Bright, easy, and super fun, these Jello cookies are the perfect spring/summer baking project with the kids!

I love the gorgeous, vibrant color on these cookies. It’s no secret that I am a huge fan of Jello. With its many flavors and gorgeous colors, it’s a great way to bring something new to a dessert. And that’s exactly what these cookies are — a standard sugar cookie elevated into something special with the addition of some Jello powder.

One recipe of dough will make up to 4 flavors of cookie. I chose strawberry, lemon, lime, and grape for this post. My kids adore the lemon and lime cookies, and I’m a sucker for strawberry. The grape was probably the least favorite in this house, but if your family loves grape Jello, they’d be a great fit. We had fun separating the dough into 4 containers and adding the powder, then kneading to watch the color spread through the dough. This was the kid’s favorite part of the whole process!

What do I need?

Butter or Margarine: Butter will yield a richer, thicker cookie. If you use margarine, the recipe works just fine, but you will have more spread. You can fight this by refrigerating your dough for 30 minutes before baking.

Granulated Sugar, Egg, Flour

Baking Powder and Soda: 2 leaveners? Yes! Baking soda tends to neutralize tangy flavors, and we are definitely shooting for that tang from the Jello. Bakign powder doesn’t quite give you the same lightness as baking soda. So, adding baking powder lets us use less baking soda, which means that the cookies will still have a light texture, and the gorgeous flavor from the Jello can still shine through!

Jello Powder: You either need to buy 1 big box of Jello (12 oz) or 4 small boxes of Jello (6 oz). You will have extra either way, and you can use that to roll the balls of dough in before baking.

How do I make Jello cookies?

Start by creaming the butter/margarine and sugar. This step helps to beat some air into the butter (or margarine), and the sugar holds that air in there, giving your cookie structure. I know it’s tempting to just throw everything in at once, but taking the time to cream the butter and sugar first really does make a difference.

Mix in everything but the Jello powder: At this point, you have some really delicious sugar cookie dough. You could stop here and bake it and it would be perfectly fine, but I recommend moving on the next step.

Add the Jello powder: For this step, either add 16 tablespoons of one flavor of Jello, or 4 tablespoons from each of your 4 flavors. If you’re doing the second step, you’ll need to separate the dough into 4 even portions. Once you’ve added the powder, you’ll knead the dough until the flavor is spread throughout. I do this in a bowl, which is why I use a fairly large bowl for each flavor. You can also do this on a floured surface.

Roll and bake: Roll the dough into 1 inch balls. If you have any extra Jello powder, you can roll the dough balls in it for an extra flavor burst. Place the dough balls on a covered or greased baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes. With these cookies, I like to underbake slightly, then let them develop on the cookie sheet for a few minutes after I take them out. That’s the best way to get soft, chewy cookies, which is how I like them best!

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