A colorful twist on a classic cookie. Soft, malty and packed with vanilla – but make it rainbow.
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Back again with another colorful and tasty cookie. This recipe is my take on a classic vanilla sugar cookie – with a twist! If you’ve followed me for a while on Instagram now then you know I do adore colorful treats. There is just something about a colorful dessert that makes me smile a little wider as I enjoy each bite. I wanted to give this recipe a bit of a twist on flavor as well so keep reading to see what I added in on this one.
Cookie 411
Difficulty: on a scale of 1 to 10 (1 easy, 10 difficult), this I place as a 4 and that is only because I colored the dough 7 different colors. If you opt to color less or not at all then it will definitely get easier.
Flavor: this is a take on the classic vanilla sugar cookie – but as mentioned, with a slight twist. I added malted milk powder to boost the flavor of the vanilla but also give it a subtle flavor of a vanilla shake. Purely optional of course but highly recommend!
Shelf Life: these cookie freeze wonderfully well as long as you store them in a freezer safe ziplock bag or container. Store for up to 3 months in freezer, or in a ziplock bag at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Tips & Tricks
Show me some color: I created these in two colorful ways – rainbow dough stacked up against each other, and also rainbow marbled dough. The beauty of this is you can do what you feel is best for you – there is no wrong or right way to create these. If coloring the dough, I would first identify how many colors I will be using, and then evenly distribute the dough to match that number of colors. I recommend using food safe gloves to color the dough or else you’ll get food coloring on your hands. Color the dough, and then simply lay side by side in a bowl – or use a spatula to marble the dough as you see fit.
Stuffing: I did stuff some of the cookies with a golden Oreo – a definite option if you want to level up your cookie game! If you do decide to stuff with an Oreo, I recommend laying down 2 tbsp (instead of the 3 tbsp), pressing Oreo down into down, and then topping with another 2 tbsp of dough. The cookie will be fairly large and will require additional bake time (about extra 2 minutes or so), and I would only bake 3 or 4 instead of 6 to 8 as advised in the directions.
Tools For The Job
silicone baking mat
whisk
rubber spatula
Neon Lights
Yields: approx 10 cookies
Prep Time: 45 minutes
Chill Time: 12 hours or up to 24 hours
Bake Time: approx 12 minutes
Total Hands On Time: approx. 1 ½ hours
Ingredients
260 g (2 cups) all purpose flour
165 g (¾ cup) melted butter, unsalted
100 g (½ cup) sugar
43 g (¼ cup) light brown sugar, packed
1 large egg, room temperature
20 g (3 tbsp) malted milk powder
1 tbsp vanilla extract
¼ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
½ tsp fine sea salt
gel food colors – red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple
6 golden Oreos (optional – for stuffing)
Directions
In a large bowl, place butter in microwave safe bowl and turn on for 30 seconds or until almost melted. Use whisk to evenly distribute unmelted parts of butter, and then add sugars and vanilla. Whisk until well combined – about 1 to 2 minutes. Add egg and whisk until well combined – about 2 to 3 minutes. In a separate bowl, combine flour, malted milk powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt and sift with fine mesh strainer until well incorporated. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and whisk together until well combined.
Place dough in the second bowl used, and evenly separate into 6 different pieces (or however many pieces of dough you plan to color). Place 1 to 2 drops of gel food coloring and mix well with hands until evenly distributed. Then pull and roll dough long ways and place other bowl lengthwise (see photos). Repeat with all colors. When complete you can either marble the dough, or leave as is. Take ice cream scoop and start from the top where the first color is and scoop down pulling only a light layer of dough, and pull all the way down to the last color. Place dough on baking sheet and repeat.
If you are going to stuff the cookies with the golden Oreo then only scoop about 2 tbsp of dough, place in the Oreo, and then top with another 2 tbsp of dough. If you are not going to stuff with Oreo then scoop the full 3 tbsp of dough. Place 6 cookies on each baking sheet, and refrigerate for up to 12 hours but no more than 24 hours.
Preheat oven to 350 F. Remove cookies from refrigerator and place directly into oven, and bake for approximately 12 minutes or until you begin to see the bottom edges browning. Remove from oven and place on wire rack to cool. Enjoy!
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