge! I’ve never used a ruler, but maybe I should, lol.
If the dough too thin, the cookies end up being a little hard and crisp.
To fix, I just covered mine with icing to hide the crispier edges.
You can also store them in a container with a piece of bread for a day or 2 – that usually will soften overdone cookies and keep the other ones soft, too!
However, when the dough was about 1/4″ thick (I think???), the cookies expanded a little too much and lost some of their shape.
To fix that, you can just trim them with a knife to clean up the shape of a cross (a perk of such a linear cookie cutter!). You can see that clean, knifed edge in the picture below.
Cross Cookie Decorating Ideas
To decorate, you just need your basic decorating supplies:
Writing icing (small tubes)
As for decorating, here are a few ideas we did:
M&Ms
This is super-simple. We just added M&Ms vertically and horizontally on the cross. This is a good option if you have a really little one and you don’t want to deal with the mess of icing.
We added the M&Ms after they came out of the oven. If they aren’t sinking into the cookie, you can put a little bit of icing on the back of the M&M to help it stick.
Sprinkles
Another very simple decorating idea! Just ice the cookies with frosting and add some spring sprinkles.
Icing and M&M’s
Ice the cookies first, then add M&Ms. This adds a little sweetness and can camouflage any ‘dry’ areas.
Flower
You can create a flower with writing icing and an M&M in the center of the cross.
Lettering
I’m a little hesitant with this one because I feel like it’s easier to mess things up. It’s not a very large area to write, so there isn’t a big margin for error.
However, if you have a steady hand (or you aren’t a perfectionist🤣), this is another fun way to decorate.
We wrote ‘Jesus’ on one cookie and ‘Risen’ on another.
***Tip: Use the smaller tubes of writing icing if you’re doing letters. And try to cut the opening as close to the top as possible, so the hole is as narrow as possible.
I’m sure there are more ways to decorate, but I think I maxed out my sons’ attention.
Here’s the whole group of them together, which I think turned out pretty cute.
Packaging Cross Cookies
If you want to give these as gifts to neighbors or teachers or bring them in as a treat for an Easter class party or Sunday School party – or even sell at an Easter bake sale, I’ve got ideas for that, too!
To that end, we used these cute, dotted self-sealing cookie wrappers and added a free printable Christian Easter label (you can grab it at the end of the post!).
Below, you can see the cookies packaged and set in a basket, along with other Christian Easter treats – Oreo pops – that can also be sold at a bake sale or given as gifts!
So even if your cookies aren’t perfect, the packaging can level it up a bit. And honestly, most people are gracious enough to be thankful for a gift from a child.
Free Easter Printable Tags
If you’d like to grab the tags to make these a sweet Easter gift idea, just fill out the box below! Hang on a few seconds after you submit, and you’ll immediately be redirected to the download!
You can use these printables as tags or as sticker labels (compatible with Avery 2″ circle labels).
Other Christian Easter Ideas
If you’re looking for more Christ-centered ways to celebrate Easter around your home, take a look that these posts you might find helpful.
25 Meaningful Christian Easter Crafts & Activities for Kids
20 DIY Christ-Centered Easter Decorations
18 Christian Easter Treats for a Christ-Centered Celebration
If you try any of these ideas, I’d love to see them! Tag me on Instagram @100affections or leave a photo comment on Pinterest!
Other thoughts? I’d love to hear them! Leave a comment below!
And if you enjoyed this post, I’d be so grateful if you pinned or shared. Thank you!
