Watermelon Cookies

These adorable watermelon cookies start with a simple sugar cookie dough that’s dotted with mini chocolate chips and rolled in a colored glaze to resemble your favorite juicy summer fruit!

Why this recipe works

Watermelon cookies are a fun and colorful dessert for summer picnics and cookouts. A sweet sugar cookie base is dipped and rolled in tinted glaze while a few mini chocolate chips resemble the seeds of a watermelon. Though these cookies don’t taste like watermelon, they do look like cute miniature slices. They never last long on the dessert table, that’s for sure!

Ingredients you will need

Get all measurements, ingredients, and instructions in the printable version at the end of this post.

Ingredient Info and Substitution Suggestions

COOKIE – Flour, baking powder, salt, unsalted butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract are what you will need to make the classic sugar cookie dough. A touch of red food coloring will tint the dough a subtle pink color to mimic watermelon.

GLAZE – The glaze is a simple combination of powdered sugar, milk, and food coloring. I prefer to use paste gel food coloring as the colors are more vibrant, but liquid food coloring will also do the trick – you may just need to use a bit more to achieve a bright color.

How to Make Watermelon Cookies

These step by step photos and instructions are here to help you visualize how to make this recipe. You can Jump to Recipe to get the printable version of this recipe, complete with measurements and instructions at the bottom.

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 cookie 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.
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. 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.

Glazing the Watermelon Cookies

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 and allow excess to drip off into bowl.
Place watermelon cookies on cooling racks, excess glaze will drip through onto the wax paper. Wait for glaze to set before moving the cookies.

Frequently Asked Questions & Expert Tips

Do these cookies taste like watermelon?

These cookies only look like watermelon slices, they do not taste like them. If you want to experiment, they make watermelon extract that you can easily substitute the vanilla for – though I have not tried it myself!

Can I make them ahead of time?

Yes, you can easily prepare the cookies, glaze included, a day or two in advance and store them in an air-tight container at room temperature until ready to serve.

Can you freeze watermelon cookies?

You can freeze the cookie dough for future use. Simply wrap the dough ball in plastic wrap and place it inside a gallon-sized zipper bag. Freeze for up to 2 months. Let the dough soften a bit until it’s pliable and begin rolling it out between parchment paper to cut shapes from.

How do you store watermelon cookies?

Store your watermelon cookies in an air-tight container kept at room temperature for 3-4 days.

Close up photo of a Watermelon Cookie with a bite taken out

Serving Suggestions

If there’s one fruit that screams sweet summertime, it’s watermelon. Serve these cute watermelon cookies at potlucks or whip them together for a family baking session with the kids. Pair with a tall glass of cold milk and enjoy!

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This post originally appeared here on May 29, 2010 and has since been updated with new photos and expert tips.

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Amanda Davis

President at Amanda's Creative Studio, Inc.

Amanda Davis is the entrepreneurial mom of four grown children and four step children. She and her husband, Chef Antoine, love to cook together creating recipes for this blog. Amanda also make kid's crafts and creates decorative items for her home. She is a crafting expert and guru in the kitchen and has appeared online and in print publications many times over the years. She is also a craft book author five times over and product developer as well as the owner of FunFamilyCrafts.com. You can find her on social media by using the buttons to the left!