Cotton Candy Cookies (Printable Version)
Soft pastel cookies with cotton candy flavor and swirled pink and blue colors for festive occasions.
# What You'll Need:
→ Dry Ingredients
01 - 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
02 - 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
03 - 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
04 - 1/4 teaspoon salt
→ Wet Ingredients
05 - 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
06 - 1 cup granulated sugar
07 - 1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
08 - 1 large egg
09 - 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
10 - 1 teaspoon cotton candy flavoring (or to taste)
→ Color & Finish
11 - Pink and blue gel food coloring
12 - 1/4 cup colored sprinkles (optional)
# Directions:
01 - Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
02 - In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until evenly combined.
03 - In a large bowl, beat the softened butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar using an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
04 - Beat in the egg, vanilla extract, and cotton candy flavoring until the mixture is smooth and well combined.
05 - Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, mixing on low speed until just combined. Do not overmix.
06 - Divide the dough evenly into two bowls. Add pink gel food coloring to one bowl and blue to the other, folding gently until soft pastel shades are achieved.
07 - Pinch off a small piece of dough from each colored batch and gently press them together to form a swirled ball. Place on the prepared baking sheet, spacing each ball about 2 inches apart. Optionally, roll each dough ball in sprinkles before placing on the sheet.
08 - Bake for 9-11 minutes, until the edges are just set and the centers still look slightly underbaked. Remove from the oven.
09 - Let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely before serving or storing.
# Expert Tips:
01 -
- The cotton candy flavoring gives these cookies an almost magical sweetness that kids and adults both find impossible to resist.
- Splitting the dough into pink and blue halves creates a gorgeous marbled look with almost zero extra effort.
02 -
- Overmixing the pink and blue dough together will give you purple cookies instead of a pretty marbled swirl, so a light hand is everything.
- Gel food coloring is nonnegotiable because liquid coloring alters the dough consistency and produces dull, washed out hues.
03 -
- Chill the colored dough for fifteen minutes before shaping if your kitchen is warm, because firm dough holds the swirl pattern much better during baking.
- Dust your hands with a tiny bit of flour between every few cookies to prevent the dough from sticking and muddying the color separation.