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These simple to make Funfetti Cookies are deliciously soft and chewy with light, crisp edges. Featuring plenty of vanilla flavoring, a plethora of colorful, customizable confetti sprinkles, and a dollop of silky buttercream frosting, these drop-style sugar cookies are nothing short of epic! This sprinkle cookies recipe is ideal for anytime, from birthday parties, baby showers and holiday celebrations, to brown bag lunches, snacktime and dessert.
Table of Contents
About this funfetti cookies recipe
If you’re a fan of bright rainbow colors and buttery, vanilla-flavored birthday cookies, you’re going to flip for these delightfully technicolor Funfetti Cookies. Basic soft and chewy sugar cookies get a major style upgrade with the generous addition of cheerful sprinkles that not only add serious confetti flair, but also offer a tasty bit of crunch. The combination of soft, tender, buttery cookies and colorful, sweet, crunchy sprinkles is one for the record books. Serve your sprinkle cookies with a cookie cocktail for some next-level-yum festivities!
If you’re looking for more delicious cookie recipes to bake at home, try these favorites next: Macadamia Cookies with White Chocolate, Triple Chocolate Cookies, Breakfast Cookies and Super Easy Cookie Bars!
Why you’ll love this recipe for sprinkle cookies
Aside from being the most perfectly adorable dessert, these confetti cookies are:
- Made With Just 10 Pantry Staples, most of which I’d bet you already have on hand.
- Quick & Easy, a hallmark of drop cookies everywhere! Simply use a hand-held or stand mixer to make the cookie dough from scratch. Then, drop spoonfuls of it on your baking pan — no resting, rolling, cutting, or any other complicated techniques required.
- Versatile. Switch up the shapes and colors of your sprinkles to match your party theme, and add different flavors of extracts to suit your tastes.
Ingredients for confetti cookies
As promised, this simple recipe for sprinkles cookies is made from almost entirely pantry staples, meaning you probably already have most of what you need on hand. Here’s what to grab:
- All-Purpose Flour & Cake Flour – The combination of AP flour and cake flour ensures you’ll have a soft crumb.
- Substitutions: Feel free to swap in all cake flour for an even more tender crumb, or all AP flour for a typical sugar cookie vibe.
- Baking Soda – For leavening.
- Kosher Salt – For seasoning.
- Unsalted Butter – For yummy buttery richness.
- Substitution: Feel free to swap in salted butter if that’s what you have on hand, but be sure to cut back on the added Kosher Salt to keep things balanced.
- Granulated Sugar & Light Brown Sugar – White sugar and brown sugar do different things in cookies, so make sure you use both.
- Substitution: Feel free to swap in your favorite cup-for-cup sugar alternative to make these diabetic-friendly.
- Large Eggs – You’ll need one whole large egg and one egg yolk. Let them come to room temperature to make it easier to blend in.
- Vanilla Extract – For richness and complexity.
- Substitution: Feel free to swap in different flavor extracts like almond, lemon, or orange to make your flavors fit your theme.
- Sprinkles – For all the happy confetti colors and yummy crunch!
Sprinkle cookie recipe variations
While I love this funfetti cookies recipe just the way it’s written, I always encourage my readers to make whatever changes and customizations they need to serve their family best. Here are a few tried-and-true variations on my sprinkle cookies to try:
- Switch Up The Flavor. Adding a ½ teaspoon of either Cake Batter Extract or Almond Extract will give these sprinkle cookies serious Birthday Cake vibes. You can also experiment with swapping out the vanilla for other flavors like lemon, orange, almond, maple, or coconut to help you fit your party theme.
- Add White Chocolate Chips or funfetti baking morsels to your cookie dough for rich, chocolatey flavor.
- Dollop with Buttercream Frosting for extra richness, an added dose of flavor, and even more opportunity to introduce color.
- Make Edible Cookie Dough by heat treating your flour and using pasteurized eggs in this confetti cookies recipe.
- Make Them Gluten-Free by swapping in your favorite cup-for-cup all-purpose gluten-free flour blend.
- Make Them Vegan by using non-dairy butter and swapping in your favorite vegan egg replacer (e.g. JUST Eggs).
- Change The Colors to fit the holiday or any celebration.
How to make funfetti cookies
This sprinkle cookie recipe comes together in a jiffy:
- Combine dry ingredients: Add the all-purpose flour, baking soda, and salt to a medium bowl. Sift in the cake flour, whisk together, and set aside.
- Combine wet ingredients. In a large bowl, beat together the butter and both sugars. Add the eggs and vanilla extract to the bowl. Beat on high speed to combine.
- Add dry ingredients: Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients in the bowl. Mix on low to combine.
- Add sprinkles: Add the sprinkles to the bowl. Stir together to combine.
- Scoop and roll: Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Use a cookie scoop to portion out two tablespoons of dough and roll into a ball. Transfer the dough ball to the baking sheet. Then, repeat scooping and rolling remaining dough.
- Optional – Roll in sprinkles: Add sprinkles to a small bowl. Working with one dough ball at a time, roll the top and sides of the cookie dough ball in the sprinkles. Transfer sprinkle cookie ball to the parchment lined baking sheet, bare cookie dough side down. Repeat rolling all the cookie dough balls in sprinkles.
- Chill: Cover the sheet pan with plastic wrap and transfer to the refrigerator. Chill for at least 2 hours, or up to 4 days.
- Arrange dough balls: Place cold cookie dough balls 3 inches apart a silicone or parchment lined cookie sheet.
- Bake: Transfer to the center rack of 350-degree oven and bake for 10-12 minutes.
- Cool: Remove confetti cookies from the oven and place the baking sheet on a wire rack. Let the cookies cool on the pan for 3-5 minutes before transferring to the cooling rack to cool completely.
- Serve! Enjoy funfetti cookies plain or dollop frosting onto completely cool cookies. Top with more sprinkles and enjoy!
FAQs: sprinkle cookies recipe
What are the best sprinkles for cookies?
The best types of sprinkles for decorating cookies are the variety you love most! You can use nonpareils, jimmies, quins, confetti sprinkle mixes and dragees (also known as sugar pearls); however, I recommend staying away from metallic dragees since they aren’t edible. For the most festive, fun cookies, use a combination of different styles of sprinkles.
Pro-Tip: The measurement or amount of sprinkles will depend upon the type of sprinkles you use. I typically add anywhere from just two to four tablespoons of nonpareils’ sprinkles, and about a ¼ to a heaping 1/3 cup of rainbow jimmies.
Customize your sprinkles to match your event! Don’t limit your funfetti cookies to just rainbow sprinkles. Customize your sprinkle color to match your party. For example, use red, white and green for Christmas; black, purple, and orange for Halloween; pretty pastels for Easter; school colors; wedding color palates; and more!
Do sprinkles go on cookies before or after baking?
You’ll want to add them to the dough before baking the confetti cookies. You can also get extra colorful by rolling them in extra sprinkles before baking. If you try adding them after, you’ll need frosting to help them adhere or they’ll just roll right off.
Can you eat funfetti cookie dough?
Yes, with a caveat: make sure you heat treat your flour and use pasteurized eggs to make it safe!
What flavor is “birthday cake?”
Birthday cake flavor extract is usually a buttery vanilla flavor with a tiny hint of almond, like what you’d get out of a white or yellow cake.
Storing this recipe for sprinkle cookies
Once baked, these sprinkle-loaded Funfetti Cookies should be stored in an airtight container at room temperature. They’re best while they’re still fresh, but they should keep relatively well for up to 5-7 days.
Feel free to freeze the dough for up to 3 months, but note that the color from the sprinkles will tend to bleed a bit. You can always freeze the confetti cookie dough without the sprinkles and mix them in (or roll them on) before baking.
For cookies on demand, I suggest freezing cookie dough balls in a single layer until hard, then transfer them to a zip-top container or freezer-safe container for up to 3 months. When the birthday cake cookie craving hits, simply bake off as many as you need straight from frozen, adding 2-3 minutes onto the bake time as needed.
Alright, my little Hue-dini. As far as I’m concerned, you’re one in vermillion! I hope you know I’m over the rainbow to have you as my reader and can’t wait to see your colorful, creative confetti cookies. Be sure to tag me in your social media posts so I can cheer you on!
Cheyanne
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More sugar cookie recipes!
Want to bake up a storm? Try these delicious recipes for cookies next:
- Almond Sugar Cookies
- Pecan Cookies with Brown Sugar
- Cinnamon Sugar Cookies
- Lemon Crinkle Cookies
- Kitchen Sink Cookies
More celebratory desserts!
Need a dessert worthy of a celebration? Try these fan favorites:
The best recipe for sprinkle cookies👇
Funfetti Cookies (Sprinkle Cookies Recipe!)
Equipment
- 1 Medium Mixing Bowl
- 1 Stand Mixer OR Large Bowl with Hand Mixer
- 1 Large Cookie Sheet
- 1 Wire Cooling Rack
Ingredients
- 1 ½ Cups All-Purpose Flour – spooned & leveled (175 grams)
- 1 ½ Cups Cake Flour – spooned & leveled (156 grams) (sub: all-purpose) (SEE NOTES)
- ¾ tsp Baking Soda
- ½ tsp Kosher Salt
- 1 Cup Unsalted Butter – softened to room temp
- 1 Cup Granulated Sugar (205 grams)
- 1 Cup Light Brown Sugar – lightly packed (175 grams)
- 2 large Eggs – 1 whole egg + 1 egg yolk; at room temp
- 2 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract (optional: add ½ tsp Cake Batter Extract)
- Sprinkles – to taste (SEE NOTES)
- Optional topping: Buttercream Icing / Buttercream Frosting
Instructions
- Combine dry ingredients: Add the all-purpose flour to a medium bowl. Sift in the cake flour. Add the baking soda and salt. Whisk together and set aside.
- Cream butter and sugar: In a large bowl with a hand mixer or stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and both sugars together on medium-high speed until well creamed, about 1-2 minutes.
- Add egg, egg yolk and vanilla: Add the whole egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract to the bowl. Beat on high speed until combined, about 1 minute. Stop and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Beat on high again for 30 seconds.
- Add dry ingredients: Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in the bowl. Mix on low until almost combined. Be careful not to over mix the dough. (Tip: I simply pulse the ingredients together to ensure I don’t over-mix.)
- Add sprinkles: Add sprinkles (to taste) to the bowl. Stir together to just combine. (Note: The measurement of sprinkles will depend upon the type. I typically add anywhere from 2-4 TBS nonpareils’ sprinkles and a ¼ to heaping 1/3 cup jimmies.)
- Scoop and roll: Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Scoop 2-tablespoons of dough and roll into a ball. Transfer the cookie ball to the baking sheet. Repeat scooping and rolling remaining dough.
- Optional - Roll in sprinkles: Add ½ cup mixed variety sprinkles to a small bowl just large enough to hold a cookie dough ball. Working with one dough ball at a time, roll the top and sides of the ball in the sprinkles. Use your hands as needed to gently press the sprinkles into the dough to help them adhere. Transfer sprinkle coated cookie ball back to the parchment lined baking sheet, bare cookie dough side down. Repeat rolling all the cookie dough balls in sprinkles. (SEE NOTES) (Optional, if topping cookies with icing or frosting, use your fingers to gently press on the top of each mound of dough to flatten it ever-so-slightly – this helps hold the buttercream.)
- Chill: Cover the sheet pan with plastic wrap and transfer to the refrigerator. Let the dough chill for at least 2 hours, or up to 4 days.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (170 C). Line a large baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
- Arrange dough balls: Place chilled cookie dough balls 3 inches apart, staggering the rows as you place the cookie balls.
- Bake: Transfer to the center rack of the oven and bake accordingly: For soft cookies, bake for 9-11 minutes, or until cookies are pale in color and before cookies start browning. (Note: cookies will appear under-done.)For regular cookies, bake for 11-12 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies are light golden brown in color.
- Cool: Remove cookies from the oven and place the baking sheet on a wire rack. Let the cookies cool on the pan for 3-5 minutes before transferring to the wire rack to cool completely. (Note: 3 minutes for softer cookies.)
- Enjoy! Enjoy cookies as they are or spread/pipe frosting onto completely cool cookies. Top with more sprinkles and enjoy!
Notes
- You can use all-purpose flour instead of cake flour. However, you will need to use the cake flour weight (156 grams). If you don’t have a scale, simply measure 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour and remove 3 tablespoons of flour before adding it to the recipe.
- Sprinkles: Any sprinkles are great, but I recommend using a variety for the most fun-fetti. As far as styles, confetti, rainbow, jimmies, ball sprinkles and nonpareils are all great options. However, please note that nonpareils tend to bleed their color into your cookie dough. I typically add nonpareils to my dough and then roll the cookie dough balls in a variety of sprinkles.
- Coating in sprinkles: You can cover as much or as little of the cookie ball in sprinkles as you like. However, if you coat the bottom of the cookie in sprinkles you run the risk of burning the sprinkles.
- Cookie storage:
- Unfrosted cookies: airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.
- Frosted cookies: airtight container in the fridge up to 5 days.
Nutrition
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