I’m in love with these piped rainbow cookies! And they are so easy to decorate. 

rainbow cookies

It’s Pride Month, so you know what that means! For boring me, it mostly just means all things rainbow. These rainbow cookies are so easy to make using frosting and and an assortment of decorating tips. My 7 year old daughter said the designs look like fireworks, the sun, castle tops, and star fruit. 

more rainbow food ideas 

• If these aren’t your thing, I have way too many other rainbow food ideas:
• Supercool rainbow swirl cupcakes. 
• For snacking, try rainbow Rice Krispie Treat bites or rainbow popcorn. 
• Easy peasy rainbow s’mores dip. 
• Or try these sparkly rainbow marshmallow kabobs. 
• Still looking? Here is a roundup of 40 rainbow food ideas. 

frosting vs royal icing

What is the difference between frosting and royal icing? 

Royal icing (a mixture of meringue powder, or egg whites, and confectioner’s sugar) is just right for cookie decorating and flat designs. It dries very well, so you can package and ship decorated cookies.

But to decorate cakes, cupcakes, and cookies with 3D designs, such as flowers or textured decorations,  buttercream frosting (a mixture of butter or shortening, confectioner’s sugar, and milk) is best because it holds its shape. For these recipes, I recommend either my traditional buttercream frosting recipe OR my bakery frosting recipe. 

Here, I use the cake decorating technique on cookies with the bakery frosting. Note that frosting doesn’t dry as hard as royal icing, so you will not be able to stack the cookies. 

how to make rainbow cookies

you will need:

• cut-out sugar cookie recipe
• bakery frosting recipe (or buttercream frosting)
• 2 1/4-inch circle cookie cutter
• food coloring (Red, Electric Orange, Egg Yellow, Electric Green, and Sky Blue used here)
• 5 disposable decorating bags
• 5 couplers (optional)
• 5 assorted open star decorating tips (size 17, size 21, size 32, and size 199 used here)
• light corn syrup (optional) 

what to do

Prepare the cookie dough according to the recipe. Chill, roll it out, cut out circles, bake, and let cool completely.

Prepare the frosting recipe. Divide and tint five colors: Red, orange, yellow, green, and blue. Assemble the decorating bags with couplers (if using) and tips. Fill with each color and close tightly with rubber bands. 

Use any star tip for any color. Here, I used size 32 for red and yellow, 21 for orange, 17 for green, and 199 for blue. 

Pipe dots of red across the top, and then pipe rows in each color. 

TIP: If you find the frosting doesn’t stick to the cookie when you pipe, smear a very thin layer of light corn syrup on the cookie first. 

Let set. Refrigerate the cookies for firmly-set frosting. 

Yield: 25 cookies

rainbow cookies

Print

Rainbow cookies with piped frosting for Pride Month!

Ingredients

• cut-out sugar cookie recipe
• bakery frosting recipe (or buttercream frosting)
• 2 1/4-inch circle cookie cutter
• food coloring (Red, Electric Orange, Egg Yellow, Electric Green, and Sky Blue used here)
• 5 disposable decorating bags
• 5 couplers (optional)
• 5 assorted open star decorating tips (size 17, size 21, size 32, and size 199 used here)
• light corn syrup (optional)

Instructions

Prepare the cookie dough according to the recipe. Chill, roll it out, cut out circles, bake, and let cool completely.

Prepare the frosting recipe. Divide and tint five colors: Red, orange, yellow, green, and blue. Assemble the decorating bags with couplers (if using) and tips. Fill with each color and close tightly with rubber bands. 

Use any star tip for any color. Here, I used size 32 for red and yellow, 21 for orange, 17 for green, and 199 for blue. 

Pipe dots of red across the top, and then pipe rows in each color. 

TIP: If you find the frosting doesn't stick to the cookie when you pipe, smear a very thin layer of light corn syrup on the cookie first. 

Let set. Refrigerate the cookies for firmly-set frosting. 

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

25

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 21Total Fat: 1gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 12mgCarbohydrates: 3gFiber: 0gSugar: 3gProtein: 0g

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