Watermelon Cookies

If you need a fun and colorful dessert for a picnic or cookout, try these delicious watermelon cookies! This is a simple sugar cookie dough that's been dotted with miniature chocolate chips, then rolled in a colored glaze to finish them off.

I've actually made these many times and published them on Familycorner.com, a website I used to own, several years ago. I did adapt the recipe a little bit over the years though. I made them again just the other day and they were polished off in no time. Here's the step by step instructions.

Just a quick note. These cookies only look like little watermelon slices, they do not taste like watermelon. Apparently, watermelon extract is available, but I'm not sure that's something I would care for in a cookie. ;)

Watermelon Cookies
printable version


Sugar Cookie Dough
3 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 tablespoon slices
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 drops red food coloring

1 cup miniature semi sweet morsels

Glaze
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
2-3 tablespoons milk
green paste food coloring OR 15-20 drops green food coloring

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

Add butter slices, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and red food coloring to your mixer's bowl. Beat on medium speed until incorporated. Don't be concerned if there are small lumps of butter still visible. Turn mixer down to low and gradually add flour mixture. Mix until incorporated and no traces of flour are left. Gather all the dough together using a sturdy rubber spatula.

Remove dough from bowl and separate into two batches. Place one batch between 2 sheets of parchment paper and roll out to about 1/4" thick. Repeat with the other batch. Chill in the refrigerator for two hours.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and have insulated baking sheets ready.

*Note: Insulated baking sheets are best for baking sugar cookies. If you only have regular cookie sheets, line them with parchment or a silicon baking mat.

Remove one batch of rolled dough from the refrigerator. Cut out circles with a cookie cutter or biscuit cutter.

Use a dough scraper or a sharp knife to cut each circle in half. Place the halves on the baking sheet, about 1" apart.

Gently press miniature semi sweet morsels into each semicircle.

Bake for 6-8 minutes, checking after 6 minutes (mine were perfect in 7 minutes). Cookies will be slightly puffed but not browned. Do not allow cookies to get too brown or you'll have dry crumbly cookies. Remove from oven and allow cookies to cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes. Remove to wire cooling rack and allow to cool completely.

For each batch of cookie dough, after cutting out the circles, gather the scraps together and reroll them, place back in the refrigerator. Repeat until all dough has been used.

For the Glaze 

In a small bowl, mix together all ingredients to form a glaze. You may add drops of milk to thin glaze if it is too thick.

Cover counter with wax paper and place cooling racks over the wax paper to catch drips. To decorate the cookies, roll the round end of the cookie in the glaze, allow excess to drip off into bowl.

Place cookies on cooling racks, excess glaze will drip through onto the wax paper. Wait for glaze to set before moving the cookies.

If you are crafty, try my Watermelon Picnic Caddy on Crafts by Amanda!