Pastel Swirl Birthday Cookies (Printable Version)

Buttery sugar cookies with pastel swirls create a festive treat perfect for celebrations.

# What You'll Need:

→ Dry Ingredients

01 - 2.5 cups all-purpose flour
02 - 0.5 teaspoon baking powder
03 - 0.25 teaspoon salt

→ Wet Ingredients

04 - 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
05 - 1 cup granulated sugar
06 - 1 large egg
07 - 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
08 - 0.5 teaspoon almond extract, optional

→ Decoration

09 - Gel food coloring in pastel shades (pink, blue, yellow, lavender)
10 - 0.25 cup pastel sprinkles

# Directions:

01 - In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
02 - In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, approximately 2-3 minutes.
03 - Add the egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract if using, mixing until well combined.
04 - Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, mixing just until combined. Do not overmix.
05 - Divide the dough evenly into 3 or 4 portions. Tint each portion with a different pastel gel food coloring, kneading gently until color is evenly distributed.
06 - Roll each colored dough into long ropes approximately 12 inches long. Gently twist the ropes together, then roll into a log. Slice the log in half if it becomes unwieldy.
07 - Wrap the dough log in plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours, or until firm.
08 - Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
09 - Slice the chilled dough into 0.25-inch thick rounds. Place on prepared baking sheets, spacing approximately 2 inches apart. Top with pastel sprinkles if desired.
10 - Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until edges are just beginning to turn golden. Do not overbake.
11 - Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

# Additional Tips::

01 -
  • The dough is surprisingly forgiving, which means your first batch will look almost as beautiful as you hoped.
  • You can prep the swirled logs days ahead and bake them fresh whenever the mood strikes, making last-minute entertaining actually manageable.
  • Soft, buttery, and never dry, even when they've been sitting around for a few days.
02 -
  • Overmixing the dough after adding flour is the quickest way to end up with tough, dense cookies instead of tender ones, so stop mixing the moment you don't see dry streaks anymore.
  • Gel food coloring is genuinely different from liquid coloring, and using gel will prevent your dough from becoming tacky and difficult to work with.
  • The chilling step isn't just for shaping convenience, it actually helps the cookies maintain their swirl definition and prevents them from spreading into shapeless blobs while baking.
03 -
  • Gel food coloring requires barely any amount to achieve stunning pastel shades, so start with a toothpick dab and add more if needed rather than dumping in a whole bottle.
  • If your butter is even slightly too warm when you start creaming, your cookies will spread too much and lose their shape, so err on the side of cool.
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