Nothing says happiness and fun more than rainbow-themed treats, and these eye-popping cookies are a prime example: Whether you’re celebrating your birthday or planning a Pride party, these treats will bring smiles to your table.
Slice-and-bake cookies are the easiest (and speediest!) sweet treats to make. Be sure to use a large non-serrated chef’s knife for the cleanest slices. The dough keeps well in the freezer for up to two months, so you can make it ahead of time for convenience. Gel food color will achieve the greatest color intensity, so avoid using liquid or natural food colors with this recipe.
Rainbow Cookies
Yields about 6 dozen cookies
- 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2/3 cup confectioners’ sugar
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 pound plus 4 tablespoons (2½ sticks) butter, cut into pieces and kept very cold
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon each color gel food coloring: red, orange, yellow, green, violet
Combine 2 cups of the flour with the baking powder, salt and sugars in a food processor; pulse briefly to mix. Add the cold butter in pieces; process with short bursts until the mixture has a crumbly consistency. Add the vanilla extract and process several times in 5-second pulses until a dough ball forms.
Divide the dough into 6 equal portions.
Add one portion of dough to the bowl of a stand mixer (with paddle attachment) and tint with the red food color. Add 2 tablespoons of flour and mix to combine. The dough should not be sticky and resemble the consistency of soft play-doh. Add more flour if needed. Repeat process with remaining dough pieces, food color and flour.
Roll the violet portion of dough under your palms into an even baton shape, about 10-inches long.
Roll the blue portion into a 10-inch long piece and roll flat to 1/4-inch thickness. Trim one edge straight lengthwise.
Gently place the violet dough on top of the blue dough and roll it up jelly roll style in a single layer. Trim away excess blue dough.
Repeat the process using the remaining dough. Starting from the center, the colors should be in this order: violet, blue, green, yellow, orange, red.
While rolling the dough, the red portion (which will be on the outside of the roll) may want to tear. Pinch tears together as they happen and keep rolling. It’s okay if a few tears remain – it doesn’t have to be perfect.
Wrap the finished cookie dough roll in parchment paper and refrigerate until firm enough to slice, about 3 hours. (Tip: I often skip refrigeration and opt for a short chill in the freezer; the cookies slice more cleanly when slightly frozen.)
Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Slice the dough into ¼ inch thick cookies with a non-serrated knife.
Next, cut each cookie in half so that you have two rainbows.
Bake cookies on parchment lined baking sheets for 12 to 15 minutes.
When done, cookies should be slightly puffed and no longer be shiny on top. Store the cookies in an airtight container.
All photographs by Heather Baird; polka-dot spoon from Sucre Shop.
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107 comments
Melanie Bikowski from MelBikowskiart said 4 years ago
Oh my gosh. These are amazing. I am so doing this for a party
Mary Jo and Rachael from SouvenirAndSalvage said 4 years ago
We always thought making cookies like this would be quite a daunting task, but you've broken it down into quite easy to follow steps! Love this idea, rainbows rule. It would be great to incorporate it into a retro 60's/70's themed party too.
Jeannie from heartfeltwhimsy said 4 years ago
Very pretty! Thanks.
Wendy McDonagh-Valentine from CrickleberryCottage said 4 years ago
These are fantastic!! Great for a child's birthday party as well!! Thanks for sharing!! : )
Waad Almujalli from Paperames said 4 years ago
This is too adorable! :D
Jessica Dennison from VIRGOecojewelry said 4 years ago
These are so pretty <3
Shulamit Raanan from ShuliDesigns said 4 years ago
Very pretty! Love it!! Thank you!
LivingVintage from LivingVintage said 4 years ago
Awesome idea Thanks.
Yesenia Montero from Jmcdesignsforfun said 4 years ago
these are so cute
Adriana Soto from AdrianaSoto said 4 years ago
Presh!
Cheryl from PinkLemonadeDuxbury said 4 years ago
Could these be any cuter?! Thank you for sharing . . such a bright and fun summer snack!
Madeleine Keller from ThoseGoodVibrations said 4 years ago
I appreciate Etsy's nod to Pride!!! Thanks for sharing, this is a cute idea :)
NeatoKeen from NeatoKeen said 4 years ago
So cool! It's like edible Fimo dough. Thanks for this great idea!
Soap Sista Peters from CHEROKEEWEAH said 4 years ago
Very Cute!
Yulia Felt from FeltArtBoutique said 4 years ago
Very tasty!
Georgia from JewelMeShop said 4 years ago
Great Idea! Thank you!
aressa from OriginalBridalHanger said 4 years ago
They are adorable! Thanks for sharing!!
TropicalGarden from TropicalGarden said 4 years ago
Amazing idea! Thank you for sharing:)
JOANNA from BUSTANI said 4 years ago
Very pretty! Love it!!
Megan from MegansMenagerie said 4 years ago
These are great!
ClassicMemories from ClassicMemories said 4 years ago
Fantastic. Looks so yummy.
Nirja Desai from HandmadeKalaa said 4 years ago
Gotta try these!
Wendy Silver from BejeweledbyWendy said 4 years ago
Look forward to making and eating these in future. So pretty and fun! Thanks for sharing!
June from isewcute said 4 years ago
Love the cookie tutorial! My kids would love those edible rainbows!
Teerasak Borkam from TribalAndHarem said 4 years ago
color full!!!
Snazzy Living from Snazzyliving said 4 years ago
Thanks for sharing. Looks lovely.
Cristy Ramos from ArtisanBathandBody said 4 years ago
Deliciously beautiful! Thank you, Heather ♥
Jafeth Moiane from handicraftafrica said 4 years ago
Amazing. Congrats!
Michele from MichelesAManoDesigns said 4 years ago
Growing up, my parents owned an Italian Deli. Every Friday, my dad and I would drive in his (wonderfully smelling) Station Wagon to pick up bread and pastries from the Bronx in NYC. These remind me so much of those "rainbow cookies" from my past. Those were rectangles and had chocolate on the top and bottom. Needless to say, thank you for rekindling the memory...I can almost smell all those wonderful aromas all over again...Yes, we had the coolest Station Wagon in town...it smelled good enough to eat!
brent0000 from Thevintageitch said 4 years ago
These look so good and they are made with real butter......yaaaassss!
Kashuen Collectibles from Kashuen said 4 years ago
It is such a good idea. My kids would love to make them. Perfect for birthday party too. Thanks for sharing.
Merri McAllister from ShoreItUp said 4 years ago
Yum! Cant say no to rainbow cookies!
Liene from SilkArtbyLiene said 4 years ago
Wow so cool I need to make it for my friends ?
Cathy from msbijouxbeads said 4 years ago
Fun! Thanks for sharing
Tiffany Brown from ReikiRisingArts said 4 years ago
Love them! Thank you for sharing!
Lauren O. from littlehouseofcolors said 4 years ago
So clever! Thanks for sharing...I'm now thinking rainbow- and unicorn-themed party for one of my daughters' next b-days!
Jill Farley from jillsgems1 said 4 years ago
The Lord made the rainbow as a covenant with Noah that he would never flood the earth again. I love rainbows. However, I cannot wear any rainbow jewelry, shirts or anything anymore without people thinking I'm gay. The rainbow has been twisted from the covenant to LGBT. How sad I am that I can wear rainbows no more.
EvilRed from EvilRed said 4 years ago
I have tried this recipe twice now, getting ready for pride this weekend in SF. And i found it very hard, the second time i pulsed it more in the mixer, but it still proved to be hard when rolling out and trying to roll. do you have any pointers? Did you divide to dough more? it just seems to be falling apart, and not the thickness at all that you have to get the desired effect.
Olesya Bagriy from BelkaUA said 4 years ago
Great idea! Thank you!
Renata Sponn Design from Sponndesign said 4 years ago
Beautiful! Love it?
mj gm from artprintscanada said 4 years ago
Kids will love these, thanks.
Nandita Albright from ContemporaryArtDaily said 4 years ago
MMMmmmmm, I love the idea of changing up the cookie into something so fun! And it is so intuitive to make the rainbows this way, I'm going to try it tonight.
Wild Soap from WildSoapCompany said 4 years ago
once a year that much dye should be ok hahahaa
Nancy Waldorf said 4 years ago
I just finished making these....and boy, were they a bear! There is not nearly enough dough to make each piece larger and larger. I followed the directions to a "t". I ended up making another batch of dough and again making the green, yellow orange and red just to have enough to wrap around the blue and purple. They took 2 hours to make. Then there is the baking. They turned out okay. But, far too much work for what you get.
Niki from CaramelAppleBooks said 4 years ago
So cute!
Pathumwadee Pathumwan from Hippiegardenshop said 4 years ago
Wow lovely!
Joanna Alley from GlassGoddessNgraving said 4 years ago
I bet these would be great with edible glitter. :)
p51sally said 4 years ago
Very clever idea and they look terrific. :-). I would think though that outer dough colors would need to have more dough than the next inner layer to keep the color width even? Looking forward to trying this out!
hannah rose argenta from HannahRosesBoutique said 4 years ago
love
Kitty Henson said 4 years ago
Talk about swallowing your pride! For real though, these look super cool, but I'd surely mess them up
Nicole from KarmaCodeOne said 4 years ago
Ahhh :) These are the sweetest best looking cookies ever !
Carol from MasCollected said 4 years ago
Sweet! Gladness for a recipe to celebrate Pride Day events.
5erg from 5erg said 4 years ago
Very cool! It's always a bit of a mystery how the colors are so clear *-*
Arianna Featherstone from HerbNLiving said 4 years ago
absolutely amazing!!
Hajira Gibb from HajiraKG said 4 years ago
Great idea. Thanks for sharing
Samantha Foran said 4 years ago
Just finished them last night. It came together pretty quickly and was fun, although the dough was a little softer than I expected. I kept the colors in the refrigerator and pulled them out one at a time. They also needed some coaxing with a bench scraper to add each layer onto the roll. As I was layering the colors, I kept thinking, "There's no way I put this together right." But, as I sliced them, I was shocked how nice they looked, so I was really happy! Thank you for the recipe, I really enjoyed making these! <3
Casey Virata from LuckiiArts said 4 years ago
LOVE them!!! Such a great post for Pride!!!! <3 Love Wins!
Mandie D. from LifestyleBusiness said 4 years ago
They look amazing!! I can't wait to try them
eileen citarrella from CitiRella said 4 years ago
love it! Thank you
Scarlett Compton from scarlettlovesya said 4 years ago
Wow!! Looks simple enough that I could make them! And they are small enough to have with tea & share with others! Thanks for the easy how-to with all the great photos! YUM!
Lydia R from LydiaRedovnikovic said 4 years ago
show you PRIDE !!!!! This is sooo great , can't wait for my cup to arrive
Cutie Expressions from CutieExpressions said 4 years ago
Love it! thanks for sharing :)
Riley Bedolla from MadHatteressandOther said 4 years ago
This is AWESOME! San Jose Pride is going to be so much more fun with these to share with my friends!
Jen Frisch from TimetheftEmpire said 4 years ago
I thought these were marshmallows at first but cookies are even better!
Tahir Ismail from Barismil said 4 years ago
wow! I really the colors looks great
allwood1 from AllWoodToo said 4 years ago
Love these! Wonderful colors...Thanks for sharing...
Jennifer Boaro from TheCatBall said 4 years ago
Your food colorings certainly are high quality, as your colors look fantastic! I am not ambitious enough to make these charming cookies, but I would nibble on them with pride!
Nikki from MyNeverlandDream said 4 years ago
What a GREAT idea! I can't wait to give this a try. Rainbows always make me happy.
BC Levitt from TheGraphicMonster said 4 years ago
Very cute...I want to make these :)
elana from elana216 said 4 years ago
Just made these for a 4th of July party. They turned out super cute and delicious. It took almost 2 hours to make the dough and rainbow. I portioned out the dough to make the red the biggest and the purple the smallest, however, the purple was still too much. I had a hard time getting the purple to look like purple- mine turned out almost black. But they still look great and I can't wait to share them!
Kurt Laxamana from EnteryourshopnByKurt said 4 years ago
BEST
Anna Heinle from LaBelezza said 4 years ago
Omg! I lovew it!!! It's a great idea!
Becky from rnaabDesigns said 4 years ago
So cute! Long process, but the end result is awesome!
Katie from InTheMaking said 4 years ago
Adorable!
ewarren88 said 4 years ago
I just have to say, I made these and they look great, but the taste left me desiring something three times as sweet. I carefully followed the recipe and added the correct measurements of sugar so I'm not sure if it was a mistake I made or if this recipe needs tweaked. Came out tasting more like a biscotti than it does a sugar cookie. Would probably be good with a cup of coffee or milk, but just not as sweet as regular sugar cookies. Maybe add more sugar? Good idea though!
Miss B from HeyThatsMyJam said 4 years ago
Love these!
Katarzyna from KatyHandMadeArtShop said 4 years ago
Love it!! Thank you!
Poop Pants said 3 years ago
Can I use premade sugar cookie dough? I'm in a bit of a rush and I need to know ASAP.
Sujata from TreasuredMemoryLane said 2 years ago
Looks delicious! Thank for sharing the recipe!
accentonvintage from accentonvintage said 2 years ago
Very nice ! A good looking cookie!
bluewine studio from bluewinestudio said 2 years ago
Great idea! so cute! I think I will bake this cookie for my friend's birthday.
Mar from PlanetMarsVintage said 2 years ago
These cookies are beautiful! I want to make some for our next get-together — thank you!
Nicole from KarmaCodeOne said 2 years ago
So cute. What a friendly snack idea. Thanks for sharing the how to ~!~
Ekaterina from BeautifulDayPrint said 2 years ago
These Rainbow Cookies are delicious!This idea is great!
Olga Kaplina from KnitteditemsbyOlga said 2 years ago
Awesome idea.Thanks for sharing!!
renee and gerardo from GTDesigns said 2 years ago
Sweet!!!! Very cool recipe and step by step!!! Perfect for any celebration!! TFS!
Kashuen Collectibles from Kashuen said 2 years ago
These cookies are so cute. Perfect for tea party. Thanks for sharing.
Julia K Walton from JuliaKWalton said 2 years ago
Those look adorable! And best wishes to everyone taking part in Pride celebrations 🌈
Ольга from SweetFeltToysCrafts said 2 years ago
Wow!!! Very appetizing and delicious. And I want to make and eat this yummy!
Oonah from unatuna said 2 years ago
Wow those are possibly the brightest cookies I have ever seen! I would love to also do some variations with them
Dana from HitsKnits said 2 years ago
Super!!!!!!!!!!
Anna from FairyToysWorld said 2 years ago
Wow! So bright! I like this idea, children will be happy to do rainbow cookies. Thanks for sharing)
GGsDesigns from GGsDesigns said 2 years ago
I must try these soon! With 16 grand kids and so far 12 great grands this will be awesome!
Serena from MillennialLaneDesign said 2 years ago
Thank you! These are amazing
Rocket Jack from RocketJackDesign said 2 years ago
Such a neat idea!!
Jaclyn from Moozega said 2 years ago
These look great!
Brooke Pratt from SucreShop said 2 years ago
Love the cookies! Would be cool if you credited my Etsy shop, since it's my polka dot spoon in this post too!
Svetlana Shovkoplias from FlowerStyleUa said 2 years ago
Fantastic! Love it!! Thank you!
D Buczek from sutaszula said 2 years ago
So pretty! Great Idea!
Olesya from FeltToysByLesovinka said 2 years ago
Rainbow cookies?!;) wow, so good idea!)👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Angela Perdue said 2 years ago
Very pretty❤❤❤🎊🎊
SimplyCuteArt posh from SimplyCuteArt said 2 years ago
Amazing designs! Love them all!!
adoreneko from AdoreNeko said 2 years ago
Just wanted to say vegan butter works well here and this is the simplest rainbow cookies recipe ever. I have tried making rainbow cookies from another recipe and it was a lot more difficult. Thanks so much!
IOANNA GEORGIADOU from SosaniArtCrochet said 2 years ago
Love it!
Marina Kumetchko from MarinaToysStore said 2 years ago
Looks uncomplicated. Be sure to try! Thank/
branda Moreno from branda said 324 days ago
Lovely!!!
Akesha said 4 days ago
These are a spin on refrigerator cookies.... you can make red white and brown pinwheel cookies with this same recipe if you add powdered cocoa to one section of dough.