The Old School Pastel Sugar Cookies That Deserve A Major Comeback

Sugar cookies can be a baker's best friend for whipping up a sweet treat that doesn't require a lot of ingredients or too much time. Their delicious, signature flavor gives them crowd-pleasing appeal, and they're a simple base to build on when you want something fancier. Old school Jell-O cookies dress up standard sugar cookies by mixing Jell-O powder into the dough, creating pastel hues and a light fruit flavor.

Jell-O salad was popular in the mid-20th century, but exactly when the idea arose to use flavored gelatin powder for sugar cookies isn't quite as clear. A recipe that called them Fruity Cookies appeared in a 1970s print ad for Jell-O, however, people have posted online about their families making the cookies as far back as the '60s.

Most recipes call for adding a regular three-ounce box of Jell-O to each sugar cookie batch (It's also perfectly fine to use ready-made sugar cookie mix). The 1970s recipe suggests pushing the dough through a cookie press — the same way spritz cookies are shaped — and sprinkling them with extra Jell-O powder before baking. You could also roll out the dough and use cookie cutters, or roll one-inch dough balls with your hands, and flatten them with the bottom of a glass. Other options include sprinkling the pre-baked cookies with granulated sugar,  or leaving them topping–free.

With more than 15 Jell-O flavors to choose from, you can experiment to see which ones you like best for your cookies. Tie the colors to the holidays by making lime and cherry at Christmas, or orange and lemon for Thanksgiving. You could also stick to the theme of an occasion, using strawberry or berry blue for a baby shower. Instead of limiting yourself to one flavor per batch, you can divide the dough into two or three colors, and proportionately reduce the amount of Jell-O powder for each. Add extra powder if you want deeper color or a more prominent fruit taste.

There are many other creative ways to play around with the Jell-O cookie basics. Roll two complementary flavors together into balls (like lemon-lime or peach-raspberry) and flatten, for cookies with a blended flavor profile and color palette. Try making colorful swirl cookies by rolling out two or more different-flavored doughs; stacking them on top of each other; rolling it up into a log; and slicing your cookies from there. Mix real fruit zest into citrus doughs, or mini chocolate chips into complementary cherry, strawberry, or orange doughs. You could also sandwich two cookies with vanilla or chocolate buttercream, cream cheese frosting, whipped cream, or even lemon curd.

If you want to try this vintage flavor beyond the cookie sheet, adding Jell-O to your cake mix is a genius move. Additionally, the invention of poke cake is all thanks to Jell-O, with the dessert getting its striking look from liquid Jell-O seeping through holes poked in the top.