These Rainbow Snickerdoodle Cookies are soft, chewy snickerdoodle cookies that are a fun twist, making this a festive treat for the kiddos.
Rainbows make everyone smile. An iconic symbol of hope. And arenโt cookies the same way? I mean really, who doesnโt love a freshly baked cookie?
Since snickerdoodles are one of my favorite cookies we make them quite frequently. The other day as my daughter Jersey and I were making another batch, she asked if we could color them. She meant literally with Crayolaโs. So this is what we came up with. These Rainbow Snickerdoodle Cookies are Jerseyโs take of โcoloringโ our cookies.
I love rainbows after a nice rainstorm, it feels like everything is clean and you are starting fresh.
Rainbows also make me think of my friends. They are like the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Being one of the greatest treasures in life. Encouraging you, love you, never allowing you to give up, and helping you see the good. I have my best friends: my sister.
But it has been through blogging that I have met some of the dearest friends. They know who they are. You see, as a stay-at-home/working mom, I was lonely. Socially lonely, for real adult conversation and interaction. It wasnโt until I started blogging that I met people who understood me, my job and the fact that I ate delicious food, ran my kids around spending hours in the car, take photos of everything and wear yoga pants all day โ and they donโt judge me for it. They get me. I thought that we would only connect on-line and that meeting in person might be awkwardโฆbut that wasnโt the case. These ladies are gems! Every day I am grateful for them, their support, their love, and their encouragement. They are my rainbow and I only hope I offer that right back to them.
Cheers to rainbows, great cookies and the best of friends.
Enjoy! XOXO San
How do you make Rainbow Snickerdoodles?
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
Make the sugar topping by stirring together the cinnamon and sugar in a small mixing bowl and set aside for later.
Prepare the cookie dough by using a stand mixer to beat together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Gradually mix in the egg and vanilla extract. As you are mixing make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl to get rid of any butter chunks.
In medium mixing bowl sift together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Slowly beat the flour mixture into the sugar mixture until it is well combined.
Divide the dough into 4 equal sections, just eyeball it. The easiest way is to gather all of the dough into a round disk and cut into quarters. Add one section of dough into a separate bowl. You should have 4 bowls of dough.
Make each color you would like. We chose blue, green, orange and red.
To get the color you want, you will need to start off with a couple of drops of food coloring and then add more if needed. To mix in the coloring, just knead the dough, like you would for bread. We started off with a couple of drops, then folded them in and kneaded the dough to mix it in, we added more as we went to get the color we wanted. For orange, we mixed in 3 drops of red and 6 drops of yellow.
Once you have the 4 colors you want, get a cookie dough scooper and add a piece of dough from each color to the cookie dough scooper. Press the dough into fill the scooper, remove from the scooper and roll in your hands to get it smooth. Roll in the prepared sugar mix and place on pan. Repeat with remaining dough, 12 on each pan.
Place in preheated oven and bake 10-12 minutes. If cookies are puffy when you bring them out of the oven, simply press them down with the back of a spoon to flatten them out a bit or leave them as is. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 8-10 minutes. Serve, devour, and enjoy!
Can you freeze snickerdoodles?
Unbaked cookie dough can be stored in an airtight freezer bag.
Form logs or pre-proportioned cookies.
Wrap the dough in a layer of wax or parchment paper, tucking in the ends to keep it fully covered.
Put them in a freezer bag and remove as much air as possible before sealing it; place it in the back of your freezer.
To use the dough, thaw it in the refrigerator overnight before baking.
If you’re using a log of dough, slice your cookies to size and then roll them in the cinnamon-sugar mixture before baking.
Use the dough within five months of freezing.
Pre-baked cookies can also be stored in an airtight freezer bag, this will extend the life of the cookies to about one to two months.
Be sure to check out some of my favorite ways to make Snickerdoodles: Peanut Butter Snickerdoodles, White Chocolate Caramel Snickerdoodle Cookies & Snickerdoodle Cookie Dough Bites.
Don’t forget to pin this to your favorite Pinterest board.
Rainbow Snickerdoodle Cookies

Ingredients
- 1 cup butter room temperature
- 1 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 4 food coloring of your choice
Sugar Topping
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- Make the sugar topping by stirring together the cinnamon and sugar in a small mixing bowl and set aside for later.
- Prepare the cookie dough by using a stand mixer to beat together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Gradually mix in the egg and vanilla extract. As you are mixing make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl to get rid of any butter chunks.
- In medium mixing bowl sift together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda cinnamon and salt. Slowly beat the flour mixture into the sugar mixture until it is well combined.
- Divide the dough into 4 equal sections, just eyeball it. The easiest way is to gather all of the dough into a round disk and cut into quarters. Add one section of dough into a separate bowl. You should have 4 bowls of dough.
- Make each color you would like. We chose blue, green, orange and red.
- To get the color you want you will need to start off with a couple drops of food coloring and then add more if needed. To mix in the coloring, just knead the dough, like you would for bread. We started off with a couple of drops, then folded them in and kneaded the dough to mix it in, we added more as we went to get the color we wanted. For orange we mixed in 3 drops red and 6 drops yellow.
- Once you have your 4 colors you want, get a cookie dough scooper and add a piece of dough from each color to the cookie dough scooper. Press the dough into fill the scooper, remove from the scooper and roll in your hands to get it smooth. Roll in the prepared sugar mix and place on pan. Repeat with remaining dough, 12 to each pan. .
- Place in preheated oven and bake 10-12 minutes. If cookies are puffy when you bring them out of the oven, simply press them down with the back of spoon to flatten them out a bit or leave them as is. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 8-10 minutes. Remove from baking sheet and eat.
Notes
