Sea turtle sugar cookies combine soft, chewy sugar cookies with green food coloring and a fun shape to make cookies that kids and adults alike will love.
These cookies melt in your mouth filled with buttery and sweet flavors. My husband always expects to come home to some at least once a week, but they usually only last the night.
Sea Turtle Sugar Cookies
This Turtle Sugar Cookie was inspired by my bear claw recipe on this site, and pairs well with this hot chocolate bomb recipe or our Oreo frappuccino recipe.
Why You Will Love this Recipe
- These cute little turtles are perfect for any occasion including birthday parties, family gatherings, or just as everyday snacks.
- The green gel food coloring and edible marker make it easy to customize the look of your cookies
- With just a few ingredients and minimal time involved in the preparation, these turtle sugar cookies are quick and easy to whip up
- Once you try one of these delicious treats, you won’t be able to stop eating them, they're addictive little treats
- These yummy treats can please everyone from adults of any age to kids.
Top Tip: Chocolate chips, rainbow sprinkles, toasted chopped nuts, chopped dried fruit, or M&M's. Add these after blending your butter and egg into the sugar cookie mix. This is my favorite hack.
Ingredients
Most of these ingredients will already be in your pantry or cupboard, whether you're a regular baker or not. Food coloring is something that can simply be picked up at your local grocery store.
Be sure to check the recipe card at the end of the post for the exact quantities.
- Sugar
- Butter
- Vanilla
- Egg
- Flour
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Green gel food coloring
- Black Edible Markers
Substitutions and Variations
- Go Nuts - Add your favorite chopped nuts like peanuts, hazelnuts, almonds, pecans, walnuts, or shredded coconut to give your cookies added crunch.
- Vanilla extract - Vanilla is a universal crowd-pleaser, but feel free add a teaspoon of your desired extract flavor to your dough like almond, coconut, peppermint, lemon, banana, maple, orange, or rum extract instead.
- Green gel food coloring - Use a different color or none at all instead.
- Decorate Differently - Use your imagination or white, caramel, butterscotch, peanut butter, or dark chocolate chips instead for eyes and/or tail decoration.
- Add Drizzle - Melt a little chocolate or peanut butter, place in a resealable bag, snip the corner off, and squeeze in a pattern on top of the cookie.
- Black Edible Markers - Once cookies are cool, add a dab of frosting before pressing on edible eyeballs or simply add a dab of frosting on each cool cookie instead.
Instructions
Turtle Sugar Cookies have never been made so easy, in a short number of steps. You'll have your guest asking you how you made them so fast.
You'll find the highlights here, but the complete instructions are in the recipe card at the end of the post.
1: Combine the butter, sugar, and wet ingredients.
2: Add the dry ingredients and mix.
3: Add green food coloring gel and mix until combined.
4: Scoop out cookie dough balls and flatten them with a fork to make the bodies. Then, roll out five small balls of dough for the head and legs.
5: Bake until the bottoms are brown.
6: Add eyes with a black food marker.
Hint: Press the head and legs gently into the body to create the turtles. Don't press too hard or you'll disfigure the body of the cookie.
If you love recipes like this, you may also enjoy our penguin cookies or our Maple Cookies With Brown Sugar.
Storage
Room Temperature: Store for up to 5 days in an air-tight container.
Refrigerator: Store for up to 10 days in an air-tight container.
Freezer: Store for up to 3 months in an air-tight, freezer-safe container.
Make Ahead: These cookies stay fresh and delicious for several days, so feel free to make them in advance.
What to Serve with Sugar Cookies
These delicious sea turtle sugar cookies are perfect with a glass of milk or a cup of coffee. They're also great with ice cream like these recipes.
Tips
- Make sure to preheat the oven before baking for optimal results.
- Use a cookie scoop or spoon and then roll the dough between your hands to form uniform-sized balls.
- To get an even color, knead small amounts of green gel food coloring into the dough until you get desired shade.
- Keep an eye on them while they’re in the oven and take them out once the bottoms begin browning slightly
- To prevent sticking, line your baking sheet with parchment paper before putting the cookie scoops on top; this will also make cleanup easier afterward!
- When cookies are cooled, carefully draw eyes on them with an edible marker.
FAQ
Yes, it's important to wait until cookies are completely cooled before adding any decorations such as eyes, as they may melt or run off if added too soon.
Food coloring is not required for this recipe; however, it can be used to achieve a green color, or your desired color, throughout the dough if desired. The amount of food coloring used will depend on the brand that you are using.you can use any type of food coloring you would like such as liquid or gel food colorings, to achieve the desired color for your turtle sugar cookies.
Simply press down each cookie shell with the back of a fork in two different directions, starting at the center and working outward. This will help to ensure that each cookie is about ½-inch thick afterwards.
More Sugar Cookie Recipes
Do you like sugar cookies? Here some recipes you may also like to try.
Turtle Sugar Cookies
Ready to get cooking? Remember that you can print this recipe if you would like.
Turtle Sugar Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- ⅔ cups sugar
- ½ cup butter softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract -
- 1 large egg
- 1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour -
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Green gel food coloring
- Black Edible Markers
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400ºF.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat sugar, butter, and vanilla until creamy.
- Add egg and beat again.
- Add dry ingredients until dough is smooth.
- Add green gel food coloring to the dough and beat again until the color is uniform throughout. The amount used will depend on the type of food coloring you are using.
- Using a 1-tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop dough and roll it into round balls to form the bodies of the turtles. Place them on a greased cookie sheet.
- Using a fork, press the dough balls down in two different directions to create the shell design. Cookies should be about ½-inch thick after being pressed down.
- For each turtle, roll a head and four small feet. Gently connect them to the bodies.
- Bake cookies for 5-7 minutes or until bottoms begin to brown.
- Place cookies onto a cooling rack to cool.
- When cookies are cooled, carefully draw eyes on with an edible marker.
Notes
- Make sure to preheat the oven before baking for optimal results.
- Use a cookie scoop or spoon and then roll the dough between your hands to form uniform-sized balls.
- To get an even color, knead small amounts of green gel food coloring into the dough until you get desired shade.
- Keep an eye on them while they’re in the oven and take them out once the bottoms begin browning slightly.
- To prevent sticking, line your baking sheet with parchment paper before putting the cookie scoops on top; this will also make cleanup easier afterward!
- When cookies are cooled, carefully draw eyes on them with an edible marker.
Nutrition
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