These sugar sprinkle cookies are made with simple baking staples and just 15 minutes of prep time. They’re thick, chewy, and melt-in-your-mouth soft. Studded with funfetti white chocolate chips and coated in fun and festive rainbow sprinkles, there’s something special about these simple sugar cookies that is perfect for birthdays and all sorts of celebrations!
Want to save this recipe?
Enter your email below and we’ll send this idea straight to your inbox (plus you’ll receive fun weekly ideas from us too!)
easy Sprinkle Cookies
Rainbow sprinkles just scream birthday parties, don’t they? That’s why this recipe for sprinkle sugar cookies is one of my top treats when it comes time to decide on birthday party food ideas.
Sure there is cake, but there’s nothing better than soft, thick, and chewy cookies that practically melt in your mouth. Plus, they make a great addition to a birthday charcuterie board!
They taste just like funfetti cake but in the form of a cookie made from scratch. And what’s better than rainbow sprinkles cookies? Homemade cookies made from scratch, that’s what!
And these particular sprinkle cookies are inspired by cookies I’ve tried at Gideon’s Bakehouse in Disney World (one of the best Disney World snacks), so they’re big. I mean, really big. You can also make them smaller but the giant ones are delicious!
They’d be fun to enjoy after you play some birthday party games or add them a stop on this birthday scavenger hunt – or just make them for any occasion!
Why you’ll love this sprinkle cookie recipe
- Easy to make – with just 15 minutes of prep time, and 18 minutes in the oven, the rest of the time is spent chilling the dough!
- Festive – the cheerful rainbow sprinkles in the rainbow sprinkle cookies is enough to make anyone smile!
- The best texture – Soft, chewy, thick, and fluffy. These sprinkle cookies may not be giant in circumference, but they make up for it in thickness!
Ingredients
Ingredient Notes
- Unsalted butter, softened – bring it out to room temperature at least 30 minutes before you begin. It should be soft enough to cream easily.
- Sugars – you’ll be using a combination of white sugar and brown sugar in this recipe, this is what gives these cookies their nice chewy texture! Don’t skip one of the two, you really want both!
- Funfetti white chocolate chips – these adorable white chocolate chips have colorful sprinkles in them. If you can’t find them, regular white chocolate chips work too.
- Colored sprinkles – Jimmies (long sprinkles) or nonpareils (round ball sprinkles) are great. Use one or both – any kind of sprinkles really works!
- Vanilla extract – I always recommend using pure vanilla extract for the best flavor!
How to make Sprinkle Cookies
Making these fun sprinkle cookies is just as easy as many any other sugar cookie recipe! It’s just a matter of making the cookie dough, rolling them in sprinkles, and baking! It’s pretty much the same process as my chocolate sprinkle cookies, just in a bigger format!
1 – Make the Sprinkle Cookie dough
- In a large mixing bowl use a hand mixer or a stand mixer to cream together the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add the egg and vanilla and beat until well incorporated using an electric mixer or hand mixer or medium speed.
- Add the all purpose flour, baking powder, and salt to the wet ingredients and mix until ingredients are just combined. Don’t worry if the dough is crumbly, it’s supposed to be!
- Stir in the white chocolate chips to finish off the dough. Make sure to stir these in by hand (rather than using a mixer) so they don’t get destroyed! You want them whole.
2 – Add Sprinkles to the Cookies
- Divide the dough into six equal portions and use your hands to roll each portion into a ball. Don’t roll the dough too much, just enough to form a ball.
- Press sprinkles into the tops and sides of the cookie dough balls, trying to coat the tops of the cookies and the entire bottom of the cookie in sprinkles.
- Place balls on a plate or cookie sheet close together, then refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Tip!
I love making these as giant cookies but you can totally make them smaller ones as well – they still taste great and go further! If you want them half the size of these ones, make 12 balls. If you want them a third the size of mine, make 18 balls.
3 – bake the sprinkle cookies
- When dough is close to done chilling, preheat your oven to 375°F.
- Move the chilled dough balls onto large baking sheets with plenty of room between each ball so they can expand while baking.
- Bake for 18 minutes.
- Let cookies cool on baking sheets for five minutes before transferring to cooling rack to cool completely.
Once the cookies are completely cooled, it’s time to eat them! Both kids and adults will love the wonderful sugar cookie flavor, the fun funfetti coloring, and of course – the white chocolate chips!
You could even serve them with a little birthday cake ice cream (or use it to make cookie ice cream sandwiches)!
Just look at how thick and chewy the insides of these cookies are. They’ll be your new favorite!
How to Store Sprinkles Sugar Cookies
I’ll be honest, these don’t last long as in our house. My boys go through them so fast that we never really have leftovers to store! That being said, if you are going to store them, I recommend putting them in an airtight container or zipper top bag and storing them at room temperature for up to five days.
After that, they’ll start to dry out!
How to freeze these cookies
If you’d like to freeze the cookies, there are two different ways you can do that.
If you want to freeze the cookies before baking, roll out your cookie dough like instructed in the post above. Place the cookie dough balls onto a parchment lined baking sheet and freeze for a few hours so the balls are frozen solid.
Then place all of those cookie dough balls into an airtight container or freezer safe zipper top bag and freeze for up to three months. When you’re ready to eat, thaw however many balls you want to room temperature then follow the rest of the instructions (adding sprinkles and baking) for the recipe.
You can also freeze baked cookies in a freezer safe container or bag, with pieces of parchment paper or wax paper dividing them, as well, but sometimes sprinkles can get a little wonky after being frozen for a while so I recommend eating them within 3 months.
Or you could also just wrap the individual cookies in plastic wrap and then put them in a freezer safe bag. There are lots of ways to freeze them – you just need to make sure they are protected from the elements in some sort of airtight container!
Tips & tricks
Omit the white chocolate chips if you prefer the cookies without them. You can fold in some extra sprinkles if you’d like instead.
Don’t skip the chill time. As much as you want to eat these sprinkle cookies sooner rather than later, it’s worth the time the dough spends in the fridge. It is what helps to keep the dough from spreading too much in the oven and stay nice and thick.
Let them rest. Once out of the oven, the sprinkle cookies will be soft. Let them rest on the baking sheet before trying to move them or they may fall apart on you.
Serve them warm, room temperature, or cold. You can’t go wrong. I even think they might be better the next day!
Switch up the type of sprinkles. Depending on the occasion, you might want to use orange and black sprinkles for Halloween, red and green sprinkles for Christmas sprinkle cookies, or pink for Valentine’s Day.
Recipe FAQs
Can I freeze them?
Yes! Place them in a freezer bag or freezer-safe container. Layer them with wax or parchment paper so they don’t stick together. Store them in the freezer for up to 3 months!
What kind of rainbow sprinkles should I use?
I like to use a combination of rainbow jimmies (long sprinkles) and rainbow nonpareils (round ball sprinkles)! If you don’t have both in your pantry, you can also just use one or the other. I just like the festive look of both types of sprinkles together!
More Sprinkle Treats
If you like treats with sprinkles, make sure to try these other fun desserts after you make these soft sugar cookies!
- Ice cream bread – a soft quick bread made with ice cream then topped with a simple icing. You won’t believe how easy (and creative) this is.
- Birthday cake blondies – a fun birthday treat made from a doctored cake mix and lots of sprinkles! A super easy recipe that is perfect for birthdays!
- Fairy bread – bread, butter, and sprinkles? Yes, please!
- Dunkaroo dip – a simple way to recreate everyone’s favorite childhood dip using just 4 ingredients.
- Funfetti dip – a fun way to serve a dessert dip for birthday parties and other occasions. Perfect for dipping cookies, fruit, and more!
Want more Goodies?
Want more delicious recipes just like this one? Enter your first name and email address in the form below to join the Play Party Plan community! You’ll receive weekly recipes and party ideas directly to your inbox!
Sprinkle Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 ½ cups funfetti white chocolate chips or just white chocolate chips
- 2 cups rainbow sprinkles
Instructions
- Cream together the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy.1/2 cup unsalted butter, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, 3/4 cup brown sugar
- Add the egg and vanilla and beat until well incorporated.1 large egg, 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Add in the flour, baking powder, and salt and mix until ingredients are just combined. Dough will be crumbly.2 cups all-purpose flour, 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt
- Stir in the white chocolate chips.1 1/2 cups funfetti white chocolate chips
- Divide the dough into 6 equal portions and use your hands to roll each portion into a ball. Don’t roll the dough too much, just enough to form a ball.
- Press sprinkles into the tops and sides of the cookie dough balls, place balls on plate, then refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.2 cups rainbow sprinkles
- When dough is close to done chilling, preheat your oven to 375°F.
- Move the chilled dough balls onto large baking sheets with plenty of room between each ball and bake for 18 minutes.
- Let cookies cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack to cool completely. Then enjoy warm or at room temperature.
Leave a Reply