Sprinkle Sugar Cookies

September 23, 2021
Who doesn't love sprinkles? And sprinkles are even more beloved when they're coating a tender-textured, soft and chewy sugar cookie. Rainbow sprinkles bring the fun to these festive Sprinkle Sugar Cookies, completely coating them in their beautiful bright colors. They're a fun and tasty treat that will certainly delight the kid in all of us!

Sprinkle Sugar Cookies Image

The kid in all of us loves sprinkles! And the kid in all of us will definitely love these Sprinkle Sugar Cookies. -- Because our beloved sprinkles are even more beloved when they're coating a tender-textured, soft and chewy sugar cookie.

Rainbow sprinkles bring the fun to these festive cookies, completely coating them in their beautiful bright colors.

These sprinkle-coated beauties are an embellished version of our very favorite soft and chewy sugar cookies recipe we shared not too long ago. We absolutely adore these cookies in their fully-natural, unadorned state -- But adding a coating of sprinkles turns up the fun factor, for sure. 

We used rainbow jimmes for the batch in this post's photos, but other color combinations work wonderfully, too. Want to make a batch for just about any holiday? -- Just use that's holiday's colors. Baby shower? -- pink or blue work great, too. And game day? -- You could absolutely deck these cookies out in team colors, no problem. Yes, the possibilities are pretty much endless.

Funfetti Sprinkle Sugar Cookies Image


What's to Love About This Recipe?

Or should we way, what's NOT to love about this recipe? Because these sprinkled beauties do not disappoint! When my daughter took some to school in her lunchbox, she said all her friends were eyeballing them. See? -- Everyone does indeed love them some sprinkles.

We love Sprinkle Sugar Cookies because they are:
  • Fun - Brightly colored sprinkle fun all around! It's truly hard not to smile when you're eating a sprinkle-covered treat.
  • Flavorful - With two full teaspoons of vanilla extract, these cookies are packed with fabulously delicious vanilla-and-sugar flavor in every bite.
  • Soft and chewy - The texture of these flavor-packed cookies is tender, soft, and chewy -- just the way we love our cookies.
  • Versatile to fit any occasion - These sprinkled-loaded beauties can be made to fit about any occasion. Just change out the sprinkle colors to work for most any holiday, a baby shower, game day team colors, or for any other occasion you can think of.

Baked Sprinkle Sugar Cookie on Spatula Image


Sprinkle Sugar Cookie Ingredients:

These sprinkle-coated sugar cookies are an embellished version of our very favorite soft and chewy sugar cookies recipe. To whip up a batch, you'll need:

  • Granulated sugar - The key ingredient in sugar cookies! It just wouldn't be sugar cookies without a good dose of sugar, would it?

  • Unsalted butter - Melted butter is key to creating these cookies' soft and chewy texture. Stick with real butter, rather than substituting margarine, for nice rich flavor.

  • Cream cheese - Enhances the cookies' flavor. Also provides an acidic element that helps the baking soda do its thing in creating the cookies' wonderfully chewy texture.

  • Canola (or vegetable) oil - Adds to the moisture content of the dough, which in turn also contributes to creating a more chewy texture.

  • An egg - Serves as the binder for the cookie dough, and 1 is all that's needed for this recipe.

  • Milk - Whole milk is best for this recipe, adding a little fat and moisture to the dough.

  • Vanilla extract - A full 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract brings fabulous flavor to these chewy sugar cookies.  Since it's such an important element to the cookies' flavor, be sure to use pure vanilla extract, not imitation vanilla.

  • All-purpose flour - Serves as the back-bone of the cookies' structure, and interacts with the melted butter to create the foundation of the cookies' chewiness.

  • Baking powder - The leavening agent that creates the cookies' rise.

  • Baking soda - The leavening agent that creates the cookies' spread.

  • Salt - Works with the baking powder for the cookies' rise, and brightens the cookies' flavor.

  • Sprinkles - About 1 cup of sprinkles is needed to fully coat the cookies. See below ("Let's Talk Sprinkles") for details about the best (and not-so-best) sprinkles to use.

Sprinkle Sugar Cookies Ingredients Image


Let's Talk Sprinkles:

When it comes to making Sprinkle Sugar Cookies, not all sprinkles are created equal. Some types definitely work better than others.

Types of sprinkles that work well are:
  • Jimmies sprinkles - The multi-colored rod-shaped strands most people think of when they think of "sprinkles." The softer, plumper type of jimmies are the best sprinkles to use to make Sprinkle Sugar Cookies, and the ones shown in most of the photos in this blog post. -- We used rainbow jimmies, but single colors or other color mixtures work fabulously too.

  • Sanding sugar - Sanding sugar is crystal sugar that's larger than regular granulated sugar, and comes in many colors. The larger sugar granules won't melt when baked in the oven, and make for a nice coating on these cookies.

  • Sugar crystals - This is colored crystal sugar that's even larger than sanding sugar, and also holds its shape when baked. Sugar crystals will add a bit of crunch to the baked cookies, but it's not an unpleasant crunch. The blue and purple cookies in the photo below are coated in sugar crystals. 


Types of sprinkles that DO NOT work well are:
  • "Hard-textured" thinner jimmies sprinkles - It's hard to explain, but sometimes you get jimmies sprinkles that just aren't as soft and plump as others, you know? They're thinner and seem to be more "hard-textured." -- I've seen this most often in chocolate jimmies. Anyhow, this type of jimmie does not work well for Sprinkle Sugar Cookies, as they do not stick well to the dough and have an unpleasant crunchy texture on the baked cookie.

  • Non-pareils sprinkles - These are the teeny-tiny round ball sprinkles that come in a rainbow mix or in single-colored packages. Though small, non-pareils are very hard and coat the cookies in an unpleasant crunch. (The larger round sugar pearls/dragees are not recommended either -- for the same reasons.)

  • Confetti sprinkles/quins - These are the flat disc circular sprinkles often used to decorate cakes. They're too crunchy for these cookies too, and their color tends to bleed when baked.

Sprinkle Sugar Cookies with Sugar Crystal Sprinkles Image
The blue and purple cookies in this photo are coated with sugar crystals.


How to Make Sprinkle Sugar Cookies:

These pretty little cookies are just so fun, it's hard not to smile when you're making them!

To get the dough started, place a bunch of granulated sugar and some cream cheese in a large mixing bowl. Then pour warm melted butter over them and whisk the mixture to get the cream cheese, sugar, and melted butter combined. Don't worry at this point if there are a few small lumps of cream cheese after the whisking. -- The lumps will get worked out later in the dough process.

Add an egg, some milk, and two full teaspoons of vanilla extract to the butter/sugar mixture and whisk again until the mixture is smooth. Any cream cheese lumps should work themselves out at this point, but again, don't worry if you have a few small lumps still left. Then stir in the recipe's dry ingredients by hand to form a soft dough.

Scoop 2 tablespoons of dough at a time and roll into balls. Don't worry about making them perfect balls -- with this soft dough, rough and dimply is just fine.

Sprinkle Sugar Cookies Rolling Dough Ball in Sprinkles Image

Roll each dough ball in sprinkles, getting it completely coated all around. 

If you have any difficulty getting the sprinkles to stick well to the cookie dough balls, moisten your fingertips with a little water. Then use your fingertips to just barely moisten the entire surface of the cookie dough ball, immediately rolling the dampened dough ball in the sprinkles while it's still moist.

Sprinkle Sugar Cookies Dough Ball Coated in Sprinkles Image

Place the sprinkle-coated dough balls on a cookie sheet. Put no more than 8 cookies per sheet to allow space for the cookies to spread -- because these little beauties will definitely take up some room as they bake.

Pressing Down Sprinkle Sugar Cookies Dough Ball with Drinking Glass Image

Using the bottom of a drinking glass or flat-bottomed measuring cup, very slightly flatten the dough balls. And I do mean very slightly flatten -- you're just going for pressing the tops down a little bit here, not for completely squashing down the dough ball. 

For the cookies to bake up properly and stay soft and chewy, make sure they are NO MORE than 2-inches in diameter once flattened.

Sprinkle Sugar Cookies How to Make Image

Then pop the cookies in the oven to bake, baking just one sheet at a time for the best result. You'll want to bake them for 11-13 minutes, until the cookie edges are set and perhaps just barely beginning to brown.

Allow the baked cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 3-5 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Sprinkle Sugar Cookies on Baking Sheet Image

Then get ready to devour the sprinkle-adorned deliciousness! Because with their fabulous flavor and  beautiful bright colors, Sprinkle Sugar Cookies are a fun and festive treat that will definitely delight the kid in us all.


Recipe FAQs:
  • What kind of sprinkles should I use to make Sprinkle Sugar Cookies? - Not all sprinkles are created equal when it comes to making sprinkle-coated sugar cookies. Jimmies work best, along with sanding sugar and sugar crystals. We do not recommend using non-pareils, sugar pearls/dragees, or confetti sprinkles/quins for the unpleasant texture they create as a coating.
  • Can I use any sugar cookie recipe to make Sprinkle Sugar Cookies? - You can certainly try other sugar cookie dough recipes to make sprinkle-coated sugar cookies, but we can't guarantee the sprinkles will readily stick to the dough. We have tried this sprinkle method with a couple of other doughs, and the sprinkles did not adhere well. We've found this dough to work quite well in getting the sprinkles to stick.
  • What do I do if I'm having trouble getting the sprinkles to stick to my sugar cookie dough? - Some sprinkles are more challenging than others when it comes to sticking to sugar cookie dough. If you're having difficulty getting the sprinkles to stick, moisten your fingertips with a little water. Then use your fingertips to just barely moisten the entire surface of the cookie dough ball, immediately rolling the dampened cookie dough ball in the sprinkles.



Stack of Sprinkle Sugar Cookies Image
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sprinkle sugar cookies, sprinkle coated sugar cookies, sugar cookies with sprinkles
Cookies & Bars
American
Yield: About 24 Cookies
Sprinkle Sugar Cookies

Sprinkle Sugar Cookies

Who doesn't love sprinkles? And sprinkles are even more beloved when they're coating a tender-textured, soft and chewy sugar cookie. Rainbow sprinkles bring the fun to these festive Sprinkle Sugar Cookies, completely coating them in their beautiful bright colors. They're a fun and tasty treat that will certainly delight the kid in all of us!
Prep time: 30 MinCook time: 30 MinTotal time: 1 Hour

Ingredients

Cookie Dough:
  • 2 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1 1/2 c. granulated sugar
  • 2 ounces cream cheese, softened & cut into 8 pieces
  • 6 T. unsalted butter, melted & still warm
  • 1/3 c. canola or vegetable oil
  • 1 egg
  • 1 T. milk (whole milk is best)
  • 2 tsp. vanilla extract
For Rolling:

Instructions

  1. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt . Set aside.
  2. Place sugar and cream cheese in a large mixing bowl. Pour warm melted butter over them and whisk to combine (don't worry if there are a few small lumps of cream cheese after whisking).
  3. Whisk in oil until just incorporated. Add egg, milk, and vanilla extract. Whisk until mixture is smooth.
  4. Add flour mixture. By hand with a rubber spatula, mix until well combined to form a soft dough.
  5. Place the sprinkles for rolling in a small shallow bowl.
  6. Scoop 2 tablespoons dough at a time and roll into balls. -- Don't worry about making them perfect balls; rough and dimply is just fine.
  7. Roll each dough ball in sprinkles to coat and set on cookie sheet, placing no more than 8 cookies per sheet (to allow space for cookies to spread).
  8. With the bottom of a drinking glass or measuring cup, very slightly flatten dough balls (making sure they are NO MORE than 2-inches in diameter).
  9. Bake at 350℉, one sheet at a time, for 11-13 minutes, until cookie edges are set.
  10. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 3-5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
TRACEY'S NOTES:
  1. Some sprinkles stick more easily than others. If you're having difficulty getting the sprinkles to stick well to the cookie dough balls, moisten your fingertips with a little water. Then use your fingertips to just barely moisten the entire surface of the cookie dough ball, immediately rolling the dampened cookie dough ball in the sprinkles.
  2. Not all sprinkles are created equal when it comes to making sprinkle-coated sugar cookies. Jimmies work best, along with sanding sugar and sugar crystals. We do not recommend using non-pareils, sugar pearls/dragees, or confetti sprinkles/quins for the unpleasant texture they create as a coating.
  3. When pressing the dough balls down to flatten them, just flatten them a very little bit. Make sure they end up NO MORE than 2-inches in diameter. Flattening them too much causes them to bake up too thin, which also makes them crisp instead of soft and chewy.
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Sprinkle Sugar Cookies ~ Rainbow sprinkles bring the fun to these festive Sprinkle Sugar Cookies, completely coating them in their beautiful bright colors. They're a fun and tasty treat that will certainly delight the kid in all of us! Change up the sprinkles colors for holidays, baby showers, or the colors of your favorite team.  www.thekitchenismyplayground.com


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2 comments

  1. Just plain beautiful cookies! Thanks for sharing at the What's for Dinner party. Hope your week is fabulous!

    ReplyDelete
  2. These look great. Pinned for later. Thanks

    ReplyDelete

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