Candy Corn Swirl Cookies are the cutest Halloween cookies! Sugar cookie dough is dyed yellow and orange and rolled together before baking. These are easy and so fun!
Originally published October 24, 2012. Updated September 15, 2024.
Aren’t these the most fun cookies for Halloween?! They’re not going to taste like candy corn but they sure look like it!
They’re sugar cookies flavored with orange zest and you dye the dough different colors and then roll them up before slicing and baking.
I amazed my teenage children with these because they look like so much more work than they actually are.
My biggest tip is to really dust the parchment paper (or whatever surface you’re working on) with powdered sugar. Like, more powdered sugar than you think. You’re rolling the dough pretty thin so to keep it from sticking, use plenty of powdered sugar. It’s just going to end up melting into the cookies anyway so it’s fine!
Ingredients
- Butter – make sure to soften it before starting the recipe.
- Powdered sugar – you are going to need the amount the recipe calls for and a bit more when you roll out the different colored doughs.
- Egg
- Orange zest – you could do lemon zest if you prefer.
- All-purpose flour
- Baking soda
- Cream of tartar – this keeps the cookies from becoming too crisp.
- Orange food coloring
- Yellow food coloring
How To Make Candy Corn Swirl Cookies
- Wet ingredients. Beat butter and powdered sugar together. Add egg and orange zest and beat until combined.
- Dry ingredients. Add flour, baking soda, and cream of tartar. Beat until just combined.
- Divide. Divide dough evenly into thirds. Tint one yellow, one orange, and leave one alone. Wrap them in plastic wrap.
- Chill. Chill for at least an hour.
- Roll out. On separate parchment paper dusted with powdered sugar, roll out each dough.
- Layer. Put the orange dough on top of the yellow. Top with the white dough.
- Roll. Staring on the long side, roll up pretty tightly.
- Chill. Chill for at least one hour.
- Slice. Slice into ¼″ slices and place on parchment-lined baking sheets.
- Bake. Bake at 375F for 7 – 8 minutes.
How Long Are They Good For?
These cookies will be fine for up to 3 days. Make sure to store them in an airtight container at room temperature.
Can You Freeze Them?
You can freeze the baked cookies or the unbaked rolled up dough!
Baked cookies will be good in the freezer for up to 3 months. When you are ready to serve, let them sit at room temperature until defrosted.
If you want the freezer the dough, wrap it tightly in several layers of plastic wrap and maybe even a ziploc freezer bag. When you are ready to slice and bake them, let them defrost overnight in the fridge and then follow the written instructions.
More Halloween Treats
- Halloween Confetti Cookies
- Ghostly Snack Mix
- Halloween Sugar Cookie Bars
- Mummy Oreo Truffles
- Halloween Oreo Brownies
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Candy Corn Swirl Cookies
Candy Corn Swirl Cookies are the cutest Halloween cookies! Sugar cookie dough is dyed yellow and orange and rolled together before baking. These are easy and so fun!
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
- 1 egg
- zest of 1 orange
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
- orange food coloring
- yellow food coloring
Instructions
- Using an electric mixer, beat butter and powdered sugar until light and fluffy; add egg and orange peel and beat until combined. Sift in flour, baking soda and cream of tartar; beat until just combined.
- Divide dough into thirds. Tint one portion orange and one portion yellow; leave remaining portion plain. Flatten each portion into a disk. Wrap in plastic wrap; refrigerate at least 1 hour.
- On separate sheets of parchment paper dusted with powdered sugar (use more powdered sugar than you think you need), roll each portion of dough into 12x9-inch rectangle. Place orange rectangle on top of yellow rectangle. Top with plain dough rectangle. Starting on a long side, roll dough into a cylinder. Wrap in plastic; refrigerate at least 1 hour.
- Heat oven to 375F. Use a very sharp knife to cut dough into ¼-inch slices. Place on parchment lined baking sheet about 1 inch apart.
- Bake 7 to 8 minutes or until edges are set. Cool on baking sheet for 1 minute before moving to a wire rack to cool.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
30Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 121Total Fat: 6gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 22mgSodium: 93mgCarbohydrates: 15gFiber: 0gSugar: 6gProtein: 1g
Allison Day says
Love these! So cute.
Rachel @ Bakerita says
Love these! Such a cute idea. So festive and fun, I wish that candy corn flavor could be incorporated though!
cassie says
I love this idea. Incredibly fun and festive!
Steph@stephsbitebybite says
How fun are these?!
nicole @ I am a honey bee says
i wonder if you were to melt the candy corn you could mix that in to get flavor. I get that would look gross tho. ha!
Beth says
Candy corn extract – I love it! Even though my girls are older now, I’m really tempted to bake those beautiful cookies.
Rachel @ Baked by Rachel says
My girls would love these… okay hubs too lol. And what you did is the exact reason why I haven’t bought any candy yet! It’d all be long gone…
Katrina @ In Katrina's Kitchen says
Love these! The swirls are so fun!