Cotton Candy Cookies (Print version)
Soft pastel cookies swirled with pink and blue, bursting with cotton candy flavor and whimsical charm.
# What goes in:
→ Dry Ingredients
01 - 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
02 - 1 teaspoon baking powder
03 - 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
04 - 1/2 teaspoon salt
→ Wet Ingredients
05 - 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
06 - 1 cup granulated sugar
07 - 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
08 - 2 large eggs
09 - 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
10 - 1/2 teaspoon cotton candy flavoring
→ Coloring and Garnish
11 - Pink and blue gel food coloring
12 - 1/2 cup cotton candy (for garnish and extra flavor, optional)
# Cooking steps:
01 - Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
02 - In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
03 - In a large bowl, beat the softened butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.
04 - Add the eggs, vanilla extract, and cotton candy flavoring to the butter mixture; beat until smooth and well combined.
05 - Gradually mix the dry ingredients into the wet mixture until a soft, uniform dough forms.
06 - Divide the dough evenly into two bowls. Add a few drops of pink gel food coloring to one half and blue to the other; mix each until the color is evenly distributed.
07 - Pinch off a small amount of dough from each colored half and gently press and swirl them together in your hands to form a 1.5-inch ball with a marbled effect. Place on the prepared baking sheets, spacing them 2 inches apart.
08 - Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until the edges are set but the centers remain soft.
09 - Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
10 - If desired, top each cooled cookie with a small tuft of cotton candy just before serving for a whimsical presentation.
# Tips from flavorandfeast:
01 -
- The marbled pink and blue dough looks like something out of a fairy tale, but the technique is surprisingly simple once you get the hang of it.
- Cotton candy flavoring gives these a unique taste that kids go absolutely wild for, yet the flavor is subtle enough that adults keep reaching for seconds.
02 -
- Gel food coloring is absolutely essential, because liquid food coloring will make your dough sticky and the swirls will bleed together into a muddy purple mess.
- Add the cotton candy garnish at the very last second before serving, as humidity and moisture will dissolve it into a sticky puddle within minutes.
03 -
- Use a cookie scoop to portion the dough before dividing each scoop into the two colors, which keeps all your cookies uniform in size and baking time.
- If you cannot find cotton candy flavoring, a blend of vanilla and a drop of bubblegum extract gets surprisingly close to that classic carnival taste.