These Adorable Quilted Cookies Are Taking Over TikTok—and It’s Easy to See Why

Quilts aren’t just for grandmas anymore. Thanks to TikTok, the vintage, snuggly blankets are back in a big way, serving as a sweet holiday treat we can’t wait to get our hands on. Creator Lauren Dozier took to the platform last month to share her Appalachian-inspired, quilted sugar cookies with the masses—and the response was beyond enthusiastic.

It’s clear that patchwork cookies are the dessert of the season, and they have a historical inspiration to thank. Here’s what makes these clever cookies so special, what you should know about their rich cultural past, and how you can make them yourself.

How Quilted Cookies Took Off

Dozier shared a video showing the construction of these quilted cookies in November, taking us behind the scenes as she fit puzzle pieces of colorful dough into a gorgeous, intricate pattern. The video has since been seen nearly 500,000 times on TikTok—plus a whopping 12 million–plus times on Instagram Reels—and it’s garnered some 450,000 likes between the two platforms.

“I made these sweet quilted sugar cookies inspired by my home in the Appalachians!” she captioned the viral video.

Quite miraculously for a TikTok video, the comments on Dozier’s post are completely positive. Multiple commenters mentioned the grandmotherly appeal of the quilted treats, with one writing ”I just know my grandma would have adored these,” and another saying “sending this to my grandma immediately.”

Others took the idea even further, suggesting ways to bring the technique into other recipes. “Imagine this as a pie topper,” one genius commenter shared. And even Dozier herself can’t get enough, commenting “I wanna keep making these in so many different color combos”—here’s hoping she shares the results. But first, a bit more about the cookies’ inspiration.

The epicenter of traditional American quilting lies in Appalachia, a region roughly surrounding the Appalachian mountains that spans parts of Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania and New York.

Quilting in Appalachia gained popularity in the late 1700s and early 1800s, and was an activity that proved social, generational, and even sometimes political, especially for women in the region. North Carolina is home to the Bryson City Quilt Trail, a scavenger hunt-like string of quilt-related attractions that’s just one of many to uphold the rich history of quilting to this day.

How to Make Patchwork Cookies Yourself

If you’re ready to have a go at this creative take on a traditional art form, we have good news—despite their complex look, these sugar cookies are relatively simple! Start with a classic sugar cookie recipe, one that you know won’t rise too much. This way, your cookie layout will stay flat and quilt-like, even after some time in the oven.

Once you have your dough, separate it out into sections, and use food dye to stain each bowl of sugar cookie mix with a different deep and vibrant color of your choice. If you’re like one commenter, and just can’t seem to get the colors to stick, Dozier shared her dyeing trick in the comment’s replies:

“I used gel food coloring and mixed it in with a stand mixer!” she says. “Which I think really helped make the colors nice and even.”

Next, roll out each color of dough separately, and slice it into small triangle and square shapes—we suggest using a small, sharp knife or even a pizza cutter to get the outlines as precise as possible. It might help to plan out a full design beforehand, so the pieces fit together nicely, or you can just have fun with it and prepare yourself a jigsaw puzzle for later. Feel free to get creative with this part—quilts come in all shapes and sizes, after all!

Once you have your pieces, connect them all on a sheet of parchment into a larger square or rectangle shape—Dozier’s video provides a great visual. One TikTok user asked in the comments if the creator whipped up an egg wash or sugar solution to piece the parts together more easily. Though Dozier thought the idea was smart, she simply “pressed all four sides in together” with her hands—we love an easy answer!

When you have a quilted pattern you love, pop the one-of-a-kind cookies into the oven, and bake for as long as the sugar cookie recipe calls for. Let the cookies cool, and serve—you won’t want to cover these lovely patterns up with frosting!