This jello cookie recipe is so fun and colorful! The kids will love making these easy jello cookies with only a few simple ingredients.
My kids and I love to bake all types of desserts together! Other favorites include Rolo pretzels, funfetti cake mix cookies and homemade cosmic brownies.
Table of Contents
Easy and Colorful Jello Cookies
These jello cookies are perfect for baking with kids because they’re easy, colorful and double as playdough! Talk about a win-win for cookies :)
Although my famous homemade playdough recipe is still our go-to, the texture of this cookie dough is super soft and squishy. Wash the kid’s hands (and counter of course) and then let the kids imaginations go wild! My kids have so much fun smashing the dough and building BIG towers with all the colors.
Then once they’re done playing, simply roll it into balls, dip them in jello sugar and bake! They taste soft like a sugar cookie, but with a more tart and sweet flavor like my raspberry cookie recipe.
These cookies are also a fun recipe to make during the holidays with the kids. We love to make red and blue versions for 4th of July or red and green jello cookies for Christmas. They are also great for Cinco de Mayo. Simple, festive and delicious!
Favorite Jello Mix Flavors
Below are some of the jello mix flavors that you can use to make these cookies. Feel free to switch it up depending on the time of year or the holiday!
- Red: Strawberry, cherry, watermelon, raspberry, tropical fusion or cranberry
- Orange: Orange, apricot, mango or peach
- Blue: Berry blue
- Green: Lime
- Others: Grape (purple) and lemon or island pineapple (yellow)
How to Make Jello Cookies
Scroll down for the printable recipe.
- Preheat oven and cream butter and sugar together. Preheat oven to 350°F degrees. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar with a mixer until light and fluffy. Then blend in egg and vanilla.
- Mix dry ingredients with wet mixture. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and cream of tarter in a separate bowl. Gradually add flour mixture to the wet ingredients.
- Divide into sections. Divide the dough into four sections. Sprinkle two tablespoons of jello mix into each section and then knead until combined. Add food coloring for a more vibrant color.
- Roll into balls. Roll dough into 1-inch balls and place on baking sheet about two inches apart. Flatten the dough with the bottom of a cup to allow the cookies to cook evenly.
- Bake and let cool. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Remove cookies from the pan and allow to cool on a wire rack. Enjoy!
TIP: For a sweeter cookie, roll your cookie dough balls into the extra jello mix powder or sugar prior to baking.
Baking Tips
Don’t these jello cookies just scream SUMMER?! I love all the bright colors! It was fun to taste all the different flavors too. The kids loved them!
- To enhance the colors, use a couple drops of food coloring in each section.
- You can use sugar-free jello mix if preferred.
- For a sweeter cookie, roll the cookie dough balls into the extra jello powder or sugar prior to baking.
- Use the bottom of a cup or bowl to flatten the cookie dough balls so that they bake evenly.
- You could use a cookie press if preferred. Or even roll the dough out and use cookie cutters.
- Freeze the dough and bake them later! Simply roll the dough into balls and place in a zip top bag in the freezer. Before baking, let them thaw out on a baking sheet.
These festive cookies are so fun to make during the holiday baking season! These Oreo Christmas cookies are another favorite.
More Easy Cookie Recipes
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Jello Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups unsalted butter (softened)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon cream of tarter
- 12 ounces jello mix (4 packages)
- food coloring (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F degrees. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar with a mixer until light and fluffy. Blend in egg and vanilla.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and cream of tarter. Gradually add flour mixture to the wet ingredients.
- Divide the dough into four sections. Sprinkle two tablespoons of jello mix into each section and then knead the dough until combined. You can add a few drops of food coloring in, if you’d like the color to be more vibrant.
- Roll dough into 1-inch balls. If desired, you may roll the balls into the extra jello powder or sugar for a sweeter cookie. Then place dough onto the baking sheet about two inches apart. Flatten the dough with the bottom of a cup or bowl to allow the cookies to cook evenly.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes. Remove cookies from the pan and allow to cool on a wire rack.
Nutrition
Nutrition provided is an estimate. It will vary based on specific ingredients used.
Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to give it a star rating below!
Categorized as: American, Cookies, Desserts, Holiday Cookies, Kid-Friendly
Jamielyn Nye is the founder and recipe creator at I Heart Naptime. She is the author of the I Heart Naptime Cookbook and shares easy family-friendly recipes and desserts for every occasion.
These look fun and pretty! I don’t have little ones, but I’ll sure enjoy trying them. I just pinned them . Thanks!
Thanks so much! They are a fun summer treat. Have a great day! :)
These are so cool! Do they turn out to be hard cookies, or soft and crumbly? Just asking because I was thinking of shipping some to a friend.
I found this on pinterest and just wanted to say thank you for the great recipe and fun idea! I made these today with my 2 year old son and he had a fun time playing with the playdough (although he wanted to eat it at first, so I let him have a taste!). The colors are so much fun and the cookies are yummy. The only suggestion I had when making them is to just at the jello mix first, mix well and then see if you need to add food coloring. Because I dumped the jello in, and then immediately added a couple drops of fodd coloring right on top. It kind of crystalized the jello and would not mix in with the dough. But I was able to just scoop it out and add more, so no big deal. Thanks again for the wonderful idea, we will make these again!
Can you use the packaged sugar cookie mix and add the jello? I’m being SUPER lazy with this one!
I love your blog. The colors are so refreshing and the ideas that are here make me want to have more children. I am thinking it would be easier to move closer to my grand children! I do wish I had this to help raise my kids. We would have had so much fun! Love, Patty
That was so fun! The strawberry ones taste like a gourmet poptart :)
Hi there, lovely cookies! We don’t tend to get Jello in the UK. We get block jelly, gelatine based wobbly stuff that you break up and melt with water, rather than the powdered stuff. Do you have any idea how these cookies would be different with jelly cubes instead of jello granules?
Hi Jamielyn! These look awesome! What flavors of Jello did you use?
These are so pretty and look like a ton of fun to make. Just saved the recipe. I can’t wait to try it out to welcome summer!
Yes. They are great!
Really fun recipe! The only caution I’d provide is for purple lovers- don’t try grape Jell-O! The sugar is colorless and the cookies just have a grayish tint to them. Not really appetizing. If you stick to the color choices above you’ll be golden. :-)
I made these tonight and they are super yummy! The only problem I had was my dough was a little dry, so when I was kneading in the jello I added a teaspoon or so of water. They turned out really pretty and tasty!
Hey there, Im wanting to make these for my daughters birthday party but wondering if you have ever made them ahead and froze them? Please let me know! Thanks so much!
Hi Jamielyn,
I’m in Melbourne, Australia, these biscuits are genius! made them with my 4 and 2 yr olds and they LOVED playing with the dough and then rolling the balls in the jelly crystals….. such a fab idea!! Love your site!!!
Do you happen to know the nutritional information for these cookies? I would like to make them, but I need to keep track of the carbs that are in our foods.
Thank you for this great idea, it’s going to keep us busy on this quiet Sunday afternoon.
These are sooooo cute! Thank you for sharing this delightful recipe. My sister and I blogged about these on our blog if you would like to have a peek. http://joandsue.blogspot.ca/2012/05/jello-cookies.html
Looks great! Can you use sugar free jello?