I’m celebrating beautiful fall foliage with these Fall Cookies! Don’t be intimidated, these leaf sugar cookies are easier to make than they look!
FALL COOKIES
Fall is my absolute favorite season for a few reasons, but mainly for the beautiful fall foliage. Surprisingly there are still some leaves left on the trees after Hurricane Sandy, but sadly the last of them are beginning to fall. My little toddler, Mia, also loves the fall leaves. As we drive down the road she says things like: “Ohhh, pretty leaves” or “Look, Mommy! Yellow leaves, mommy’s favorite.” I wanted to make something that would capture the beauty of the season and something that would excite my 2-year-old, Mia. These cookies satisfied both, and not to mention they were pretty delicious, too.
Disclosure: This post for Fall Leaf Sugar Cookies includes affiliate links.
Cook’s Note for Fall Foliage Sugar Cookies:
- This dough can be a little sticky to handle, so make sure it’s chilled well before you break it into pieces and roll it out.
- I used my favorite adjustable rolling pin for this recipe. What I love about the rolling pin are the rings that are placed on either end. These rings ensure the dough is rolled out to the desired thickness.
COOK’S TOOLS – FALL COOKIES:
- mixing bowls
- hand mixer
- food coloring
- pastry mat
- adjustable rolling pin
- baking sheets
- silicone baking mats
- wire rack
- orange sanding sugar
More Fall Cookies!
If you’re hungry for some more fall cookies, then try my Pumpkin Blossom Cookies that are made with just 4 simple ingredients! Another great choice is my Pumpkin Spice Snickerdoodles that are so simple to make; grab the kids because they’ll love rolling them into the sugar! Lastly, these Fall M&M Cookies are amazing! They’re thick, chewy, and studded with Fall M&M’s!
Fall Foliage Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- red gel food coloring
- yellow gel food coloring
- orange gel food coloring
- leaf cookie cutter
- orange decorating sugar
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and confectioners’ sugar on medium-high speed until smooth, about 1-2 minutes. Beat in the egg and vanilla extract. Mix in the flour and salt on low speed until just incorporated.
- Divide the dough into 3 separate chunks and color one red, one yellow, and one orange. Form each dough chunk into a ball and wrap tightly with plastic wrap. Refrigerate until chilled and firm, at least 2 hours.
- When you are ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 375˚ F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- Cut each dough disk in half. Work with half the dough at a time, re-wrap what you're not using and return it to the refrigerator.
- Flour your work surface. Break the dough into small chunks and arrange randomly on your work surface. Squish the dough together to form one disk.
- Roll the dough out to about ¼-inch thickness. Cut with a leaf cookie cutter and transfer to the prepared baking sheets.
- Using the blunt edge of a butter knife, gently mark the veins of the leaf and sprinkle with orange decorating sugar (optional).
- Bake 7-10 minutes (depending on the size of your cookies), rotating the sheets halfway through baking until fully cooked but not at all browned. Allow to cool on the baking sheet 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. *If you're using a large cookie cutter, you'll need to increase your baking time by a few minutes.
- Repeat the process with the remaining cookie dough.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
These Colorful Leaf Sugar Cookies first appeared on FFF in November of 2012. I’ve recently updated the pictures and post, but you can see the original picture below.
Jillian
Latest posts by Jillian (see all)
- How to Reheat Quiche Tutorial - August 17, 2019
- Easy Broccoli Quiche Recipe – less than $5.00 to make! - August 17, 2019
- Easy Ham and Cheese Quiche Recipe - August 16, 2019
How to Make Buttermilk Substitute with Vinegar or Lemon Juice
mommyzoid
Jill, this is an AWESOME recipe! I love the look of the dough all squished together!
Stephanie @ Mommyzoid.com
Jillian
Thanks Stephanie! And thanks for stopping by! 🙂
MJ
These look amazing! Well done and thank you for sharing. I’ve pinned these to try soon 🙂
Jillian
Thanks for stopping by and pinning! 🙂
Amy
Hi Jill,
The outcome of these cookies were amazing! A huge hit at my Thanksgiving table! But even after refrigerating the dough it became very sticky and hard to work with. Any suggestions besides the obvious (more flour)? Great recipe though! They taste great and look so pretty!
Jillian
Hi Amy,
I’m so glad you liked the recipe! To be honest I’m not 100% sure about the answer to your question, but I’ll try. Perhaps the food coloring altered the dough? Did you use liquid or gel color? Also was your kitchen hot or humid (were you cooking something on the stove top?). Unfortunately more flour and more refrigeration are the my only tricks for curing sticky dough.
Jillian
Hello! Fall and cookies are my two favorite things so when I saw this recipe I become instantly excited! I have a question though, you say gel food coloring is used in this – is there a particular reason you use this over liquid? Or do you think either would be fine?
Thank you in advance – I can’t wait to try these!
<3
Jillian
Hi Jill! I favor gel food coloring over liquid mainly because of past experiences with liquid food coloring turning frosting into a liquid. With that said, I’m not 100% sure what will happen when you use liquid food coloring with cookie dough. My gut says it should be fine since cookie dough is way more substantial than frosting. I hope this helps, and I can’t wait to hear how these cookies turn out for you!
Allison - Celebrating Sweets
My kids would love making these! They are gorgeous!
Brian Jones
They look fantastic, such great colours, bet they taste great too.
Emma | The Cake MIstress
Such a clever idea! The mixing of dough gives the leaves such a realistic effect like the changing colours of autumn. Love it!
Jillian
Thank you!
Silvia
I’ve never seen cookies in a leaf shape. They’re so cute!!
Sandra G
Thank you for this beautiful cookie idea!!
Mine didn’t turn out as spectacular as yours, but just loved the colors!!
Jillian
They are beautiful. I have found that if the dough gets too warm after being mixed and rolled out, then the colors will not look as good, and the edges of the cookies won’t be as crisp. If your dough is too warm, then pop it back in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Adrianne
You have got the theme spot on for these cookies! I love the colours and the instructions are easy to follow. Cheers!
Jillian
Thank you! 🙂
Emily
These are so pretty, what a great idea!
Jillian
Thank you!
Michelle - The Last Food Blog
These cookies are so pretty! I love all the colours of Autumn and these will be perfect for the holidays. I’m not a great baker but will have to give these a go x
Jillian
Thank you! I hope you love the recipe!
Mary Bostow
Oh yum! My whole family would go crazy for these! Love Love Love this recipe! I’m sure these tastes are amazing! I want to eat it every day!
Jillian
They do taste good. 🙂
Shinta Simon
This is so creative! An absolutely adorable idea for Autumn. I am pinning away!
Jillian
I’m so glad you like them! 🙂
Dayna
These cookies are delicious and beautiful!
Natalie
These cookies look so pretty! SO creative and beautiful!
Jillian
Thank you so much!