Funfetti Cookie Dough Pie with Rainbow Buttercream

Skillet cookie meet cookie cake, and then meet the happy colorfulness of rainbow funfetti. This dessert is one of those that’s easy enough to eat whenever, but still cute enough for celebrating any special occasion. I love the chewy, doughy center combined with the crispy cookie edges; plus you can’t beat rainbow buttercream. So why not whip up a quick funfetti cookie dough pie?

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Funfetti was always this magical mystery to me as a kid. I would devour those bake sale cupcakes, not spending much energy on how or why it was so colorful and fun. But equally as delicious was the rainbow frosting piled high on top.

This cookie dough pie highlights the bright colors that make funfetti so joyful and nostalgic. Plus, it’s super easy to make: faster than pie, simpler than cookies, and cutesier than cake. It’s just a dessert full of absolute delight, and plenty of sweet vanilla goodness!

What You Need to Get Started

You can easily find all of the ingredients for this funfetti cookie dough pie at your grocery store. You can also order online using Amazon Fresh for grocery delivery.

• Fridge: Butter, Egg, Lemon juice, Heavy cream
• Pantry: Sugar, Brown sugar, All purpose flour, Cornstarch, Baking soda, Rainbow sprinkles, Confectioner’s sugar, Gel food coloring
• Spice Rack: Vanilla extract, Almond extract, Salt
• Equipment: Stand mixer, Mixing bowl, Whisk, Cast iron skillet, Piping bag, Star tip

Let’s Make Funfetti Cookie Dough Pie

Making a skillet cookie, cookie cake, or this deliciously wonderful hybrid that I’m calling cookie dough pie is super simple. It comes together faster than any of its namesakes, so you might as well preheat your oven and grab a seasoned cast iron skillet.

Begin making the cookie dough by using a stand mixer. Cream together the butter under sugar on medium-low speed until it’s fluffy, which takes about two minutes. It’s important to do this, because it’s the step that helps your cookies’ texture, by creating tiny air pockets in the butter.

Add in the eggs, extracts, and lemon juice, and continue mixing until smooth and combined. The vanilla and almond extracts both provide delicious flavor. I love adding almond to cookie dough for a little something extra. The lemon juice here serves both as an acid to activate the baking soda and also for another layer of flavor.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, start combining the dry ingredients, and whisk them all together. This recipe uses only all-purpose flour for a light and fluffy texture, plus cornstarch for a bit of extra cakiness. Baking soda is for fluffiness, salt for flavor, and of course you can’t forget the rainbow sprinkles.

You want to make sure you are using jimmies-style sprinkles here. Those are the long, thin ones that are standard at most ice-cream parlors. The harder, rounder nonpareils bleed too much color, so you end up with a mishmash instead of fun rainbow pockets.

Once combined, add the dry ingredients all at once into the mixer bowl with the wet. Now, you’ll want to be careful not to overmix. You can run your mixer on low briefly, under a minute, just until there are no large pockets of flour. If you are worried about overmixing, use a spatula and fold the flour in by hand instead.

When you have your dough ready to go, press it into the prepared skillet. I suggest using a well-seasoned cast iron skillet to bake this cookie dough pie. However, if your oven-safe pan doesn’t have a good layer of seasoning, add a little bit of vegetable oil first.

Spread the dough into the pan, pressing it evenly, using the heel of your hand. There is no need to purposely push it up the sides to create a crust. As it cooks and cools, an edge will naturally form.

Bake the cookies for about fifteen or twenty minutes. When it’s ready, the edges will appear dry, about an inch in toward the center. However, the center will still look somewhat gooey and underdone. Residual heat will keep cooking the middle, but this timing does end up fairly doughy.

If you would like your cookie to be thoroughly done throughout, more like a traditional cookie cake, leave it in the oven for an extra five minutes, watching the edges carefully to be sure they don’t darken. Let the cookie cool completely in the pan on top of a trivet or cooling rack.

How to Make Rainbow Buttercream

While the cookie is cooling, it’s time to make some rainbow buttercream! This isn’t much different from any standard American buttercream frosting, but the color does add a little extra enjoyment when serving this cookie dough pie.

Again, use your stand mixer with the paddle attachment, but this time add only the butter at first. Whip it up on medium speed until it has visibly lightened in color and fluffed up in texture. This will take about 5 minutes.

Then, add in confectioner’s sugar in batches, thoroughly mixing it in, and use a silicone spatula to scrape any stuck frosting down the sides of the bowl. With the last batch of sugar, you can also add in the heavy cream for texture and the extracts for flavor. Mix until everything is smooth and combined.

To make the rainbow frosting, you are going to want to set up your piping bag inside of a tall, sturdy cup. First, place the star piping tip in the bag, and put it upside down in the cup. Fold the top edge of the bag over the side of the cup.

Add drops of food coloring to the piping bag, allowing it to run down the bag. Then fill the bag with frosting. I used two evenly distributed drops each of yellow, green, and red food coloring to match the colors included in my rainbow sprinkles mix. If you use different sprinkles, you may want to coordinate different colors.

If the food dye doesn’t drip down the sides of the piping bag, you can use a toothpick to help guide it. There should be colored stripes around the bag before filling it with frosting. Pipe the frosting onto the cooled cookie in whatever pattern you desire. The colors from the food coloring will mix together and form a rainbow tie dye effect.

How to Serve Cookie Dough Pie

You can dig right into this and eat it skillet cookie style. Or if you let it firm up for about an hour, you’ll be able to cut it into slices and serve like a cookie cake. To make this in advance, wait until the frosting crusts over, then cover the entire cookie pie or individual pieces tightly with plastic wrap and store at room temperature for a couple days.

The best way to enjoy a slice of this cookie is to wash it down with an equally colorful birthday cake martini. For something a little bit warmer, you can’t go wrong with raspberry white hot chocolate.

Personally, I think this colorful cookie pie would be the perfect centerpiece of a dessert table or spread. Fill it out with a variety of flavors like earl grey lemon bars, chocolate peanut butter cookie cups, and cinnamon roll cupcakes.

Use Up Leftover Ingredients

• Almond extract is my favorite flavor to add to cookies, like mini skillet cookies for two!
• Lemon juice adds just a little extra acidity to a mandarin orange posset tart.
• Gel food coloring adds something special to peppermint stick cupcakes.
• Flour, butter, eggs, and sugar are the basics behind a lot of my favorite recipes. While you’ve got your skillet ready, try a plum buckle!

Special Equipment

• Stand mixer
• Mixing bowl
• Whisk
• Cast iron skillet
• Piping bag
• Star tip

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