Fun, colorful, Sprinkle Cookies! Soft, buttery, chewy cookies encased in a colorful sprinkle shell! Oh, and did I mention that there’s no chilling necessary!?
Happy Friday!
It also happens to be Zach’s birthday today and while I’d love to say I made these sprinkle cookies to celebrate, unfortunately that’s not the case. The man hates sprinkles. I’m not even kidding here, he hates them. He loathes the texture (!?!), and he especially hates the way they get all over the house every time I make anything that uses them.
For his birthday he asked that I make him my chocolate cake with chocolate cream cheese frosting, and he was adamant that not so much as a single sprinkle should adorn his cake. I guess at 29 he’s really falling into his grumpy old guy stride.
Anyway, rather than being a festive birthday share, it’s kind of ironic I’m sharing these sprinkle cookies on the birthday of the biggest sprinkle-hater in my life, but here we are. And I have no apologies because these sprinkle cookies are amazing. Soft and chewy on the inside with a candy-like sprinkle coating on the outside… he doesn’t know what he’s missing.
The base for these sprinkle cookies is a buttery vanilla cookie. I actually based it largely off of my Snickerdoodles recipe, and you’ll notice that this cookie recipe uses cream of tartar.
I wanted a cookie that was soft and chewy, but not overly sweet on its own. We’re adding a lot of sugary sprinkles to the outside, so a cookie with a subtle tang (thank you, cream of tartar) was the best choice to counter the sweetness.
AND, there’s absolutely no chilling required with this recipe. I have so many cookie recipes that require chilling, it’s nice to make cookies without needing to use the fridge for once!
Tips for Making Sprinkle Cookies
- Roll your sprinkle cookie dough through the sprinkles immediately after rolling. Immediately after rolling the surface of your cookie dough will be slightly warmed from your hands and sticky enough to pick up all the sprinkles that you roll it through. If you wait and roll out all of your dough and then go back to roll it, the surface will have lost its stickiness and won’t pick up as many sprinkles.
- Jimmies/traditional sprinkles will work instead of nonpareils. In my opinion I prefer the texture and snappy crunch of the nonpareils and I prefer the way the nonpareils completely coat the cookies, leaving much less cookie showing through than traditional sprinkles do.
- The centers of your cookies should be ever so slightly underdone when they finish baking. Let them finish cooling completely on the cookie sheet before enjoying. They’ll finish cooking here, too, and will be nice and soft (or at least the interiors will be).
Enjoy!
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Sprinkle Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened to room temperature (226g)
- 1 ½ cups granulatedsugar (300g)
- 1 large egg + 1 egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups all-purpose plain flour (375g)
- 1 ½ teaspoons cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 ¼ cups nonpareil sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F (175C) and line several baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a large bowl and using an electric mixer, or in the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together butter and sugar until well-combined
- Add egg and egg yolk and vanilla extract. Beat until thoroughly combined.
- In a separate, medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, cream of tartar, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt until completely combined.
- Gradually add dry ingredients to wet until completely combined.
- Scoop dough into Tablespoon-sized balls and roll between your palms until smooth and round. Immediately roll through nonpareils until cookie dough ball is completely coated with sprinkles.
- Place on prepared baking sheet, spacing cookies at least 1 ½” apart.
- Transfer to 350F (175C) preheated oven and bake for 9-10 minutes. Allow to cool completely on baking sheet before serving.
Amrita
Hi Sam! I’m looking forward to baking these cookies. They look so adorable 😍 I was wondering if I could freeze this dough and for how long?
Sam
Hi Amrita! You can freeze this dough for a couple of months. Enjoy! 🙂
Amrita
Hi Sam! Thank you so much for replying. I tried out your recipe and it was so delicious😋 I love how simple and quick this recipe is too! I also tried making rainbow marbled cookies by colouring the dough and it looked so pretty. Keep up the fab work💗
Sam
Thank you so much! I’m glad you enjoyed it. 🙂
Linda
Can these be rolled in Christmas Sprinkles ?
Sam
Sure thing! Enjoy! 🙂
Cindy
These sugar cookies are SO good!! They are so easy to make and the taste is amazing. Really the perfect sugar cookie. My whole family loved them, even my husband who doesn’t normally love sugar cookies. I like them on the crispy side, so I left them in a little longer. I’m making another batch today. Can’t wait to eat them. Thank you for this perfect sugar cookie recipe.
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much, Cindy! 🙂
Aria
The cookies was so good I could not stop eating them. This recipe was so good i am going to use it so many more times. You did a great job with the cookies!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much, Aria! 🙂
Katie
Easy recipe! The cookies were nice and chewy with the awesome crunch from the nonpareil. Will definitely make again!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much, Katie! 🙂
Aria
The cookies was so good I could not stop eating them. This recipe was so good i am going to use it so many more times. You did a great job with the cookies!
Sam
Thank you so much, Aria! I am so glad you enjoyed them. 🙂
Nayy
Does the egg & egg yolk have to be room temperature or can it be straight from the fridge? Sorry just want to make sure. Can this recipe be tripled?
Sam
It’s always best to use room temperature ingredients. You should be able to triple the recipe without issue. 🙂
Nayy
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe with us all they’re absolutely delicious very sweet but pair wonderfully with coffee since the texture is like shortbread. I tripled this recipe & everything went well thank you again!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed the cookies so much! 🙂
LEOMANT
Vivement les prochaines vacances scolaires…en attendant je vais m’acheter de la poudre de tartre, ce n’est pas trop utilisé en France,
vos chocolate chip cookies sont excellents, merci Sam
Sam
I am so glad you enjoy them so much! 🙂
Michelle
Great easy, recipe. My 4yo loved rolling the balls in the sprinkles! <3
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much! Hopefully they didn’t make too much of a mess rolling the cookies! 😂
Jan
First of all, I love your recipes. My husband is extra happy that I found you online.
I have made these before but today I was out of the multi color nonpareils so I tinted the dough a medium pink and rolled them in all white nonpareils. They are so cute! They would be perfect for a grandchild’s tea party.
Thank you for all the work you do on these recipes.
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that you found my site and have enjoyed the recipes that you have tried so far, Jan. Thank you so much for commenting. Your cookies sound adorable and would pair perfectly with a good cup of tea. 😉 Something you may also enjoy is my icebox cookies. Thanks again!
Ebbi
Delicious!!! These totally brightened my three-year-old’s day and were super easy to make!! I am consistently impressed with the quality of your recipes…keep them coming!
Sugar Spun Run
Thank you so much, Ebbi! I am happy that these cookies could bring a smile to your kid today. 🙂
Deanna
I made these last night with my niece who loves sprinkles. They were really soft & delicious! Thank you for the recipe!
Sugar Spun Run
I hope that you both had fun making the cookie together, Deanna! I am so glad that they turned out perfectly for you. 🙂
Monica
Is the tartar really necessary or can I skip it?
Sam
Hi Monica! I really don’t recommend leaving it out. 🙂
Alice
The cream of tartar Helps rise the cookie so you could replace it with baking powder
Rodney Greenfield
What is cream of tartar?
Sam
Hi Rodney! You can usually find it in the grocery store with the spices. 🙂
Melissa Griffiths
My kids would freak out over these!
Sam
I hope they love them! 🙂
Caroline
My sprinkles did not coat the entire ball. I put the ball of dough directly in the sprinkles. Not sure what I did wrong. My cookies came out very hard. I think I baked too long. When I tested the first batch after 9 minutes, I thought the center was too gooey. I should have let them sit instead of returning to oven. They tasted delicious in spite of thinking I was going to lose a tooth. Thank you. I’ll try again.
Sam
Hi Caroline! If the sprinkles don’t stick to the dough, roll the dough ball through your hands for a few more seconds to warm it up and they should stick. They may have been baked too long. It’s best to let them finish cooking on the tray out of the oven to avoid over-baking. I’m glad you still enjoyed them! 🙂
Caroline
Thank you for responding. I enjoy your videos. Have to get it correct because they taste so good. Keep up the good work!
Liana
Did you put sprinkles around the whole ball of dough? Or just what the top would be, I cant tell in the video. Thanks!
Sam
Yup, around the whole ball. Sorry for not making that clearer, Liana!
Liana
Thanks for the fast response! I will try them tonight!
Sam
You’re very welcome! I hope you love the cookies! 🙂