It’s much easier than you think to make rainbow swirl frosting at home. Switch out the colors in any combination to make a unique rainbow cake or cookie design. Our helpful step-by-step tutorial will show you the easy DIY technique to get that bakery buttercream frosting for your next birthday party desserts.

How to Make Unicorn Rainbow Frosting

We have been using this multi-colored icing method on cupcakes for years, but you may be surprised that you can use this simple technique to make impressive rainbow cookies and unicorn swirled frosting.

You will need:

• Buttercream frosting
• Gel food coloring
• Plastic wrap
• Small piping bags
• Large piping bag
• Open star piping tip

Rainbow Swirl Icing Method

1. Divide frosting between 3-7 bowls depending on how many colors you are using, and color the frosting using gel food coloring for the most vibrant colors.
2. Transfer each color of frosting to its own small piping bag.
3. Pipe long rows of each color onto a piece of plastic wrap.
4. Roll up the plastic wrap into a log shape and snip off the excess.
5. Place the plastic wrap log into a larger piping bag fitted with an open star tip (such as 1M).

How to Use Rainbow Swirl Icing

You can use this rainbow buttercream on top of:

Cupcakes (try our Homemade Funfetti Cupcakes)

Cut Out Cookies (try our Best Sugar Cookie Recipe EVER)

Best Chocolate Cut Out Cookies

Your favorite homemade or boxed cake recipe.

Rainbow Desserts

These cookies can be made for birthday parties, holidays (such as St. Patrick’s Day), and to celebrate PRIDE month.

Be sure to check out all of our rainbow desserts, like our popular Rainbow Chocolate Chip Cookies and our festive Tie Dyed Rice Krispie Treats.

Frosting Recipes

For the flat flood icing (shown in white and green), I used Small Batch Royal Icing. If you do not wish to make another frosting, you can use store-bought cookie icing such as Wilton.

We do not suggest using canned frosting for the rainbow swirl buttercream. Frosting in a can will droop after you pipe it and will not hold up very well.

For this American Buttercream, you can use full butter or half butter and half shortening, such as Crisco.

(more…)

The post Unicorn Rainbow Frosting appeared first on In Katrinas Kitchen.

I’ve partnered with McCormick to bring you some colorful and fun recipes. It’s going to be a delicious year! First up is this delicious Mint Iced Chocolate Fudge, a classic recipe that everyone will love. We have white chocolate, dark chocolate, peppermint, and sprinkles going on here- what’s not to love?

There’s something about limited edition desserts that make me go crazy. Like lose-my-mind, I-MUST-HAVE-IT crazy. I remember one time as a newly married woman that I stopped by a fast food drive through to pick up a certain mint milkshake for my husband. I was so excited to surprise him! But the surprise was on me because it was March 18th.

(more…)

The post Mint Iced Chocolate Fudge appeared first on In Katrinas Kitchen.

Every Who down in Whoville liked Christmas a lot,
But the Grinch, who lived just north of Whoville, did not.
The Grinch hated Christmas — the whole Christmas season.
Oh, please don’t ask why, no one quite knows the reason.

It could be, perhaps, that his shoes were too tight.
It could be his head wasn’t screwed on just right.
But I think that the most likely reason of all
May have been that his heart was two sizes too small.

Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before:
“Maybe Christmas,” he thought, “doesn’t come from a store–
Maybe Christmas–perhaps–means a little bit more.”

And what happened then–well, in Whoville they say
That the Grinch’s small heart grew three sizes that day.
And then the true meaning of Christmas came through,
And the Grinch found the strength of ten Grinches–plus two.

And now that his heart didn’t feel quite so tight,
He whizzed with his load through the bright morning light.
With a smile in his soul, he descended Mount Crumpet,
Cheerily blowing Who! Who! on his trumpet.

Welcome, Christmas, while we stand
Heart to heart… and hand in hand.

Print

Grinch Cookies

Made and loved by thousands every year! These Cake Mix Grinch Cookies are so easy and festive they will be sure to put you in the holiday mood.

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Chill Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 50 minutes minutes

Servings 24 cookies

Calories 54kcal

Ingredients

• 1 box french vanilla cake mix dry mix only
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 eggs
• green food coloring 1 drop
• 1/2 cup Powdered sugar or more for dusting
• Sprinkles or candies large heart-shaped

Instructions

• PREHEAT oven to 350° F.
• In the bowl of your mixer CREAM together cake mix, food coloring, oil, and eggs.
• DROP by Tablespoon into confectioners sugar.
• CHILL dough balls for 20 minutes before transferring to a baking sheet to bake.
• PLACE on baking sheet and press 1 large heart candy/sprinkle.
• BAKE for 8-10 minutes until just set.
• COOL 3-4 minutes on pan before removing to cool completely on a wire rack. SPRINKLE with more powdered sugar if desired.

Nutrition

Serving: 24cookies | Calories: 54kcal

Recipe Notes for Cake Mix Grinch Cookies

1. These are the Original Cake Mix Grinch Cookies- made and loved by thousands every December. Cake mix boxes may have changed proportions since 2012.
2. This author prefers this recipe made with Betty Crocker French Vanilla Cake mix.
3. The author uses AmeriColor Electric Green gel food coloring and Wilton Jumbo Heart Sprinkles.
4. The best way to prevent flat cookies is to scoop the dough into Tablespoon portions and then chill for 20-30 minutes. Roll in powdered sugar and bake.
5. These cookies are supposed to look a bit wonky and Grinch-like so embrace the crackles!

Merry Christmas, friends! ♥

Products used in this post:

The post Grinch Cookies appeared first on In Katrinas Kitchen.

This Rainbow Granola is sure to brighten up your morning and bring a smile to your face. A fun way to sneak oats into picky children as well!

I’m not afraid of a little color, are you? I’ve made a Rainbow Swirl Cake, Rainbow Chocolate Chip Cookies, and Tie Dyed Rice Krispie Treats. St Patrick’s Day can come and go without me even knowing it but I’m never one to pass up an excuse for rainbow food. My kids are pretty good eaters but they take after their mom when it comes to oatmeal; we just can’t do it. This is not news to those of you that follow along regularly but it’s still true. homemade granola is a way for me to soothe my conscience.

Even the oatmeal haters in my house approved of these Rainbow Granola cups. As you can see this is basically a traditional granola recipe with  some Fruity Pebble cereal tossed in. It bakes up crispy and crunchy and in perfect little clumps if you like a chunky granola. I threw in a few sprinkles at the very end for good measure, because sprinkles make me happy. Did you know that there are such things as Sprinkle Haters?! It’s true! Shocking but true.

(more…)

The post Rainbow Granola appeared first on In Katrinas Kitchen.

Sometimes I lie to myself. Like this week when I told myself I wasn’t going to tell you this story about my terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day but here I am typing out the words as the sentences form in my mind. It’s like I cannot think of one single intelligent thing to talk about other than this story so I apologize. Just skip to the bottom if you want to make these tie dyed rice krispie treats. Wouldn’t these be fun to make with a group of kids while waiting for tie dyed shirts to dry? I made these while I was alone on my back porch but I was totally imagining myself inviting the neighborhood kids over for an impromptu tie dye party. I’m sure that would not have been weird at all. Surely not weirder than sitting on my back porch taking photos of rice krispie treats, right?

Aaaaaaaaaaanyway- back the awful story.  A few months ago our 2 year old flushed the toilet paper roll holder thing down the toilet. It was stuck there for many moons and the basement restroom rendered useless until recently when my husband could take it completely apart and fix it. Life was good with all functioning household toilets. Then Tuesday happened.

This is as best as we can piece it together: I’m making a super-healthy, farm-fresh dinner (okay, it was more like a scrambled eggs and waffles kind of night) when water starts dripping from the ceiling. It takes me about 20 seconds to process that this is happening before a steady trickle of water begins to form and I grab a bowl to catch the increasing flow. A frantic scream to my husband who is in the basement, and he becomes Mr. Summer Olympian and sprints to the top floor to find a room full of water. Who even knows how long the toilet had been overflowing? Mind you- earlier in the day I plunged 3 markers out of the toilet while 1 very adorable toddler stood by repeating, “I sowwy, Mommy. I sowwy.”

So there is my awful story. I cannot even believe how many times I just wrote the word toilet on a food blog. I may even consider adding toilet as a keyword on this post. I promise not to mention toilets in my next post.

I told you last week that I was going to show you how to make these funky tie dyed treats but I have been busy monitoring the hallway. Apparently I am not very good at being the bathroom police so I’m just going to go back to making things with sugar. The house may come falling down around me but I will be on the back porch listening to the multi-colored snap, crackle, pop with the neighborhood kids.

Print

Tie Dyed Rice Krispie Treats Recipe

Colorful, tie-dyed dipped rice krispie treats

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 10 minutes minutes

Ingredients

• Rice Krispie Treats prepared
• Torani French Vanilla Syrup
• Gel food coloring

Instructions

• Pour the French Vanilla syrup in a shallow dish.
• Add 1 drop of each of your desired colors.
• Dip your krispie treat- no need to swirl around.

I made these to celebrate my most recent 5k, called The Color Run. You can read more about it in this post. It’s not too late to join us in our Red Faced Runner’s 5k challenge. We have BIG news coming up that you don’t want to miss!! Follow along with the Twitter/Instagram hashtag #RFR5k and join our growing community over on the Red Face Runner’s Challenge Facebook Page!

Items used in this recipe:

In Katrina’s Kitchen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

The post Tie Dyed Rice Krispie Treats appeared first on In Katrinas Kitchen.

My baby boy turned 2 this week. He lives his life with such joy and you just can’t be near him without laughing. And he’s wild. He deserved a Rainbow Swirl Cake.

I love how he sings his ABCs at the top of his lungs.

I love how he says “Hi! How you doin’?” to every single person he makes eye contact with.

I love how he does somersaults when he is excited,

and tells people to clap whenever he completes a puzzle.

While I could do without him climbing on top of our kitchen table

I love when he gives me that ornery little grin when he’s been caught.

I love his wet, sticky kisses

and his ticklish little baby toes.

I love how he watches Yo Gabba Gabba even while staying in constant motion

and how he can fall asleep upright in his rocking chair reading a book.

I just love him to pieces. ♥

Making a rainbow swirl cake is very easy- I hope you’ll try it sometime. I snapped a few pictures with my phone along the way.  Oh yes- he liked the cake 😉

Print

Rainbow Swirl Cake

This rainbow swirl cake is easier to make than you may think!

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour

Servings 1 cake

Ingredients

• Yellow or white cake batter, divided
• Gel food dye I use Americolor
• Buttercream frosting

Instructions

• Prepare your cake batter as you normally would and divide into however many sections that you would like.
• Use food dye to color your cake batter. If you use gel or paste then you will only need 1 drop per section for a brilliant, deep color.
• Drop your batter into the pan one color at a time and bake as normal.
• Frost and enjoy!

A Few Notes on Food Coloring

• I used Americolor GEL food coloring which can be purchased online or at Hobby Lobby (Amazon link provided at the end of this post).
• Food color gel is NOT decorating gel.
• Wilton also makes gel food coloring (available at Wal-Mart, Michaels, and JoAnne’s). I do not prefer it but it is more readily available and would produce better results than using liquid food color found in most grocery stores.
• You use one teeny tiny drop of Americolor gel food coloring to get these vibrant colors. To get a vibrant color with liquid food coloring you may have to add up to a teaspoon of coloring (which I do NOT recommend). The color may still not be as vibrant and adding that much liquid will change the consistency of the dough.
• I am including the links to the basic color pack and the “electric” colors. I use both sets in my kitchen. To see some more colors check out my Rainbow Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Items used in this recipe:

This post contains affiliate links

The post Rainbow Swirl Cake appeared first on In Katrinas Kitchen.

Let me tell you why I need some rainbow chocolate chip cookies in my life mmmmmmkay? Have I told you I’m currently in the middle of training to run my first 5K? Well I’m 5 weeks into my 9 weeks of training and I just completed my first 20 minute running interval on Friday. If you are not familiar with the program it is basically a training program for sissies like me who start out by running for 60 seconds and walking for 3 minutes. Gradually your running time/distance increases and the walking disappears.

I have an app on my phone where a robot voice chimes in every few minutes telling me what I’m supposed to be doing. Robot voices are very effective by the way. I have this secret fear if I don’t start running when the robot voice tells me to then my phone will get all Terminator on me. I’m convinced of it.

On Friday I was trying my best not to have a serious discussion with my phone in public about how I didn’t think I was ready for 20 minutes of straight up running. Terminator phone ignored me and chimed in with a very convincing, “START RUNNING NOW.” I obeyed of course and kept my mouth shut. Somewhere around the 15 minute mark I was passed up by a 60 year old man wearing silver swishy pants and sporting an old school tape-player Walkman. I may have been hallucinating though. I can’t be sure.

Visions of oldish men with pants the same color of their hair aside, I picked up my pace and finished my run to the tune of Mama Mia. I’m pretty sure Flash and I were listening to the same thing. Again though I can’t be sure. Then I came home and ate cookies. That is the one thing I remember with clarity- cookies. Just to be on the safe side I kept my phone in the other room. Robo Phone can tell me when to run but I don’t want it telling me if I can eat a cookie or not.

Print

Rainbow Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe

Rainbow Chocolate Chip Cookies in every color of the rainbow!

Prep Time 45 minutes minutes

Total Time 55 minutes minutes

Servings 3 dozen cookies

Ingredients

• 2 ½ Cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 Cup shortening I used butter-flavored Crisco
• ¾ Cup sugar
• ¾ Cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• Gel food coloring
• 1 Cup mini milk chocolate chips

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl; set aside.
• Beat shortening and sugars until combined and creamy. Add eggs and extract.
• Add the dry ingredients and mix well.
• Divide the dough into 6 equal sections and use 1 drop of gel food coloring for each section. Knead the color into the dough. {I use Americolor food color gel. I buy it at Hobby Lobby.}
• Fold in chocolate chips (about 1 Tablespoon to each section). Use a 2 tablespoon cookie scoop to drop dough onto baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes.

A Few Notes on Food Coloring

• I used Americolor GEL food coloring which can be purchased online or at Hobby Lobby (Amazon link provided at the end of this post).
• Food color gel is NOT decorating gel.
• Wilton also makes gel food coloring (available at Wal-Mart, Michaels, and JoAnne’s). I do not prefer it but it is more readily available and would produce better results than using liquid food color found in most grocery stores.
• You use one teeny tiny drop of Americolor gel food coloring to get these vibrant colors. To get a vibrant color with liquid food coloring you may have to add up to a teaspoon of coloring (which I do NOT recommend). The color may still not be as vibrant and adding that much liquid will change the consistency of the dough.
• I am including the links to the basic color pack and the “electric” colors. I use both sets in my kitchen. To see some of the electric colors check out my Rainbow Swirl Cake.

Items used in this recipe:

This post contains Amazon Affiliate links. I include these links to help you find specific products that are used in recipes. If you purchase an item from Amazon from the link In Katrina’s Kitchen receives a small commission. Thanks!

The post Rainbow Chocolate Chip Cookies appeared first on In Katrinas Kitchen.