Turmeric Sugar Cookies Recipe on Food52 (2024)

Long story about why I was looking for a cookie with turmeric but so happy I found this one. Love the color, inside & out, & they're delish. Only change was I made them smaller, about 25g each (& I did weigh them; I don't have cookie scoops). They still needed 11 minutes to bake, & they turned out plenty big, about 2-1/2" each.

Can cookie cutters be used for this dough recipe?

I made these cookies exactly as written and they're wonderful! My turmeric was a bit old so next time I'll add more and also make them smaller. I love the reviewer comments and am getting some great ideas for variations (Chinese five-spice? Wow!). This recipe's a keeper. Thanks!

love the flavour but could not get the cookies to spread as thinly as was shown in the video.
what could i have done wrong?

I picked up mostly on the taste of sugar and butter, but maybe my turmeric has losts its flavour. Still super tastey!

I had a strange experience with these cookies! I followed the recipe exactly as written, but I refrigerated the dough for about 5 hours while I was out of the house. When I baked them up, they turned red inside! I'm not kidding, the cookies are golden yellow ish on the outside but the red inside is obvious, when bitten into they are deep red inside. Taste good if not a little... strange.

I made half this recipe and added lemon zest. The texture is perfectly chewy with crisp edges. They're not too sweet and have a great nutty flavor. Thanks for the recipe.

Used King Arthur GF measure for measure flour and they turned out great, y’all! Chilled them for ~30 mins and they kept their shapes fairly well. They’re delicious and subtle and everything I hoped they’d be. Thanks for a great recipe, Emma!

judy December 14, 2018

I love sugar cookies. I have an anise recipe much like this that I love because I Love licorice. I like that I can roll the dough into a log, wrap and put in "icebox" for icebox cookies. I have made versions with orange zest, pecans, brown sugar instead of white, adding chocolate, or candied citrus zest--or both!. I usually use 1/2 AP and 1/2 WW pastry flour. I tell myself it isomer nutritious as I eat another one! This weekends foray for the holidays is orange zest and chopped cranberries. I have several now in logs in the fridge ready to bake when family comes. Happy holidays, folks. I'll have to give turmeric a try. And what about a garam masala or Chinese 5 spice with a hit of chili? Hmmmm so many possibilities for a simple basic dough.

These cookies are delicious!! I made them for my dad who has rheumatoid arthritis. We try to get as much natural anti-inflammatories into him as we can. These cookies will do the trick. Not only were they simple to make but very tasty, too. These will definitely be a regular. Thanks for the great recipe!
Also, I followed the advice of another reviewer and refrigerated the dough longer than 10 minutes. Actually, I refrigerated them overnight. The dough was perfect to work with.

Kt4 December 9, 2018

This sounds very interesting! I'm going to have to give them a try. Thinking I might divide the dough and also add all the Golden Milk seasonings (ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, pinch black pepper) to half for comparison.

Jenny December 5, 2018

I made these exactly as written and they were great! Soft in the middle and just slightly crisp at the edges. The turmeric is indeed very subtle, but I like the mystery of it. I would never guess it was turmeric if I didn’t know. I think they’d be great as an ice cream sandwich!

I made a double batch of these for an early Thanksgiving treat. They are wonderful! I used a gluten free flour blend of sorghum, cornstarch, and tapioca, so I'm not if that influenced the fact that they spread A LOT. They're super thin and huge, but still chewy at the centers, with a crisp crust and edge. I added extra turmeric to the batter, and they're a delightful golden yellow, with an earthy, sweet flavor. So far it has just been myself and my mom who tried them, but we have been picking away at them all evening. These will become a regular in the cookie rotation.

This recipe inspired a whole slew of suger cookies with unexpected flavors. We made a batch and split it into sections and mixed different spices into each. Paprika was a particularly fun one.

Lisa October 27, 2018

These are definitely different, but good for the adventurous one. I substituted half the butter for tahini and used all rice flour. The texture was great, chewy edges and soft-ish in the middle (I like it that way.) I can definitely taste the turmeric. I may make them again and decrease the turmeric slightly and add ground ginger.

My last six are in the oven now. The aroma is delightful & the flavor equally so. I haven't experienced much tumeric but LOVE these (grownup) sugar cookies. I had to bake mine for 13 minutes & the results are crispy edges & chewy center. Yum. I also drop each blob directly into the shallow bowl of sugar crust. Then with finger tips, I sprinkle the mixture onto the blob then gently toss between both hands to form a ball. Note, I did end up with yellow finger tips. LOL. Thank you FOOD52 for this recipe that I'll be using for Christmas!

Great recipe! The Turmeric is not overwhelming and the color is nice. Outsides are crispy and inside is chewy just as the recipe promised. It's a keeper!

I just made these, and they're great! I have a few notes that may be helpful to others (like me) who are not professional bakers:
1. The dough was very wet for us, and we had to keep them in the freezer for about 30 minutes or so, otherwise our hands would be covered in very wet dough and no smooth ball would actually be formed. 10 minutes in the freezer wasn't enough. The dough being wet could be due to a variety of reasons: ambient temperature, humidity, our ingredients, etc but I'm only sharing so that if anyone else goes through the same thing all they need to do is chill it for longer (and don't add more flour).
2. Another comment recommended adding more turmeric. I think it depends on what you want. These were more on the subtle side, but I think the impact of turmeric goes beyond its spicy flavor- the turmeric adds warmth, a brightness, and in a way (a good way) sorts of cuts through the sweetness. We're Indian and we cook with turmeric a lot- I thought the amount of turmeric was just fine but my mom did think we should have added more. And I do want to make these again but with more turmeric! I think it's a matter of preference.
3. I was hesitant to make these because I was baking for kids and thought this recipe would be a bit too "grown up" for them, but they all loved it! I would definitely recommend this recipe to people who are hesitant to make something out of their comfort zone.