Let Your Inner Wonka Shine (Recipe: KaleidoPop Cookies)

In 1971, I fell in love.

Now you might think  I was too young to know what real love was, but when Gene Wilder threw open those factory doors and exposed a vibrant world where life-size gummy bears hung from trees, giant lollipops dotted the landscape, mushrooms had sweet cream centers and chocolate rivers flowed like magic, I was a goner: Willy Wonka had stolen my heart.

Flash forward to 2010: while my kids love watching Charlie and the Chocolate Factory as well as its predecessor, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, what they really enjoy is eating cookies that look like this:

A kaleidoscope of color, these fun, swirly cookies thrilled my munchkins to pieces and got them super excited about baking.

Also known as Play Dough (or Play-Doh) Cookies, Fun Cookie Suckers, Rainbow Cookies and Lollipop Cookies, I opted to rename these cookies KaleidoPop Cookies for 2 reasons:

1. They look like colors in a kaleidoscope, and
2. You can turn them into cookie pops!

Simple yet time consuming to make and requiring a gently yet steady handy, these cookies were a pleasure and I’d bake them again in a heartbeat (especially with my little bakers’ help). Whether or not you have little helpers in your kitchen, when armed with the following directions and recipe, as well as an assortment of decorating pastes (use as little as 2 colors or as many as 4), you can create a bit of magic in your kitchen and let your inner Wonka shine!

Don't let their eye-popping color fool you---these cookies have a mild, unobtrustive flavor (somewhat like a sugar cookie or spritz cookie) and a subtle, creamy texture that helps to keep them moist when stored airtight.

KaleidoPop Cookies

(recipe featured on Inn Cuisine, adapted from Play Dough Cookies, AllRecipes.com)

Yield: approximately 2 dozen cookies

• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 3 ounces cream cheese, slightly softened
• 1 & 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 & 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• assorted colors of decorating paste food coloring
• minimum 24-count candy/lollipop sticks if making into cookie pops (available at Michaels, Hobby Lobby, etc.)
• 1 egg white for dipping candy/lollipop sticks *see recipe
  
• optional – sugar crystals for sprinkling/decorating

Using an electric mixer, cream butter, cream cheese and sugar together until mixture is fluffy. Add egg and vanilla; beat until smooth. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Add dry ingredients to the creamed mixture. Beat or stir until a soft dough forms.

Divide the dough evenly according to how many decorating pastes you’ll be tinting with—a minimum of 2 colors, a maximum of 4. Once you have separated the dough, tint each section with a different food color, mixing in each color until incorporated (tip: food-preparation gloves work great to avoid staining your hands and to make sure paste colors don’t cross-contaminate different colors of dough). Wrap each section of tinted dough individually in plastic wrap, then place in refrigerator to chill for a minimum of two hours.

After dough is thoroughly chilled, remove from refrigerator and begin rolling 3/4-inch balls from each section of tinted dough. Place rolled balls onto parchment or waxed paper while you work. Continue rolling each section of dough until all balls are formed.

Taking 1 ball of each color, place tinted balls together until 1 large ball is formed (if you are using 2 colors, you’ll have 2 balls forming 1 large ball; if you are using 4 colors, you’ll have 4 balls forming 1 large ball). Begin rolling each large ball in your hands to meld colors, then place ball on your work surface to continue rolling into a 12-inch long roll (like a skinny, long, bread stick). Once a 12-inch long rod is formed, begin rolling dough onto itself in a pinwheel fashion—starting at one end and coiling up and onto itself (or around itself) to make an approximately 2 & 3/4-inch round cookie. Repeat as necessary until all tinted balls have been combined, shaped and rolled. If desired, sprinkle rolled cookies with decorating sugar crystals.

Place rolled, pinwheel cookies 3-inches apart on baking sheet(s) lined with parchment paper (to create a non-stick surface), and place in refrigerator to chill while oven warms. Depending on how many baking sheets you have, you may need to work in batches.

*If turning cookies into cookie pops, dip one end of the candy/lollipop stick into liquid egg white before inserting into cookies—this will help the cookies adhere to the sticks better. To insert the dipped end of a stick , hold a chilled, rolled cookie in your opposite hand and gently push the stick towards the middle of cookie (beginning around seem area), being careful not to break through the top or bottom of each cookie.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Remove baking sheet(s) from oven and place 1 sheet at a time in the center of a 350 degree F oven. Bake for approximately 8 minutes (in my oven, the timing was spot on—8 minutes each batch); cookies should not have browned on top (just slightly on the bottom) and yield just slightly when touched. Remove from oven and allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for about 1 minute before carefully moving to a wire rack to finish cooling completely. Repeat steps as needed for subsequent batches.

For a great photo-tutorial, click here (text in Serbian)

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Tagged as: cookie recipes, cookie suckers recipe, KaleidoPop cookies, lollipop cookie recipe, play dough cookie recipe, play dough cookies, play-doh cookies, rainbow cookies recipe