Aren’t these marbled swirled sugar cookies super cute?! The best part is that these cookies are easy to make, and crazy quick to put together. I am using my favorite no-fail sugar cookie recipe with a simple glaze to make the whole process go quickly.

You can use royal icing for this technique, but to keep things simple and quick, I just used a glaze with confectioner’s sugar, milk, and flavoring.

Alright, you ready to get started?! Let’s get baking!

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Directions to Make Easy Marbelized Cookies

Make the cookies

To make the cookies you will cream together the softened butter and shortening until it is smooth and creamy. You can choose to use all butter, but the shortening will make it a softer cookie.

Then, add in the eggs and vanilla and combine well.

Next you can add in the flour, baking powder and salt. The dough will be thick and creamy. Cover the bowl and place in the refrigerator for an hour.

Chilling the dough will help these cookies to not spread.

Near the end of your chill time, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line your baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.

Lightly spread flour on your worksurface and on your rolling pin. Roll out the dough to 1/4″ thick and cut out your cookie dough into your desired shape. I used hearts because it is close to Valentine’s Day as I write this, but you can easily change up your shape and coloring to adapt to any holiday or occasion.

Place cut out dough on the baking sheet, and allow 1-2 inches between the cookies.

Bake for 6-8 minutes, until slightly firm, and very lightly browned. I like soft cookies, so I pull them just before they start to brown.

Prepare the icing

Mix together the confectioner’s sugar, almond or vanilla flavoring and milk. Combine well until it is smooth and creamy.

Allow to sit for a minute to allow any bubbles to rise and pop them.

Divide the icing into two bowls. The second bowl is for you to use as a backup in case the first bowl becomes too saturated and you want to start over with your coloring.

Marbling the cookies

In your first bowl of icing, place a drop of coloring into the bowl. I like to use gel coloring as it will have a bolder color, but you can use food dye too.

Use a toothpick or scribe to swirl around the coloring.

Dip the cookie flat the face of the cookie, and then carefully lift up and over. As you work, you can practice different lifting techniques, how much dye you use, and even how much (or how little) you swirl the dye.

You can really have a lot of fun practicing the different techniques to make these marble cookies.

I made a video for you to see how easy it is to make these easy marble cookies! Be kind, it’s my first-ever-YouTube video! 🤪

Looking for more cookie recipes?

How to Make Easy Marbled Cookies

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How to Make These Easy Marble Cookies

Author: Melissa
Prep Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours
Yield: 24 – 3” cookies 1x

Print Recipe

Description

These marble cookies are so easy and fun to make! Change up the shapes and colors to adapt for any holiday or occasion.

Scale

Ingredients

Cookies

3 tablespoons (53 grams) shortening

3 tablespoons (40 grams) butter, room temperature

1 cup (193 grams) sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2–1/2 cups (320 grams) all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

FROSTING

1 cups powdered sugar

1/2-1 teaspoons vanilla

1 tablespoon +1 teaspoon milk

Food coloring – preferably gel

Instructions

Do not preheat the oven. This recipe requires chill time in the refrigerator.
Cream together shortening, butter and sugar until smooth. Add in eggs and vanilla and combine well. Thoroughly combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Be sure to clean the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula and incorporate it back into the dough.
Cover the dough and chill for an hour in the refrigerator.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Lightly flour your work surface, and your rolling pin. Roll out 1/3 of the dough into a thin layer approximately 1/4 inch thick. Use cookie cutters to cut your shapes into the dough.
Place cut cookies on the lined baking sheets about 2 inches apart from each other. Bake for 6-8 minutes, until slightly firm and very lightly browned.
Continue to cut cookies out until all dough is used up. If the dough gets too soft, you can place it back in the fridge to cool again.

TO MAKE THE ICING

Combine the icing, milk, and flavoring and mix until thoroughly incorporated and smooth. Pop any bubbles as you see them.
Split the icing into two bowls. Reserve one of the bowls in case the first one gets too colored for you.
In one of the bowls, add a drop of dye and swirl the dye around with a toothpick.
Dip the cookie in and pull it out. The cookies will vary based on how they are pulled out, how much dye was used and how much you swirled it around.

Notes

The cookie design will vary based on how they are pulled out, how much dye was used and how much you swirled it around.

Category: Cookies
Method: Bake
Cuisine: American

Keywords: sugar cookies, marbled sugar cookies, easy marble cookies

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Have fun making these marble cookies!

I hope you enjoyed this recipe as much as I did!

I love hearing from my readers. Let me know in the comments below how you like it!

And, don’t forget to give the recipe 5 stars if you loved these marbleized cookies!