As a tribute to Sally, these Nightmare Before Christmas Sally Sugar Cookies represent her dress in a fun and colorful sugar cookie recipe! Complete with a patchwork look, including the stitches.
Table of Contents
Why You Will Love This Recipe
These Nightmare Before Christmas Sally Sugar Cookies are a fun variation of a classic!
Make the sugar cookies in 3-4 colors and represent the dress of a key Nightmare Before Christmas character and the patchwork on Sally’s dress.
Everyone that has seen these cookies have known exactly what they represent, and they are just perfect for your Halloween or movie night viewing party.
The sugar coating on the outside is the perfect final touch!
Ingredients
This is what you need to make the recipe:
- Flour
- Sugar
- Butter
- Eggs
- Vanilla Extract
- Baking Powder
- Salt
- Food Coloring
- Black Icing
Equipment
Here is the equipment you need to make these cookies:
- Stand Mixer (or hand mixer with a bowl)
- 4 Bowls (for mixing the colors in)
- Spatulas
- Baking Sheets
- Silicone Baking Mats (or parchment paper)
- Measuring Cups
- Measuring Spoons
Instruction Overview
First get ready by putting some of the sugar aside in a small bowl, preheating the oven to 350F, and lining baking sheets with silicone baking mats.
Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl.
In a stand mixer or large bowl with a hand mixer, beat the remaining sugar and butter together.
Continue beating and add the vanilla extract and one egg at a time until fully incorporated.
Slowly add the flour mixture into the egg mixture while beating.
Separate the dough into 4 bowls, add 3 drops of food coloring, and mix to combine. Add more color if desired.
Take 1/2 Tablespoon of each color and gently roll them together into a ball.
Push the dough until it makes a disk approximately 3/4 inch thick.
Then roll the dough in some additional sugar which will give it some sparkle plus a little bit of crunch!
Place the cookies on the parchment or silicone mat lined baking sheet approximately 2 inches apart.
Bake at 350F for 10 minutes.
After baking, let cool completely before using the black icing to make the stitches on the patchwork. My niece Sadie did this part!
Modifications and Substitutions
Using food gel instead of food coloring will give you deeper, richer colors.
Use any colors you wish! I went with pink, yellow, blue, and purple to stay close to what is represented in the movie.
Kim’s Tips
It is important for the butter to be at room temperature (softened) so that it fully incorporates into the sugar.
Try to flatten the balls of dough with all four colors on top in order to see all four in the cookie.
I chose to keep the colors more muted like her dress in the movie, but you can make them as dark or bright as desired. To make extra bright colors, use a food gel (which is more concentrated) instead of fool coloring.
FAQs
How do I make sugar cookies crispy?
You can make them flatter and/or cook them longer to make them crisper.
What is the best sugar to use for cookies?
This is a preference decision, but most sugar cookies such as this one use granulated sugar. This type of sugar allows the cookies to be crisper, flatter, and lighter in color.
How long do sugar cookies last?
They can last up to a week in an air tight container.
You can also freeze the cooled, baked cookies for up to 3 months.
You can also find more of our Nightmare Before Christmas recipes in the Halloween Recipes list underneath the recipe card below!
Nightmare Before Christmas Sally Sugar Cookies
Equipment
- Stand mixer or hand mixer with large bowl
- Silicone Baking Mats or parchment paper
- Measuring spoons
- Measuring Cups
Ingredients
- 2 cups sugar separated into 1.5 and 1/2 cups
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 14 Tablespoons unsalted butter (1 3/4 sticks) softened
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- food coloring (I used red, yellow, blue, purple) (see note 1)
- black icing
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F with a rack in the middle position.
- Put 1/2 cup of the sugar in a small, shallow bowl for later. Set aside.2 cups sugar
- Line two baking sheets with either silicone baking mats or parchment paper.
- In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.2 ½ cups all-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon salt
- In the bowl of a stand mixer (or large bowl with hand mixer) on medium speed beat together the softened butter and remaining 1.5 cups sugar until light and fluffy, 4-5 minutes.14 Tablespoons unsalted butter, 2 cups sugar
- Add the vanilla and eggs, one at time, to fully incorporate, about 30-60 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 2 large eggs
- Slowly add the flour mixture while mixing to incorporate.
- Separate the dough into four different bowls. To each bowl, start with 3 drops of food coloring and mix with a spoon to combine. Add more coloring if desired as needed.I went with pink, yellow, light blue, and purple. Use any colors as desired.food coloring
- Scoop 1/2 Tablespoon of each of the 4 colors and combine to roll into a ball, gently, so you can still see each color but they are all stuck together.
- Once in a ball shape, gently press to make a disk approximately 3/4 inch thick.
- Roll the dough disk in the small dish of sugar from step 1 to fully coat.
- Place the sugar coated dough disks on the baking sheets approximately 2 inches apart (about 12 per sheet).
- When the first sheet is full, bake in the oven for approximately 10 minutes. Rotate the baking sheet half way through.Continue making the cookies for the 2nd sheet while the 1st is baking.
- Let the cookies sit on the sheet for 7-10 minutes before removing and finishing cooling on a cooling rack.
- Once completely cool, use the black icing to make stitches across the areas where the colors change on the cookies. Do as many or few as desired, both lines and crosses.black icing
- Store in an air tight container for up to a week.
Notes
- Use the food colorings to make pink, yellow, blue, and purple dough. You can also use different colors and/or food gel for deeper and brighter colors. Purple can be difficult to make by mixing, so consider a food gel or pre-made purple food coloring instead of using red and blue together.
- This makes rather large cookies. For smaller cookies, use approximately 1/4 Tablespoon of each dough color per cookie.
- For crispy cookies, cook longer.
- For softer cookies, chill dough for 30 minutes before baking. These cookies are somewhat soft as-is.
Nutrition
More Halloween Recipes
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Love this cookies! It looks so colorful and fun and yummy!
Oh my gosh, these sugar cookies are so cute! It is so easy to make and delicious!