Tie-Dye Unicorn Hershey Kiss Cookies

Ingredients You’ll Need

• 30 Hershey's Kisses (milk chocolate, Hugs or a pastel variety), unwrapped
• 2 3/4 cups (345 g) all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp cream of tartar
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/4 cups (250 g) granulated sugar
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• Pink, purple, blue and yellow gel food coloring
• 1/2 cup (100 g) pastel or white sanding sugar, for rolling

How to make tie-dye unicorn Hershey Kiss cookies

1. Step 1.

   Unwrap the Kisses and put them in the refrigerator.

2. Step 2.

   Whisk the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt in a bowl.

3. Step 3.

   Beat the butter and sugar for 2–3 minutes, until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla.

4. Step 4.

   Mix in the dry ingredients on low just until a soft dough forms.

5. Step 5.

   Divide the dough into 4 equal portions. Knead a very small amount of gel color into each portion, one color per portion, until evenly tinted a soft pastel shade.

6. Step 6.

   Roll each portion into a rope about 12 inches long. Lay the four ropes side by side, press them together and twist gently into one thick rope. Wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

7. Step 7.

   Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Line baking sheets with parchment.

8. Step 8.

   Cut the rope into about 30 pieces (about 1 1/2 tablespoons each). Roll each piece into a ball with just a few turns, so the colors stay swirled rather than blended, then roll in sanding sugar.

9. Step 9.

   Place 2 inches apart on the baking sheets. Bake one sheet at a time for 9–11 minutes, until the cookies are puffed and set at the edges and the tops show small cracks but no browning.

10. Step 10.

    Let the cookies stand on the sheet for 2–3 minutes, then press a cold Kiss gently into the center of each.

11. Step 11.

    Transfer the cookies to a rack, then refrigerate them on the rack or a tray for 10–15 minutes, until the Kisses are firm again.

A dough built for soft, puffy cookies

This is a snickerdoodle-style sugar cookie dough: butter, sugar, cream of tartar and baking soda. Cream of tartar gives the cookies a soft, pillowy middle and a slight tang, and it helps them hold a rounded shape rather than spreading into thin discs. That thickness matters here, because a thin cookie cracks apart when a Kiss is pressed into it.

Many unicorn cookie recipes start with cake mix, which is faster but gives a cakier, sweeter cookie with less butter flavor. The from-scratch dough takes only a few more minutes and holds food coloring just as well.

Gel colors, and less than you think

Gel food coloring is concentrated, so a tiny amount tints the dough without making it sticky. Liquid colors add water and need to be used in much larger quantities for similar shades. Start with the tip of a toothpick of each color and knead it in; pastel doughs look more “unicorn” than saturated ones and darken slightly in the oven.

Wear disposable gloves while kneading in color, or work the dough in a zip-top bag, to keep your hands clean.

Keep the swirl

The tie-dye effect disappears quickly with handling. Twisting four color ropes together distributes the colors, but once the rope is cut, shape each piece into a ball with only two or three rolls between your palms. More rolling blends the colors into a muddy lavender. A cookie that looks lumpy and streaky before baking bakes into the prettiest swirl.

Chilling the twisted rope for 30 minutes also helps. Cold dough smears less as you cut and roll it, and the cookies spread less in the oven.

Bake them pale

Pastel colors look best when the cookies do not brown. Pull them from the oven when they are puffed, set at the edges and lightly cracked on top, even if the centers look soft. They finish setting on the hot sheet. Browned edges dull the colors and make the cookies crisp.

Bake one sheet at a time in the middle of the oven for even results.

Getting the Kisses right

Straight from the oven, the cookies are hot enough to melt chocolate into a puddle. Waiting 2 to 3 minutes lets them cool slightly while still being soft enough to accept the Kiss. Using cold Kisses gives you extra margin. Press gently; the cookie should crack slightly around the base, which is the classic look.

Refrigerate the finished cookies briefly so the chocolate firms and the tips stay pointed. At room temperature, the Kisses can take a couple of hours to set completely, and they are easily smudged in the meantime.

Hershey’s Hugs (white and milk chocolate) and seasonal pastel Kisses fit the unicorn theme especially well.

Storing and packing

Once the chocolate is set, store the cookies in a single layer or with parchment between layers in an airtight container for up to 4 days at room temperature. In a warm room, keep them somewhere cool so the Kisses do not soften.

The twisted dough rope can be refrigerated for up to 2 days or frozen for up to 2 months. Thaw it overnight in the refrigerator before cutting, rolling and baking.