Dyed Cookie Dough how-to

February 19th, 2009 by justJENN

I saw my kids playing with play-doh and realized that if I just dyed cookie dough, we could make cookies without all the mess of icing, sprinkles, etc. I am crazy about cleanliness, so when it comes to scattered messes, I wasn’t in the mood to clean up. This became the best option where the kids could be creative and have a great snack in the end. With no mess!!

ingredients:
cookie dough
gel dye

I made up a batch of plain old cookie dough Martha Stewart’s Cookies book page 241) and then split the dough into 5 portions. Depending on how many different colors you want, if you only want a few, go with smaller portions.

The problem with doing a big amount, like 5, is that you have to wash the bowl in between each color change. Yikes. Time consuming. Anyway, take each portion and put it back into your mixing bowl, add a bit of gel dye and turn the mixer up to medium high, to really incorporate it.

Gel dyes are the best. I don’t care for powders and HATE liquids. Gels seem to have the perfect spot on color and give off very bright effects. Once you’ve got all your portions colored, wrap them in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge.

Once you’re ready to go, flour up a cutting board and roll out your dough. It’s amazing how you can really get colors working together once they are all laid out in front of you. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes, until the cookies are just done.

The Kid saw my fire truck and was appalled that I didn’t make a ladder OR a hose so he made his own. Did a 5 year old just school me on design? Apparently, YES.

The Baby was smarter than us. He realized that if he just kicked back and let us do all the work, he’d STILL get to eat cookies anyway. All in all, the kids really had fun with this and it was a great way to end boredom on a rainy day!