Sugar Cookie Roses

By Wendy Sondov · Published: Dec 10, 2016 · Modified: Feb 6, 2022 · This post may contain affiliate links · As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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A bouquet of Sugar Cookie Roses makes any day special! These eye catching cookies are fun to make and share! Simple to make with packaged cookie dough.

Red and white rose shaped sugar cookies.

Why you'll love this recipe

Sugar Cookie Roses are the final addition to a week of Time Saver Recipes. Like the other 6 recipes, this one uses a shortcut ingredient to speed up preparation time.

Sugar Cookie Roses are made with a roll of refrigerated sugar cookie dough and a little flour to thicken the dough for rolling out. A bit of extract adds flavor and a few drops of food coloring turns plain dough into flowers.

Closeup of a red rose sugar cookie with green cookie dough leaves.

This is an edible craft project. Making the Time Saver dough takes just a few minutes.

Creating and baking the flowers takes approximately 1- 1 ½ hours. The dough is easy to work with and doesn’t require any chilling time** (see below).

After experimenting with a few different approaches, the process photos and recipe describe what I found to be the easiest and fastest method.

Instructions

This is an overview of the instructions. Detailed instructions are in the recipe card below.

Follow the instructions for adapting the packaged refrigerated cookie dough. Roll out the dough to ⅛” thickness, between two sheets of parchment paper. Cut out circles with a 2”-2 ½” cookie cutter. With a sheet of parchment paper or wax paper on the work surface, arrange three dough circles in a vertical row, with edges overlapping slightly.
Starting at the top, roll dough circles down into a cylinder.
Pinching the center gently as you roll to close any dough cracks.
Use a knife to cut the cylinder in half.

Instructions: two rose cookies, cut green dough circle in fourths, add two leaves per cookie, bake.

Gently dip the un-cut (rose petal) ends in sparkling sugar, then place cookies, cut edge down, on the prepared baking sheet 3” apart.
Roll out the green dough and cut out circles. Cut each circle into fourths.
Press two pieces of the cut green circle leaves onto each rose cylinder.
Bake 1 baking sheet at a time for 15-16 minutes.

Storage

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 7 days.

Tips and variations

Refrigerated cookie dough used to be less mushy. It was meant to be sliced, now it is meant to be spooned. I added flour to create a roll-out consistency.
Though I added as little flour as possible, the flavor of the cookies was effected. Adding a bit more flavoring took care of that. I used citrus flavoring in this cookie (fiori di sicilia or orange), but vanilla, almond, or anise would be good choices too.
I tried baking the rolled up roses on a baking sheet and in a mini-cupcake pan. My final choice was to stick with the baking pan, but the mini-cupcake pan could also potentially work.
The rose shaped cookie cups from the cupcake pan are cute and pretty, but the thickness makes them difficult to eat as they become crunchier during longer storage. If the cookie cups will be eaten within 2-3 days, baking in a mini-cupcake pan is an option.
I experimented with chilling the dough flowers before baking, in an attempt to get more defined petals. Chilling seems to produce a slightly different shape, but not more defined petals.
The roses made from chilled dough flop over during baking and end up looking like a bud or a rose on its side. The roses made from unchilled dough most often settled downward during baking, producing what looks like an open rose seen from above. Though both shapes are pretty, I prefer to go with less time and skip the chilling.
Cookie roses make beautiful treats for a baby shower, bridal shower, Valentine's Day, and Mother's Day.

Closeup showing rose cookies the thickness of mini cupcakes.

More time saving recipes

Chocolate Covered Cherry Bars are chewy and chocolaty, with a sweet-tart tang from dried cherries and preserves. Save time using packaged sugar cookie dough.

Cinnamon Chip Biscotti is a crunchy cinnamon cookie. Super quick and easy to make when you start with a cake mix.

Gingerbread Spice Cookies are a chewy, spiced cake mix cookie!

Butterscotch Blondie Bars are full of warm and cozy butterscotch flavor. These chewy bars save time with a cake mix.

Peppermint Crunch Cookies are crisp sugar cookies topped with chocolate and crushed peppermint candy. Another simple recipe starting with packaged cookie dough.

Mocha White Chocolate Biscotti start with packaged sugar cookie dough and are transformed into a crunchy chocolate espresso cookie with white chocolate chunks.

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