These bright and cheerful Sprinkle Cookies are the perfect sweet treat. Roll a classic sugar cookie in rainbow sprinkles for added sweetness and fun!
Quick
15 minutes
You’ll Learn: How to keep cookies soft longer
Worth It: It builds a freezer stash for stress-free snacks later
Bonus: Simple swaps to match what’s in your pantry
Why you’ll love this recipe
- Sugar cookies with a twist – These simple sugar cookies have the same flavor as classic chewy sugar cookies, but with the added bonus of sprinkles coating the outside. This sugar cookie recipe is similar to funfetti cookies, but instead of mixing the sprinkles in with the dough, we are rolling each cookie dough ball in the sprinkles so they are extra bright and vibrant.
- Easy to make – These sugar cookies with sprinkles are an easy recipe to make, so fun to eat and they feel like you’re eating a bakery cookie. They don’t require any chill time, so they are the best cookies to make for any kind of celebration like a birthday or even just a simple gathering of friends.
- Customizable – The best part is that this is the perfect sugar cookie for any holiday. I love sugar cookies all year long. I used red, white and blue sprinkles to make a batch for the Fourth of July and I am planning on using red and green ones for a Christmas cookie, and red for Valentine’s Day! You could even get some halloween sprinkles and make a batch in the fall!
Kitchen tools
- Measuring cups, measuring spoons and a liquid measuring cup
- Whisk
- Flat spatula
- Cookie scoop for measuring out dough
- Shallow bowl for rolling dough balls in sprinkles
- Large bowl
- Baking sheet
- Parchment paper or a silicone mat
- Wire rack for cooling
Serving Suggestions
Like I said these chewy sprinkle cookies are the perfect thing for any celebration!! Serve these chewy cookies alongside cake or cupcakes for your guests who aren’t fans of cake. You could also serve them on a cookie platter with this monster cookie recipe and brown butter sugar cookies.
You can make festive ice cream sandwiches by softening some vanilla ice cream and placing a scoop between two of these sprinkle cookies. Roll the ice cream sandwich in more sprinkles and pop in the freezer for a bit to have it firm up!
Ingredients
- Unsalted butter – start with room temperature softened butter as the base for this sugar cookie dough. You can use salted butter, but then I would omit the kosher salt in the batter.
- Granulated sugar and light brown sugar – the combination of two sugars results in a slightly chewy cookie with crisp edges.
- Large egg – one egg gives the cookies just the right amount of rise and helps bind the dough.
- Vanilla extract and almond extract – using both extracts add a birthday cake like taste to the cookie dough.
- All purpose flour – I like to use plain all purpose flour, but you can also use cake flour for an even softer cookie texture.
- Baking soda and baking powder – the combination of both leveners give the cookie just enough lift and rise.
- Kosher salt – just a pinch of salt balances out the sweetness in the sugar cookie dough.
- Festive rainbow sprinkles – Roll the dough balls in rainbow jimmies and really press them in so that the cookies are evenly coated. Use chocolate sprinkles for chocolate sugar cookies.
Ingredient substitutions
You can easily make these sprinkle sugar cookies gluten free by replacing the all purpose flour with a cup for cup gluten free flour blend.
The almond gives that classic italian cookie flavor, but if you don’t have it, feel free to skip the almond extract. You can just add an extra teaspoon vanilla extract.
I usually make these with rainbow sprinkles, but you can use any color sprinkles that you like and that fit the holiday or activity that you are making them for.
You could even dye the cookie dough with food coloring to add extra color. Use all different types of colorful sprinkles like nonpareils or any kind of sprinkles with fun holiday shapes. If you’re feeling adventurous next time, you could even make a cream cheese icing for on top and put the sprinkles on top of that.
How to make
Step 1: Preheat oven and mix cookie dough
To begin, preheat oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper
Place softened butter in a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer with granulated sugar and brown sugar.
Mix with an electric hand mixer or paddle attachment of a stand mixer on medium speed to high speed until fully combined and slightly fluffy. Add egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract to the bowl and mix again until thoroughly combined.
In a separate bowl whisk together all purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients with the electric mixer – you may need to use your hands to help the dough come together and scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
Step 2: Roll into balls and into sprinkles
Pour sprinkles into a shallow dish. Scoop about a three tablespoon ball of dough out and roll it.
Roll the basic sugar cookie dough balls in the sprinkles and press in until all sides of the ball are coated in the sprinkles.
Step 3: bake and cool
Place on the lined baking sheet with space between each cookie. I can fit 6 rainbow sprinkle cookies per prepared baking sheets. Press down slightly with your hand or the bottom of a measuring cup and add more sprinkles on tops of the cookies.
Bake at 350F for 15 minutes until you have golden brown soft cookies. Adjust baking time if needed, especially for your second batch because the first batch often takes an extra minute or two. Cool on a wire rack and enjoy!
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you sprinkle cookies before or after baking?
Roll the sprinkles into the wet cookie dough before baking so that the sprinkles really stick into the cookie dough. Then, as the cookie bakes, they bake with the dough and won’t fall off after baking.
What sprinkles don’t melt when baked?
Cylindrical sprinkles sometimes called confetti sprinkles or jimmies are more likely to hold their shape when baked so they are the best sprinkles to use.
Storage and freezing
To store, allow the baked cookies to cool completely. Then, transfer your delicious sugar cookies to an airtight container or wrap tightly with plastic wrap and store at room temperature for up to 5 days.
If you want to freeze this sprinkle cookie recipe, they will be good frozen for up to 3 months. Store them in a freezer bag and take them out one by one and allow to that at room temperature.
Check out these other Great recipes for Cookies
You can find the full recipe below. If you make this recipe, please rate and review it in the comments, or share it with me on Instagram!
Images by Ella from Alpine Ella.
You can find the full recipe below. If you make this recipe, please rate and review it in the comments, or share it with me on Instagram!
Email Recipe for Later
Recipe
Sprinkle Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter 1 stick softened
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup light brown sugar packed
- 1 egg room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp almond extract
- 2 cups all purpose flour scoop and level measured
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp kosher salt
- 1 cup rainbow sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper
- Place softened butter in a large mixing bowl with granulated sugar and brown sugar. Mix with an electric hand mixer or stand mixer until fully combined and slightly fluffy.
- Add egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract to the bowl and mix again until thoroughly combined.
- In a separate bowl whisk together all purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix dry ingredients into wet with the electric mixer – you may need to use your hands to help the dough come together.
- Pour sprinkles into a shallow dish. Scoop ~3tbsp of dough out and roll into a ball. Roll that ball in the sprinkles and press in until all sides of the ball are coated in the sprinkles.
- Place on the baking sheet with space between each cookie – I fit 6 per baking sheet. Press down slightly and add more sprinkles.
- Bake at 350F for 15 minutes. Cool and enjoy!
Recipe Notes
- To make these gluten free, use a 1:1 gluten free flour substitute
- Use any color of sprinkles that you like! You can use holidays colors to make festive cookies!
Nutrition Information
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
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