Rainbow Swirl Sugar Cookies

Sugar cookies are boring and the Holidays are tough.

Yeah, sugar cookies taste alright but they are completely drab in their most basic form. Enter sprinkles and food coloring stage right. Sure those colored bits are just coated sugar and liquid dye doesn't actually add any extra flavor, but they sure can spruce up a classic.

And honestly, no matter how joyous movies make the Holidays seem, they are hectic and often celebrated among some tense moments. Whether it's not getting the gift you wanted, family feuds, or the loss of a loved one, this is a recipe that creates something (or about 80 somethings) to smile about.

I suggest saving this project until you have some willing helpers, or you could just make jumbo cookies. I had two of my cousins helping but still wish I hadn't formed such small colored balls.

Choose as many colors as you want, I did 5. I used the Neon food coloring for the
purple, blue, green, and pink, and made the yellow from the original food colors.

These are the first balls I rolled. Aren't they uniform and perfect?

This is color three I think. Less round, more like torn batter bits. This is around the
time I was questioning what I had gotten myself into (my helpers hadn't arrived yet).

My five trays of tiny colored balls, along with my baking tray. The end is in sight!

It took some trial and error before we developed the perfect rolling method. We lengthened
the balls into logs and placed them side-by-side (So next time I would form the dough
into one long log and cut it into pieces instead of forming individual balls).

Then form the logs into one large log and roll.

Roll the two ends in opposite directions so that it forms one uniformed spiraled snake.

Then curl the snake onto itself in a circular manner.

Last but not least, dip the edges of the disk formed into sprinkles.

Like frolicking through a field of unicorns.

 After a couple dozen we started getting very creative.
M for Maria?

Sugar Cookie Recipe

3 1/2 cups flour

1 cup butter

1 1/2 cup sugar

3 eggs

2 tsp cream of tarter

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp salt

1. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
2. Beat in eggs, one at a time, stir in vanilla.
3. Sift remaining ingredients together and add to the creamed mixture.
4. Chill for at least 30 minutes, roll out and form desired cookie shapes.
5. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and cook for 6-8 minutes.

Ingredients

Sugar Cookie Recipe

Food Coloring

Sprinkles

1. Before chilling dough separate evenly into 6 bowls.
2. Add 8 drops of desired food coloring into each bowl, stir until blended. Add more drops if necessary to achieve desired color.
3. Chill dough for about 30 minutes.
4. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Take out one bowl of colored dough at a time and form into marble size pieces (the larger the pieces the less rolling, and bigger the cookie!).
5. Place pieces onto wax paper lined cookie sheets and place back into refrigerator. Repeat for all colors.
6. Take out all trays of dough pieces. On a piece of wax paper elongate a piece of each colored dough and lay next to each other. Then roll into a colored log, continue to roll the two ends of the log in different directions until a long continuous spiral snake is formed.
7. Starting at one end, roll the dough snake in a circular manner onto itself until round saucer is formed.
8. Dip the top edges of the saucer into colored sprinkles and place on lined cookie sheet.
9. Bake 12 at a time for 6-8 minutes.

Tips: Instead of rolling the colored dough into individual marble sized balls save some time by rolling each bowl of colored dough into a long snake and cutting into logs that are ready for cookie formation. Dough will get warm after sitting out, this will make the rolling process tougher, simply place trays back into the refrigerator for 10 minutes so they re-harden. Make sure to place sprinkles on upper edge of cookie otherwise they will end up on the bottom of the cookie during baking. Bigger dough balls = less work.