Colorful and fun, this easy Rainbow Unicorn Cookies recipe should be considered sugar cookie magic that you can make with your children! ✨
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Rainbow Unicorn Cookies Recipe
I can’t help but think of tie-dye when I see these Rainbow Unicorn Cookies, what do you think? I love all things tie-dye (total hippie chick here 🙋🏻♀️), rainbows, unicorns, and more. Combine ’em all, and you’ve got these WONDERFULLY delicious and colorful Rainbow Unicorn Cookies from the heavens! (Okay so maybe not the heavens but they’re adorable AF, aren’t they?)
We decided to experiment a bit one day with this layering marbled technique and I am sooooo glad we did! 😍 This was such a fun experiment and I hope to replicate again and again with different colors and ideas! Maybe themed cookies, like Christmas? Easter? July 4th? Heck yeah!
Plus, I can’t even begin to geek out over how these look so much like the ever-popular Unicorn Poop trend LOL Wouldn’t these be a perfect addition to a unicorn party of some sort? Unicorn birthday parties just got cooler, y’all! 🦄
Where Can I Find The Actual Recipe Card?
If you’d rather skip all of my preparation tips, important information for this recipe, and similar recipe ideas – and get straight to the easy Rainbow Unicorn Cookies recipe, just scroll down to the bottom, where you’ll find a printable recipe card.
Can You Make These Rainbow Unicorn Cookies Ahead of Time?
Absolutely! These from-scratch sugar cookies require a little refrigeration before being made to chill the dough out before baking. You can totally make the cookie dough ahead of time and keep it refrigerated until you plan or need to make them, if you’d like!
Equipment Needed to Make Rainbow Unicorn Cookies
To make these Rainbow Unicorn Cookies, you will need the following:
- Large bowl
- Sifter
- Wooden spoon
- Plastic wrap
- Baking Sheets
- Parchment paper or silicone baking mats
- Wilton decorating mat
- Rolling pin
- Wire cooling rack
Ingredients Needed to Make Rainbow Unicorn Cookies
To make these Rainbow Unicorn Cookies from scratch, you’ll need to assemble the following ingredients:
- Granulated sugar
- Softened butter sticks
- Large eggs
- Milk
- Vanilla extract
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Red gel food coloring
- Yellow gel food coloring
- Blue gel food coloring
- Purple gel food coloring
Keep in mind, all of the ingredient amounts you’ll need are in the printable recipe card below.
How to Make Rainbow Unicorn Cookies
In a large bowl, cream together butter, sugar, eggs, milk, and vanilla extract.
In another smaller bowl, using a sifter, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Slowly add dry ingredients into wet ingredients. Mix well until the cookie dough forms.
Divide cookie dough in 4 equal parts. Tint each cookie dough part with each of the gel food colors (red, yellow, blue, and purple) and knead together until the color is well-blended. In the end you should have one red ball of cookie dough, one yellow, one blue, and one purple.
Wrap each colored cookie dough in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. Remove cookie dough from fridge and line your baking sheets with parchment paper or using silicone baking mats, set aside.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Using a rolling pin, roll out the red cookie dough on a decorating mat until it’s about ¼ of an inch thick. Set aside. Roll the yellow dough until it’s ¼ of an inch thick and the same size as the red dough. Set on top of the red dough.
Repeat for the blue dough, followed by the purple dough. Once each color is rolled out, roll-up all of the layered cookie dough colors into the shape of a cylinder. Using a sharp knife, cut slices from the cookie dough cylinder, about ½ an inch thick.
Place each sliced cookie on your already lined baking sheet. Bake for 7-10 minutes. Allow to cool on a wire cooling rack for 5-10 minutes before serving. Serve and enjoy!
How Can You Store These Rainbow Unicorn Cookies?
In our household, we’ll usually cover our cookie plate with plastic wrap to keep them fresh, or we’ll place them in a gallon storage bag. (Forewarning: cookies can get somewhat beat up with kids storing them in the storage bag fyi lol). For freshness’ sake, the best way to keep them fresh is sealed in a reliable storage container or sealing cookie jar!
Related Unicorn and Rainbow Recipes!
If you love this Rainbow Unicorn Cookies recipe, check out the following unicorn recipes, unicorn crafts, rainbow recipes, and rainbow crafts below! 🦄🌈
- Unicorn Pancakes Recipe
- Rainbow Cupcakes recipe
- Unicorn Cookies recipe
- Rainbow Cookies recipe
- Unicorn Cereal Treats recipe
- Rainbow Macrame Charm craft
- Unicorn Bark Recipe
- Cereal Rainbow Craft
- Unicorn Smoothie Bowl recipe
Be on the lookout for a new Unicorn Cupcakes recipe coming soon, too!
Get the Printable Recipe for Rainbow Unicorn Cookies
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Rainbow Unicorn Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 sticks butter softened
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tbsps milk
- 4 tsps vanilla extract
- 6 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- Pinch salt
- Red gel food coloring
- Yellow gel food coloring
- Blue gel food coloring
- Purple gel food coloring
Instructions
- In a large bowl, cream together butter, sugar, eggs, milk, and vanilla extract.
- In another smaller bowl, using a sifter, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Slowly add dry ingredients into wet ingredients.
- Mix well until the cookie dough forms.
- Divide cookie dough in 4 equal parts.
- Tint each cookie dough part with each of the gel food colors (red, yellow, blue, and purple) and knead together until the color is well-blended. In the end you should have one red ball of cookie dough, one yellow, one blue, and one purple.
- Wrap each colored cookie dough in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
- Remove cookie dough from fridge and line your baking sheets with parchment paper or using silicone baking mats, set aside.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Using a rolling pin, roll out the red cookie dough on a decorating mat until it’s about ¼ of an inch thick. Set aside.
- Roll the yellow dough until it’s ¼ of an inch thick and the same size as the red dough. Set on top of the red dough.
- Repeat for the blue dough, followed by the purple dough.
- Once each color is rolled out, roll-up all of the layered cookie dough colors into the shape of a cylinder.
- Using a sharp knife, cut slices from the cookie dough cylinder, about ½ an inch thick.
- Place each sliced cookie on your already lined baking sheet.
- Bake for 7-10 minutes.
- Allow to cool on a wire cooling rack for 5-10 minutes before serving
- Serve and enjoy these!
This mixture was impossible to roll out, it just crumbled and what didn’t stick to my rolling mat and I couldn’t get it off. What did I do wrong? Even colouring it was a mission. Spent an hour in the fridge
Oh no, I’m SO sorry that happened to you, sweetheart! And thank you for letting me know what happened! I’m here to help!!! 🙂
While I’m not 100% sure what happened to you specifically when you tried out our recipe, what I *am* sure about is that I can help offer you tips/tricks to consider for your next baking adventure!!! 🙂 When you attempt this (or other dough) again, I hope you can keep these tips/tricks in mind for next time! 🙂
Typically, when dry/crumbly dough occurs, it can be attributed to one (or more) of five different reasons, three of which can be attributed to measuring errors:
1. When too little little fat/oil is added
2. When not enough liquid is added, and
3. When too many dry ingredients are added.
Any one of those above could cause dry crumbly dough. I’m wondering if maybe that could’ve been the culprit? Additionally, there are also two more reasons why this dryness could’ve also occurred. These two additional reasons are overmixing, and drying out in the fridge. Overmixing occurs when stirring the mixture causes the gluten in the flour to over-develop. Gluten occurs as soon as mixing begins, so the more you mix, the more gluten is produced which can cause for a hard, dry dough. The other is being left in the fridge for too long, which I do not believe to be the culprit considering you said you had issues coloring it, which makes me think it may have been overmixing or a measuring error of some sort?
I hope this helps you, sweetie! Let me know if you have anymore questions!!