Sprinkle sugar cookies are soft, chewy vanilla flavored cookies loaded with rainbow sprinkles for a delightfully sweet treat. They're the perfect sugar cookie for when you're looking for something easy and quick to calm your sweet tooth! Whether you’re celebrating something special or just need a sweet pick-me-up, these cookies are festive and fun! All you need are a few simple ingredients, 30 minutes, and your tastebuds - no chilling time required!
For more sugar cookie recipes like Chocolate Chip Sugar Cookies, Brown Butter Sugar Cookies, and Snowflake Cookies!
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Is it me or do sprinkles make everything better? There's something about all of the pretty colors that makes me so excited to take a bite. These sprinkle sugar cookies are hands down one of my favorites. It's like your classic sugar cookie made into a fun and colorful treat. Who can be in a bad mood when sprinkles are involved?
These sugar cookies with sprinkles are buttery and soft and literally melt in your mouth. The colorful sprinkles also add a nice crunch and makes it so fun to eat! Best part? You can use whatever kind of sprinkles you like - confetti sprinkles, halloween sprinkles, festive rainbow sprinkles - you name it!
Another added bonus is that this is such an easy recipe and no chill time required. All things considered, this may be the best sugar sprinkle cookies ever... but perhaps I'm biased. You be the judge!
If you're looking for something other than the traditional chocolate chip cookies, give these fun chewy sugar cookies a try!
Ingredient Notes
- All purpose flour - Be sure to accurately measure the flour because if you're off and add too much flour by even a little, it can greatly impact the structure of the cookie.
- Powdered sugar - This adds sweetness but also makes for a nice chewy cookie.
- Baking powder & baking soda - These ingredients contribute to the structure of the cookies and allow them to lift.
- Kosher salt - To balance out the sweetness.
- Butter - Use softened butter - you can use salted or unsalted butter.
- Sugar - For sweetness.
- Egg - This binds together the ingredients and results in fluffy cookies. The egg yolk also add a little fat to the cookies to enhance taste and give these cookies that those yummy chewy centers.
- Vanilla extract - Use a good quality vanilla since this is the main source of flavor in this recipe.
- Nonpareils sprinkles - These are colorful ball-shaped sprinkles. These work best on the outside of the cookie because they tend to bleed when added to the batter. Use whatever colors you'd like!
Tips for the Best Sprinkle Cookies
- Use room temperature butter and eggs. Cold butter makes thick cookies that don't spread. Cold eggs won't incorporate into the butter as easily and could cause your batter to separate. Also of note, cream the butter for the full 3 minutes as listed in the recipe card. This will absolutely make a huge difference, I promise!
- Coat the cookie dough balls in sprinkles as soon as they are formed. The sprinkles won't stick to the dough if you wait too long (the batter dries out making it difficult to adhere).
- Do not use parchment paper to line your baking sheet. The parchment paper causes the cookies to spread too much and they'll be flat. Simply use a nonstick large baking sheet.
- The cookies will be slightly underbaked because they will continue to bake once they are taken out of the oven. This results in a gooey center and crisp edges.
- For best results, use an ice cream scooper to make sure all of your cookies are the same size.
Substitutions & Variations
- Prefer crispy sprinkle sugar cookies? Bake for an additional 2-3 minutes.
- Add a splash of almond extract for an even deeper sugar cookie flavor.
- Instead of nonpareils sprinkles, you could use classic sprinkles. They are often referred to as jimmies (these are the long-strand sprinkles).
- If you want extra sprinkles, fold sprinkles into the batter in addition to rolling the cookie dough balls in sprinkles. Of note, the color of the sprinkles may bleed into the batter. If you're ok with that, by all means, enjoy!
- Try different colored sprinkles depending on the holiday or season. For example, red and pink for valentine's day, black and orange for Halloween, a rainbow for funfetti cookies (perfect for birthdays) , or red and green for Christmas. You get the picture.
- If you're a chocolate lover, add a little cocoa powder to make chocolate sugar cookies!
How to Make Sprinkle Sugar Cookies
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients - all purpose flour, powdered sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Cream butter and sugar together in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment for 3 minutes.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula and continue to mix. Add an egg and vanilla extract and mix until fully incorporated about 20 seconds.
- Add flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined, about 20-30 seconds.
- Add sprinkles into a small bowl.
- Use a medium cookie scoop (about 2 ½ tablespoons of dough) and scoop out the batter. Roll the dough into a ball and roll the ball into the sprinkles, coating the entire ball.
- Place dough balls on a baking sheet. Space cookies 2 inches apart. Bake cookies for 11-13 minutes, until the edges of the cookies are crisp.
- Allow cookies to cool for 10 minutes on the cookie sheet and enjoy your homemade cookies!
Storing
Store leftover sprinkle sugar cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. Be sure to store them in a cool, dry place.
You can freeze the cookie dough balls and store them in a freezer-safe bag for up to 2 months. When you're ready to bake, just pop them directly into the oven and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes. The baked cookies can also be frozen after they have cooled. Just thaw them overnight in the fridge before eating.
Recipe FAQs
Add sprinkles to sugar cookies before baking (right after forming the cookie dough into balls).
Yes. If you want to sprinkle sugar on the cookies, do so just before baking.
Sprinkles taste like sugar. Their main purpose is for decoration, although they can impact the texture of a cookie.
More Recipes
- Chocolate Chip Sugar Cookies
- Small Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Funfetti Cupcakes
- Dunkaroo Dip
- Cosmic Brownies Recipe
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Let's stay connected on social media and continue to cook together! Also, if you decide to make this recipe, please leave a star rating on the recipe card and leave a comment below! Tag @BritneyBreaksBread on Instagram and hashtag #britneybreaksbread so I can see your creations! I hope that you love this recipe as much as we do!
Sprinkle Sugar Cookies
Equipment
- Stand Mixer or Electric Mixer
- 1 Mixing Bowls
- 2 Cookie Sheets
Ingredients
- 2 cups All purpose flour
- ½ cup Powdered sugar
- ½ tsp Baking powder
- ½ tsp Baking soda
- ½ tsp Kosher salt
- 1 cup Butter softened
- 1 cup Sugar
- 1 Egg
- 1 tbsp Vanilla extract
- 1 cup Nonpareils sprinkles
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients - all purpose flour, powdered sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Cream butter and sugar together in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment for 3 minutes.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula and continue to mix. Add an egg and vanilla extract and mix until fully incorporated about 20 seconds.
- Add flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined, about 20-30 seconds.
- Add sprinkles into a small bowl.
- Use a medium cookie scoop (about 2 ½ tablespoons of dough) and scoop out the batter. Roll the dough into a ball and roll the ball into the sprinkles, coating the entire ball.
- Place dough balls on a baking sheet. Space cookies 2 inches apart. Bake cookies for 11-13 minutes, until the edges of the cookies are crisp.
- Allow cookies to cool for 10 minutes on the cookie sheet and enjoy your homemade cookies!
Notes
- Use room temperature butter and eggs. Cold butter makes thick cookies that don't spread. Cold eggs won't incorporate into the butter as easily and could cause your batter to separate. Also of note, cream the butter for the full 3 minutes as listed in the recipe card. This will absolutely make a huge difference, I promise!
- Coat the cookie dough balls in sprinkles as soon as they are formed. The sprinkles won't stick to the dough if you wait too long (the batter dries out making it difficult to adhere).
- Do not use parchment paper to line your baking sheet. The parchment paper causes the cookies to spread too much and they'll be flat. Simply use a nonstick large baking sheet.
- The cookies will be slightly underbaked because they will continue to bake once they are taken out of the oven. This results in a gooey center and crisp edges.
- For best results, use an ice cream scooper to make sure all of your cookies are the same size.
Did you chill the dough at all. I found it really difficult to roll the sticky dough in the sprinkles. Any tips?
It sounds like your butter was too soft. Be sure to use butter that's been sitting out for about 30 minutes. Anything longer and the butter will be too soft to set the batter properly and the cookies will spread too much.