Tie Dye Sugar Cookies Recipe (Easy Marbled & Rainbow Cookies)
These tie dye sugar cookies are a fun and easy tie dye sugar cookies recipe that creates beautiful, colorful designs right in the dough—no icing required! Also known as marbled sugar cookies, rainbow sugar cookies, or even ink blot cookies, this technique uses drops of food coloring swirled into the dough to create a one-of-a-kind look.
These Tie Dye Sugar Cookies are a fun twist on my mom’s classic sugar cookie recipe—and they couldn’t be easier to make. Instead of decorating with icing, the color is swirled right into the dough to create beautiful marbled sugar cookies.
All you need is a few drops of gel food coloring to turn simple sugar cookie dough into vibrant, colorful cookies. No decorating skills required—just roll, cut, and bake. Each cookie comes out completely unique, making this an easy and fun baking project for kids, parties, or holidays.
If you love colorful cookies but want a decorated version, be sure to check out my tie dye cookies with royal icing—they use a fun dipping method for a completely different look and finish!
This post may contain affiliate links, which means I’ll receive a commission if you purchase through my link, at no extra cost to you. Please read full disclosure here.
Recipe Inspiration
Honestly, I really don’t have a big story behind these – I just wanted to try something new one day and see if I could make tie dye sugar cookies without all the extra decorating.
I started with my mom’s classic sugar cookie recipe and began experimenting with adding drops of food coloring right into the dough. As I rolled it out, the colors swirled together in the prettiest way – and just like that, these marbled sugar cookies were born!
These cookies are often called tie dye cookies, rainbow sugar cookies, or even watercolor cookies because of their soft, blended look. You might also hear them referred to as ink blot cookies, since the colors spread and swirl in a way that creates unique, abstract patterns – no two cookies ever turn out the same.
What I love most is that they look like beautifully decorated cookies, but they’re actually one of the easiest cookies you can make. No icing, no piping – just a simple technique that creates a fun, colorful result every time.
How to Make Tie Dyed Marbled Sugar Cookies
Make The Sugar Cookie Dough
I started with my mom’s sugar cookie recipe. This cookie recipe is the base I always use for my decorated cookies like Baseball Royal Icing Sugar Cookies or Easy Firework Sugar Cookies for 4th of July. It’s such an easy dough to make and tastes delicious!
Add Food Coloring
Pick a few gel food coloring colors and add small drops all over the surface of the dough. I experimented with using both the gel and the liquid food coloring and I have to say they worked pretty similarly.
However, I would suggest sectioning out your dough and adding the food coloring to the different sections so you can control the colors a little better.
💡Pro Tip: make sure you have a piece of parchment paper under your dough, food coloring gel can stain your counters, so be careful!
Roll Out The Dough
Place a piece of parchment paper over the dough, then use a rolling pin to roll it out to about 1/4-inch thickness.
Cut Out the Cookies
Use a round cookie cutter to cut out your cookies, pressing straight down without twisting to keep the edges clean.
Transfer Cookies to Baking Sheet
Remove the excess dough and carefully transfer each cookie to a parchment-lined baking sheet, leaving a little space between each one.
Bake
Bake at 350°F for 8 minutes, or until the edges are just set. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for about 1 minute before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
You’ll notice that after they bake, they tend to lighten in color, the creams become brighter as do the colors!
Next I added gold flakes for a little extra pizzaz!
Printable Recipe Card
Save this easy tie dye sugar cookies recipe for later and enjoy making these colorful marbled (ink blot) cookies anytime—no icing required!
Tie Dye Sugar Cookies Recipe (Easy Marbled, Rainbow & Ink Blot Cookies)
Equipment
- cookie cutter
Ingredients
- 1/2 c butter softened
- 1 c granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 egg room temperature
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 2 c unbleached all-purpose flour
- food coloring
Instructions
- .Chill dough thoroughly before rolling out and cutting with cookie cuttersBake on lightly greased sheet 400 degrees 8-10 minutes (possibly less depending on oven. Do NOT let brown)
- Preheat oven to 400°F
- In a small mixing bowl cream together butter and sugar until fluffy
- Add in vanilla extract and room temperature egg
- Sift dry ingredients together and add to cream mixture.
- Place dough on a piece of parchment paper and add drops of food coloring
- Top dough with another piece of parchment paper and roll out dough to 1/4" thickness with a rolling pin
- Cut your desired shapes out of the dough
- Using an offset spatula, remove the cut out cookie and place on a parchment lined baking sheet
- Bake at 400°F for 8 minutes
- Allow cookies to cool for about 1 minute before placing them on a wired cooling rack
Nutrition
![](https://gatheredinthekitchen.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/xo-Stephanie-Signature.jpg")
Stephanie—home cook, DIY addict, seasonal decor fanatic, and proud chicken wrangler living in a Victorian house that’s always a project. Whether I’m cooking with garden-fresh ingredients, herding mischievous chickens, or tackling another DIY, I’m here to share the fun (and chaos).
These were such a fun cookie to make! The kids loved them – you could customize the cookies to whatever specific colors you want!