No birthday cake? No problem. These birthday cake cookies are packed full of flavor and decorated in the best way possible - sprinkles!
I have a love affair with sprinkles and color. It's difficult for me to not dress up a cookie or cake in either one. While we all want to enjoy a delicious dessert, we also want to look at a delicious dessert. These cookies are just that. Packed with butter and vanilla, and then rolled in rainbow jimmie and nonpareil sprinkles. The only thing missing is the birthday candle.
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Why You Will Love This Recipe
Flavor Overload. But in a good way! I've combined classic birthday flavors into this cookie - butter, vanilla and sprinkles! The flavors balance out well, and the added sprinkles help bring out the sweetness of the cookie.
Easy Peasy. This recipe comes together quickly and easily! You can use a hand mixer or whisk by hand. No chilling required, and it can come together in about an hour.
Ingredients
Butter. Unsalted butter is used in this recipe. You can use salted butter but I recommend omitting the fine sea salt if you do. Butter will need to be softened so remove from refrigerator about 1 hour before use. I recommend cutting into cubes to speed up the process.
Eggs. Two eggs but we only use one whole egg, and the other egg we use the yolk. Adding the extra yolk will help create a softer and more tender cookie. You can use the egg white for breakfast, or in my Birthday Snack Cake recipe.
Sugars. Granulated sugar helps give us a bit of a crunchy cookie, but the majority of the sugar used in this recipe is light brown sugar - which provides a subtle sweetness, helps to make them soft, and also helps provide moisture.
Vanilla. Birthday cake can't forget one of its main ingredients - vanilla. I recommend using imitation vanilla for that classic birthday cake flavor, but pure vanilla is good too.
Sprinkles. The best sprinkles to use for baking are jimmies (little rods). These particular sprinkles do not bleed their color into the dough like nonpareils (little circles) do.
Let's Make Some Birthday Cake Cookies
Step 1. Combine butter, both sugars and vanilla and cream on medium high until light and fluffy - about 3 to 5 minutes.
Step 2. Add egg and egg yolk, and mix on medium low until well combined.
How the mixture will look after mixing in the eggs.
Step 3: Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl and whisk well.
Step 4: Fold in dry ingredients until they are just combined.
Step 5: Add in sprinkles and gently use rubber spatula to fold in until well dispersed.
Step 6: Use 3 tbsp ice cream scoop to scoop out dough. Then coat top layer of cookie in sprinkles. Place on baking tray about 2" apart.
Step 7: Bake at 350 F for 10 minutes, or until you see light browning along edges. Remove from oven and place on oven rack to cool before enjoying.
Baking Tips
Sprinkles. I recommend using sprinkle jimmies (little rods) for the sprinkles that are mixed in with the dough. I don't recommend nonpareils (little circles) because those tend to bleed their color very easily. I do like to add nonpareils to the cookie after its been scooped. I combine both jimmies and nonpareils into a bowl and roll the dough in that before placing on baking tray.
Kitchen scale is recommended. While I do share the volume measurements, I always will recommend a kitchen scale. It drastically eliminates errors in measuring and will get you closest to how the recipe was intended.
Variations
White Chocolate Morsels. If you love white chocolate than I recommend adding ½ cup of white chocolate morsels. It brings up the sweetness a bit so be prepared for it.
Stuff 'em. Nothing better than a cookie stuffed with a cookie! You can stuff in a golden Oreo. Simply use a 2 tbsp cookie scoop, slightly flatten the dough and place the golden Oreo in the middle. Add another 1 - 2 tbsp of cookie dough to the top and roll the dough between your palms to cohere the dough well. You will need to add a few minutes to the bake time - anywhere between 13 to 15 minutes. Watch for light browning along the bottom and for a matte finish on the top.
Storage
These cookies store wonderfully at room temperature, and frozen. If storing at room temperature, simply place in an airtight container or ziplock bag. They will stay fresh for up to 5 days. If freezing, place in a freezer safe airtight container or ziplock bag. Defrost by removing entire container but do not open it. Allow to come to room temperature, and then enjoy.
More Recipes To Enjoy
Birthday Cake Cookies
Equipment
- hand mixer or whisk
- rubber spatula
- mixing bowls
- kitchen scale optional but recommended
- parchment paper
- cooling rack
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cup all purpose flour 227 g
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, softened 165 g
- ½ cup sugar 150 g
- ¼ cup light brown sugar, packed 50 g
- 1 ea large egg, room temperature
- 1 ea egg yolk, room temperature
- 1 tbsp imitation vanilla extract
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp fine sea salt
- ⅓ cup sprinkle jimmies plus ⅓ - ½ cup for coating
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and sea salt in bowl. Whisk until combined.
- In a separate bowl add butter and sugars. Using a hand mixer with whisk attachment, cream on medium high until light and fluffy - about 3 to 5 minutes.
- Add egg and egg yolk, and mix on medium until well combined.
- Add vanilla and mix until just combined.
- Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Using a rubber spatula fold in until just combined.
- Add sprinkles and fold in until well dispersed.
- Prepare baking sheet with parchment paper, and add additional sprinkles into a small bowl.
- Using 3 tbsp ice cream scoop, scoop out dough and then roll top of cookie in sprinkles. Place on baking sheet and repeat. Place cookies at least 2" apart.
- Bake for 10 minutes, or until lightly golden brown long bottom edges.
- Remove from oven and place on wire rack to cool. Allow to cool before enjoying.
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