Birthday Sugar Cookies are the softest homemade sugar cookies covered in fun sprinkles that taste like a perfect birthday cake!
Making these cookies from scratch is super easy. Unlike typical sugar cookies, these funfetti cookies don't require you to chill and roll the dough which makes them a great anytime treat!
Birthday cookies have a secret ingredient... did you know? Yep, they're not just sugar cookies from scratch covered in sprinkles. Nope. I added a small amount of one of my most favorite flavors to give colorful little funfetti cookies and unique taste that set them apart from your basic sugar cookie. What is that secret ingredient, you're wondering? Well, you'll just have to make your way down to the recipe to find out. Hint: it is a certain extract that is not vanilla.
For all those cookie lovers:
- One cannot go wrong with my Faithful Chocolate Chip Cookies. They are chewy. They are soft. They are the best recipe I have ever used.
- One of my favorite homemade cookie recipes are my Brown Sugar Pecan Cookies. I made them as a Christmas cookie, but they really can (and should) be an anytime cookie. They have a cake-like fluffy cookie, a sweet frosting, and are topped with a pecan half. Yum!
- Chewy Molasses Sugar Cookies are always a favorite. To get the maximum chewiness out of them you have to pull them out of the oven at just the right moment and be sure to store them in an airtight container to keep them soft.
I have to admit, the cookies turned out pretty darn awesome. I already had the sprinkles in my pantry - something I highly recommend everyone keep on hand. This control-freak-in-the-kitchen kind of a mom even let her daughter make them because it was kind of a no fail recipe and there was no chilling of the dough or rolling out with a rolling pin required.
Tips on how to make cookies from scratch:
- Cookies from scratch are far superior to store bought cookies or cookies made from cake mix and they are super easy to make
- If your recipe calls for butter like this birthday cookie recipe does, make sure it is at room temperature and you cream the butter and sugar together as much as you can
- Eggs should be at room temperature as well
- Remember - don't ever over mix
- If you're making funfetti cookies which are basically a form of sugar cookies with sprinkles, you must be careful not to over mix the dough with the sprinkles because the color will bleed
Kitchen tools used in the making of these fun birthday cookies:
Baking Sheet - I've been using this one for years. I love that it's made in the USA, the sides are high enough to keep anything from spilling over, and it's warp resistant.
Silpat Silicone Baking Mat - Any time I bake cookies, I always use my Silpat. Turn ANY pan into a non-stick surface and save time cleaning up!
Stand mixer: This is a kitchen must-have. I use mine almost any time I bake. It’s one of the few appliances I will allow to always remain on the counter rather than be put away. In the video, I used a hand mixer, but the first time I made them I used my trusted stand mixer.
Silicone spatula: Any time you’re working with a batter, you’ll need a good quality scraper. These are the ones I use because they do the job right and don’t leave a nasty silicone taste when I like the batter off at the end!
Recipe video below!
Birthday Cake Sugar Cookies
RECIPE VIDEO WILL AUTOPLAY
Ingredients
- 8 Tablespoons unsalted butter (softened to room temperature)
- 1 cup granulated sugar (I've used ultrafine baking sugar too - both work)
- 2 large egg yolks
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (cake flour works too)
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup sprinkles (for rolling)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar together on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg yolks, vanilla extract, and almond extract and beat until well combined for about a minute, scraping sides as needed. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix into butter mixture until a dough forms. You may need to do the final mixing by hand as the dough will be thick.
- Roll dough into teaspoon sized balls and then roll dough balls in the sprinkles. Cookies will spread thin as they cook so make sure they're spread about 2 inches a part. Bake in preheated oven for 9-11 minutes and remove when set but not yet turning brown.
- Allow cookies to remain on hot baking sheet for a couple of minutes and then transfer to wire cooling rack. Store in airtight container.
Tami Sedor
what exactly is "cake purpose flour"? i have heard of cake flour, OR all purpose flour.....?
Krissy
Tami, I'm so sorry! I used cake flour but meant to say that all purpose flour would be fine as well. I've updated the recipe. Thanks! Krissy
Ally Roz
My cookies were pretty dry and had a hard time holding shape and the sprinkles wouldn't stick to them either. I added about 3 TBS of milk and that helped a lot. My cookies didn't spread when I baked them either, they held the ball shape. The 2nd time I squashed them down with a glass to make them look more like yours, worked perfectly! Super fun cookies, I make them for all my birthday people!
Krissy
Excellent tips, Ally! Thanks for sharing!!! Krissy
Kate
The glass trick made a world of difference, thank you! Mine also came out dry, but they are for a 2-year-olds birthday so as long as there's sprinkles, it's good!
Stefan
What can you use in place of almond extract because it’s the one extract that I never use ?
Krissy
You can omit and just add a bit more vanilla. The almond extract gives a great flavor though.
Jennifer
Ally, thank you for the suggestion of adding milk to the batter. Mine too came out a bit dry and the sprinkles didn't stick so well. I'll try the milk trick next time I make these. They have a delicious flavor and my family enjoyed them, even if they looked a little shoddy.
Jeannine
How do you send the cookies?
Krissy
in a box
Wendy
These turned out great!
Can I freeze them?
Krissy
You sure can! Just make it airtight so they don't get freezer burn.
Jocelyn (Grandbaby Cakes)
Love these birthday cake sugar cookies!! Great video, too!!!
Ashley
These are so festive!
Maryea | Happy Healthy Mama
What a fun treat!
marina
These are SO much fun!
kelly smith
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Sherry P.
These look fun. Thanks for sharing! My grandson's birthday is coming up, and I just celebrated mine. These will be nice to share with him. Since I'm allergic to tree nuts, I'll have to use vanilla though. Maybe I'll experiment with some other flavor. I have to make those pesky high altitude adjustments too.
Krissy
I grew up in high altitude, so I feel your pain, Sherry!
Samantha
I love these cookies! Delicious. Although they were not cooking all the way through so I just pushed them down a little with a fork. And after that everything was great! I love these cookies and I definitely recommend them!
Nicol
Love this recipe, thank you for sharing ❤️
Gf version... use coconut flour instead of regular flour... amazing 🤤
I added 3tbsp milk & 1/3 cup of mini garidelli chocolate chips 😎
Meg
I too found the dough way too dry. The dough had a hard time sticking together and the sprinkles didn't stick at all. Put in oven and they didn't spread. Not one bit. Sounds like this one needs tweaking a bit.
Krissy
Hi Meg, I'm so sorry it didn't work out for you. I've made these a few times and that hasn't happened to me. I'm wondering if it has to do with the size of my egg yolks? The yolks are pretty huge in my eggs.
Krissy
Hi Emily, Are you sure you used unsalted butter? If not, then I would say additional salt would make it too salty. I thought 1/4 tsp was perfect for this recipe, however salt is always a matter of taste and the recipe will work just as well with less or even no salt. I hope you give it another shot. Also, I like to use kosher salt. Where you grinding it? If yes, then the fine powder will measure differently. Krissy
Jennifer
I did not change a thing and these came out perfect. The were soft and chewy, and just the perfect amount of sweet. Dough was easy to work with. The only issue I had was I made the balls a little too big at first and they burned on the bottom before they cooked through. I just made the next pan samller and they came out perfect. I will definitely use this again. Maybe even in place of cut outs for the holidays.
Theresa
I noticed the comments about the dough being dry: I would suggest substituting brown sugar for at least half the granulated sugar. It will add moistness without altering the flavor.
Krissy
Great suggestion!
Lam
How many does the recipe make.
Krissy
About 30 cookies, but that will vary based on the size you make them.
Hayley
Hi
Im looking at making this for my daughters upcoming birthday but she can not eat dairy do you think it would work with a dairy free spread (sunflower spread) instead of butter?
Thank you
Hayley
Vivien
Hi, just wondering if i would be able to use normal beaters with the hand mixer as i don't have the paddle attachment? Thankyou in advance, Vivien 😊
Vivien
PS: hoping to make these for my dadaughter's birthday party in 2 weeks
Krissy
Absolutely! I always just recommend the stand mixer because I find it easier to use, but you'll get the same results with a hand mixer. Enjoy!
Eva
what is 8 tablespoons in grams? i’m assuming about 160g? i was a bit lazy and just added the butter i had on hand (was about 180g) so my dough was quite buttery. i added more flour until it was more like cookie dough. they’re pretty tasty!!!
Krissy
Hi Eva, 8 Tablespoons or 1 stick or 1/2 cup butter is equal to 4 ounces, or 113 grams. Glad they worked out anyway! -Krissy
Cheryl
Can you make these ahead of time and freeze the dough? Or would the finished product freeze well? Thanks!
Krissy
I think you could go either way, but I would probably bake them, let them fully cool, and then freeze.