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If you’re looking for a fun and festive cookie recipe that’s easy to make and tastes like birthday cake, you’re in the right place. These Birthday Sugar Cookies are soft, buttery, and packed with colorful sprinkles, making them perfect for any celebration, or just because.
I make these cookies often, and this recipe never fails to deliver perfectly sweet with a subtle almond-vanilla flavor. Plus, there’s no chilling, rolling, or cutting required, which makes them an easy, anytime treat!
This post was originally published in July 2015 and has been updated with new photos and additional tips so that you can easily recreate the recipe in your own kitchen.
Table of Contents
- Why I Love These Birthday Sugar Cookies
- Key Ingredients That Make These Cookies Special
- Step-by-Step Instructions
- Step 1: Cream the butter and sugar
- Step 2: Add the wet ingredients
- Step 3: Mix the dry ingredients
- Step 4: Shape the cookies
- Step 5: Sprinkle time
- Step 6: Bake
- Pro Tips for Perfect Birthday Cookies
- Fun Ways to Customize Your Cookies
- FAQs About Birthday Sugar Cookies
- Birthday Sugar Cookies Recipe
Why I Love These Birthday Sugar Cookies
Whether you’re making them for a birthday party or a random Tuesday, these cookies are guaranteed to be a hit. Here’s why:
- Easy, no-fuss prep: No chilling or rolling required. Just mix, scoop, and bake.
- Soft and chewy texture: Thanks to the egg yolks and room temperature butter, the cookies stay soft and tender.
- Perfect birthday cake flavor: The secret ingredient, almond extract, gives these cookies a sweet, nostalgic flavor reminiscent of classic birthday cake. They taste similar to my Birthday Cake Baked Donuts.
- Festive and fun: Sprinkles make everything better, adding color and crunch to every bite.
Key Ingredients That Make These Cookies Special
These sugar cookies are made with simple ingredients, but each one plays an important role in the flavor and texture.
- Almond extract: The secret ingredient! It adds a subtle, sweet, and slightly nutty flavor that gives these cookies that signature birthday cake taste. You can omit it or replace it with a different extract, if you want.
- Egg yolks: Using only the yolks makes the cookies extra rich and chewy. Save the leftover egg whites to throw into your breakfast scramble or frittata, or use them to make an angel food cake!
- Unsalted butter: For a tender, melt-in-your-mouth texture. I make all of my cookies with real butter, including my favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies, Brown Sugar Pecan Cookies, and my Chewy Molasses Cookies.
- Nonpareils sprinkles: These tiny, round sprinkles create a fun, colorful exterior without melting into the dough.
Exact quantities are listed below in the recipe card. Note: the recipe card allows you to easily scale the recipe and will automatically adjust the ingredient quantities.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Always refer to the recipe card below, but here is a visual summary. As with most baking recipes, you will preheat the ovenand line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
Step 1: Cream the butter and sugar
In a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. This step incorporates air into the dough, making the cookies soft and tender.
Step 2: Add the wet ingredients
Beat in the egg yolks, vanilla extract, and almond extract until fully combined.
Step 3: Mix the dry ingredients
In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Gradually add the dry mixture to the wet mixture, beating until a thick dough forms.
Step 4: Shape the cookies
Roll the dough into small balls (about teaspoon-sized).
Step 5: Sprinkle time
Roll the dough balls in the sprinkles until fully coated.
Step 6: Bake
Place the dough balls on the prepared baking sheet, spacing them about 2 inches apart. Bake for 9–11 minutes, removing them when the edges are set but before they start to brown.
Let the cookies sit on the hot baking sheet for a couple minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Pro Tips for Perfect Birthday Cookies
After making these countless times, I’ve picked up a few tricks to make sure they turn out perfect every time:
- Use room temperature ingredients: Butter and eggs should be at room temperature to ensure the dough blends smoothly.
- Don’t overbake: Remove the cookies when they look just set but not browned. They will continue to firm up as they cool, staying soft and chewy.
- Sprinkle evenly: For maximum sprinkle coverage, gently press the dough balls into the sprinkles as you roll them.
Fun Ways to Customize Your Cookies
These birthday sugar cookies are perfect as-is, but you can easily switch them up for different occasions:
- Make them chocolatey: Add 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder to the dry ingredients for a chocolate sugar cookie variation.
- Holiday vibes: Swap the rainbow sprinkles for red and green ones during the holidays.
- Add frosting: Turn them into sandwich cookies by adding a layer of buttercream or cream cheese frosting between two cookies.
- Double the extracts: For an extra punch of birthday cake flavor, add a splash of butter extract along with the almond and vanilla.
FAQs About Birthday Sugar Cookies
Here are a few common questions readers have asked when making these cookies.
Yes! You can refrigerate the dough for up to 2 days. Let it sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes before scooping and baking.
If you overmix the sprinkles into the dough, the colors will bleed. To avoid this, roll the dough balls in sprinkles rather than mixing them into the dough itself.
Absolutely! Shape the dough into balls (without the sprinkles), freeze them on a baking sheet until solid, then transfer to a freezer bag. When ready to bake, let the dough balls sit at room temperature for 5–10 minutes, roll them in sprinkles, and bake as directed.
Nonpareils are ideal for these cookies because they keep their shape and color during baking. Jimmies (long, soft sprinkles) can also work but may bleed slightly.
Store the cooled cookies in an airtight container with a slice of bread. The bread helps maintain moisture, keeping the cookies soft for days.
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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
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup Nonpareils sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment, cream the 8 tablespoons unsalted butter and 1 cup granulated sugar together on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the 2 large egg yolks, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, and 1/2 teaspoon almond extract and beat until well combined for about a minute, scraping sides as needed.
- In a separate bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, and 1/4 teaspoon 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 1/4 cup Nonpareils sprinkles. Cookies will spread a bit 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.
Notes
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Can you make these ahead of time and freeze the dough? Or would the finished product freeze well? Thanks!
I think you could go either way, but I would probably bake them, let them fully cool, and then freeze.
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!!!
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
I thought these were very good and easy to make. I prefer it with half the amount of almond extract, but that’s just me!
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 😊
PS: hoping to make these for my dadaughter’s birthday party in 2 weeks
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!
How many does the recipe make.
About 30 cookies, but that will vary based on the size you make them.
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
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.
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.
Great suggestion!
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
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.
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.
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 😎
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!
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.
I grew up in high altitude, so I feel your pain, Sherry!