Meet Jell-O Cookies: The Colorful Vintage Recipe That’s the Stuff of Holiday Baking Dreams

Fruity, colorful, and grandma-approved!

A colorful vintage cookie recipe circulating on Reddit this season is exactly what you need to make the holiday sugar cookies of your dreams. Jell-O Cookies (dubbed  Jell-O Crumbles by a Redditor’s Grandma Shirley) are sweet, buttery cookies that get their bright, vibrant coloring from flavored gelatin powder. As a bonus, the colorful powders mixed into the sugar-cookie-esque baked treats gives them a hint of fruity flavor as well.

Redditor r/Trixieroo shared her grandmother’s Jell-O Crumbles cookie recipe a few years ago, saying, “My family has been making these since the 1960s.” Along with her post, Trixieroo shared a beautiful photo of her most recent batch of Jell-O Cookies, in festive red and green hues thanks to the use of cherry and lime Jell-O.

What Exactly Are Jell-O Cookies?

But just what are Jell-O Cookies? The exact origin of these colorful cookies is up for debate. While Trixieroo says her family has been making “Jell-O Crumbles” since the 1960s, a vintage Jell-O ad attributed to the 1970s with the recipe has also made the rounds on sites like Pinterest. Both versions of the recipe appear to be the same—a cookie similar to a basic sugar or spritz cookie but with a pop of color thanks to the addition of flavored gelatin.

In that 1970s Jell-O ad, the cookies are called Jell-O Fruity Cookies, not Crumbles (Grandma Shirley might have gotten her naming idea from the ad copy that reads, “How to make Jell-O that crumbles”).  “They come in every holiday color. They come in 15 fruity flavors. They’re Jell-O on the inside and the outside,” the ad says, then adds this advice: “To help remind you to make fruity cookies tomorrow, put out some Jell-O tonight.”

Testing the Vintage Jell-O Cookies Recipe

It was time to test this vintage classic. While I didn’t have Jell-O in the pantry to put out the night before, I did have the rest of the ingredients on hand: flour, baking powder, butter, sugar, vanilla and an egg.

After a quick run to the grocery store for some cherry and lime Jell-O, it was time to put the recipe to the test. It’s pretty straightforward: powdered gelatin gets mixed into a classic and simple sugar  cookie batter, which then takes on both the color of the gelatin and a bit of the fruity flavoring.

Mixing the cookie batter is simple. Start by creaming butter, sugar, and Jell-O together. (I used a hand mixer, beating the ingredients in a large mixing bowl until creamed.) After beating the whole thing until it’s light and fluffy, blend in the eggs and vanilla. Lastly, add in the flour mixture bit by bit and mix until fully blended.

While Trixieroo used a cookie press to make her Jell-O Crumbles in a more spritz-style shape, I have always struggled to get a cookie press to work without making a mess in my kitchen. Instead,  I shaped the dough into one-inch balls, placed them two inches apart on baking sheets, and flattened them with the bottom of a drinking glass until they were a perfect, round sugar cookie shape. The cookies bake at 400°F until they’re lightly browned, cool on the pan for a few minutes to firm up and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Since I had some holiday sprinkles in my pantry, I added some red and green sprinkles to some of the cookies before baking for decoration. Others, I dusted with a bit of powdered sugar when they were fresh from the oven to give them a sugary white appearance. They’d also be delicious iced with a bit of cookie icing then topped with glittery holiday sprinkles.

How Did the Jell-O Cookies Taste?

They were definitely cute to look at, but how did these vintage Jell-O Cookies taste? I found them to be moist and buttery with the perfect hint of cherry or lime flavor, depending on the color of Jell-O used. And the color was stunning—the perfect hue of red or green that looked beautiful when plated all together. I could definitely see myself making them again, whether as holiday baking or if I needed a specific color of cookie for an event like a baby shower or birthday party.

As with most vintage Jell-O recipes, like Jell-O Poke Cake and Cranberry Jell-O Salad, these cookies did not lead me astray. I’d gladly welcome Grandma Shirley’s Jell-O Crumbles back into my own kitchen and only wish I could share a plate with her and hear her stories about the years when she baked them for her own family.

Grandma Shirley’s Jell-O Crumbles Recipe

Based on 1970s vintage Jell-O Fruit Cookies recipe

Ingredients:

• 4 cups sifted all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon double-acting baking powder

• 1-1/2 cups butter

• 1 cup sugar

• 1 package (3 ounces) jello gelatin, any flavor

• 1 egg

• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 400°F.

2. Sift flour with baking powder. Cream butter. Gradually add sugar and gelatin, cream well after each addition. Add egg and vanilla; beat well. Gradually add flour mixture, mixing after each addition until smooth.

3. Force dough through a cookie press onto two ungreased baking sheets. Decorate as desired.

4. Bake for about 13-14 minutes, or until golden brown at the edges. Store in a loosely covered container. Makes about 5 dozen cookies.