Funfetti Cookies — These funfetti cookies are essentially sugar cookies from scratch that have been loaded with sprinkles. They have that nostalgic boxed cake flavor but are 100% homemade!
Funfetti Cookies From Scratch
Who can say no to super soft cookies with sprinkles baked in? I sure can’t.
It’s been on my bucket list to come up with a softbatch-style sugar cookie recipe that’s soft, and not at all cakey, with just hints of chewiness around the edges. And I wanted to make these from scratch, not from Funfetti cake mix. I have nothing against it, and once upon a time used cake mix a whole lot more, but these sugar cookies with sprinkles are 100% from scratch.
I wanted cookies with less cakiness than Lofthouse Cookies, and I wanted drop rather than roll out cookies recipes. I didn’t want to have to frost them, so baking in sprinkles was my solution. I definitely didn’t want hard or crispy cookies, which are words that should never describe cookies.
I know people love sugar cookies and decorated Christmas cookies, but I think they’re tasteless and way too hard. I would never waste my calorie budget on cardboard cookies with frosting that’s crunchy. No way.
I made these Chewy Sugar Sprinkles Cookies previously and while I like them I felt like I could improve on them, so I did just that. For these funfetti cookies, I worked cornstarch into the dough. It’s my secret weapon for creating softbatch-style cookies. I’ve written about it before so many times and swear by it.
I also included both almond and vanilla extracts in the cookies to really play up the Funfetti cake batter taste.
And you can’t have Funfetti without sprinkles, and the abundance of them adds texture and flavor. Everything is better with sprinkles. The more the merrier.
These birthday cake cookies make a smaller batch, just 15 cookies, perfect when you don’t want or need dozens of cookies laying around tempting you. Feel free to double it if you’d like.
The cookies are pillowy soft and tender with just a tiny bit of chewiness around the edges. They’re lightweight without being airy or dry. They’re moist with a rich buttery flavor. If you’re a ‘dough’ person, rather than an add-ins person, and can appreciate the simple pleasures of a really good, flavorful dough, this dough will be your new best friend.
I have no willpower around super soft and tender sugar cookies from scratch like these. Especially when sprinkles are involved.
What’s in Funfetti Cookies?
For these homemade funfetti cookies, you’ll need:
- Unsalted butter
- Granulated sugar
- Egg
- Vanilla extract
- Almond extract
- All-purpose flour
- Cornstarch
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Sprinkles
Note that I used clear imitation vanilla extract rather than real vanilla extract. This is a recipe where using the cheap stuff is preferred to the real thing because imitation provides a classic, bakery-cake, nostalgic flavor. It’s found in the baking aisle next to real vanilla and it’s a fraction of the cost.
How to Make Funfetti Cookies From Scratch
To make these birthday cake cookies, you first need to cream together the butter, sugar, egg, and extracts for about 5 minutes. Do NOT shortcut the creaming process — you need to make sure the butter mixture is very light in color and fluffy before adding the other ingredients.
Add in the dry ingredients and mix until combined, making sure to not break apart the sprinkles. Then, scoop the cookie dough onto a plate and roll into balls before flattening them slightly with your hands. Chill the dough for at least 2 hours before baking the cookies.
Once the dough has chilled, bake for 8 minutes, or until edges have set and tops are just beginning to set, even if undercooked, pale, and glossy in the center. These cookies should not turn golden or brown at all and should stay white.
How to Store Funfetti Cookies
You should store these homemade cookies in an airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 3 months. If you freeze the cookies, you can reheat them in the oven or set them on the counter to thaw.
Can I Make These Cookies in Advance?
Absolutely! I make the dough, scoop into balls, cover and refrigerate them for up to 5 days, before baking. You can also freeze the cookie dough (after you’ve scooped it) and bake these sugar cookies with sprinkles directly from frozen.
Can I Omit the Almond Extract?
If you have a nut allergy or are simply out of extract, I’d add extra vanilla extract to make up for the lack of almond extract. Your funfetti cookies won’t taste exactly like mine without the almond extract, but they’ll still be delicious!
My Cookies Came Out Flat, What Happened?
Sometimes these things happen! But this funfetti cookie recipe always turns out perfectly for me. If you need help troubleshooting this cookie recipe, check out this chocolate chip cookie recipe for all of my best tips and tricks to making cookies from scratch (scroll to the bottom of the post for the list of tips).
Can I Double This Recipe?
Most definitely! These sugar cookies with sprinkles can be doubled or even tripled to feed a crowd.
Can I Make These Into Cookie Bars?
I haven’t tried that myself, so I can’t say for sure how they’d turn out. However, I have lots of cookie bar recipes on my blog already! If you’re looking for inspiration, try out my Frosted Sugar Cookie Bars, M&M’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars, or Snickerdoodle Cookie Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting.
Does it Matter What Type of Sprinkles I Use?
Nope! But I’d steer clear of the sprinkle balls if I were you, just because they’re fairly hard.
Can I Roll Out These Cookies and Cut Them Into Shapes?
I haven’t tried that myself, so I’m not sure that’d work. If you roll out these cookies, I’m afraid they wouldn’t turn out soft and chewy at all.
Can I Make These with Whole Wheat Flour?
I haven’t tried that myself, but my gut says no. Whole wheat flour would majorly alter the texture and flavor of these funfetti cookies.
Can I Make These Gluten-Free?
I’ve never made these with a GF flour, but if you find one that works please leave me a comment below!
Tips for Making Funfetti Cookies
You absolutely must chill this dough before baking, no exceptions. The cookies will spread and bake flat and thin if you don’t chill the dough.
And don’t over bake! The cookies will look quite raw and underdone at 8 minutes, but they firm up while they cool. Don’t be tempted to bake them longer because they’re not meant to be browned, golden, or crisp. They’re meant to be white and soft.
Also note that the cornstarch in these birthday cake cookies can’t be substituted. It’s the secret ingredient and they wouldn’t turn out properly without it.
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Softbatch Funfetti Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 ½ teaspoons clear imitation vanilla extract, real vanilla extract may be substituted
- 1 ½ teaspoons almond extract
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons corn starch
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- pinch salt, optional and to taste
- ¾ cup sprinkles, jimmies
Instructions
- To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter, sugar, egg, extract, and beat on medium-high speed until well-creamed, light and fluffy, about 5 minutes (or use a hand mixer and beat for at least 7 minutes). Do not shortcut the creaming process; make sure dough is very light in color and fluff, stop to scrape down the sides of the mixer as necessary.
- Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, optional salt, and mix until just combined, about 1 minute.
- Add the sprinkles and beat momentarily to incorporate, less than 1 minute, or fold in by hand.
- Using a medium 2-inch cookie scoop, form heaping two tablespoon mounds (I made 15). Place mounds on a large plate, flatten mounds slightly with your palm, cover with plasticwrap, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or up to 5 days, before baking. Do not bake with warm dough because cookies will spread and bake thinner and flatter.
- Preheat oven to 350F, line two baking sheets with Silpats, or spray with cooking spray. Place mounds on baking sheets, spaced at least 2 inches apart (I bake 8 cookies per sheet). Bake for 8 minutes, or until edges have set and tops are just beginning to set, even if undercooked, pale, and glossy in the center. These cookies should not turn golden or brown at all and should stay white. Do not bake longer than 9 minutes for soft cookies because they firm up as they cool (The cookies shown in the photos were baked with dough that had been chilled overnight, allowed to come to room temp for 15 minutes, and were baked for 8 minutes, with trays rotated at the 4-minute mark). Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes before removing and transferring to a rack to finish cooling.
- Store cookies airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Alternatively, unbaked cookie dough can be stored airtight in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 4 months, so consider baking only as many cookies as desired and save the remaining dough to be baked in the future when desired.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Softbatch Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Cookies — These soft batch cookies are made with a combination of butter and cream cheese, which makes them extra rich and delicious!
Frosted Soft Sugar Cookies – Super SOFT sugar cookies that just melt in your mouth!! If you’ve ever thought that sugar cookies can be boring or dry, this EASY recipe with frosting and sprinkles will change your mind!
Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies — These cookies are soft, moist, and oh-so chewy. They taste like banana bread and chocolate chip cookies rolled into one dessert!
The Best Snickerdoodles – Soft, pillowy puffs that are so irresistible! The closest recipe to Mrs. Fields snickerdoodles that you’ll find!
One-Bowl, No-Mixer, No-Chill, Extra-Large Chocolate Chip Cookie For One – An incredibly FAST and EASY recipe that produces ONE extra-large soft and chewy cookie that’s loaded with chocolate!
Funfetti Oreo Chocolate Chip Cookies — The cookies are loaded with Oreos, sprinkles, chocolate chips, and are adapted from my favorite recipe for chocolate chip cookies.
thanks for the idea of adding corn starch! Do you add corn starch to chocolate chip cookies too?
I have many recipes for choc chip cookies and in many of them, yes I do add cornstarch.
Can you make these without almond extract? Or could you replace it with extra vanilla? I’d like to make these but don’t have any almond. Thanks!
They won’t have quite the same special effect but they will still be fine w/out the almond ext. You can add a little more vanilla if you wish, or not, either way will still ‘turn out’. Enjoy!
I pinned these awhile back and finally got around to making them-they turned out awesome! I totally agree with you regarding cornstarch…I love soft cookies and almost all my favorite cookie recipes have cornstarch in them. My husband said the cookies taste like a cross between sugar cookies and Angel food cake.
Thanks for trying the recipe after pinning awhile back and I’m glad it came out great for you!
a cross between sugar cookies and Angel food cake <--- I love that assessment and I think he's onto something!
Just finished baking these. Followed the directions explicitly & they came out beyond perfect! Serving these tomorrow for Memorial Day BBQ. I have 9 nephews & 3 nieces who are going to LOVE these cookies! Thanks for posting Averie!
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you and that they’ll be a hit at your BBQ! Lucky nephews & nieces!!
hi,i have a spoon with 70mm of size its like .5oz per cookie, can i use it? or i have to buy a big one for make them.
I’m not exactly sure how big that looks in reality but if they seem skimpy, make a double scoop and smoosh the dough together, or a scoop-and-a-half. Use your best judgment but no need to probably go out and buy something.
can I double the recipe and make them into bars?
Probably, yes! I haven’t tried but I’m sure it will work fine.
Was really disappointed to find out these cookies flattened like a pancake for me as well. Something isn’t right with the recipe. Do u have convection oven?
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m sorry they flattened for you. Many others have made them successfully but sorry you had trouble.
Make sure to read over this post with all my tips for cookie making success (Silpat, chilled dough, cookie scoop, brand of flour, etc)
https://www.averiecooks.com/2014/02/the-best-soft-and-chewy-chocolate-chip-cookies.html
No I don’t have a convection oven.
Hi Averie! The taste of the cookies is AMAZING, but I too had some major flattening out despite following the recipe precisely. I did notice, during the creaming process, that the batter was not as fluffy as it needed to be and was more liquidy. I double checked the measurements and did not make a mistake there. I was hoping that chilling the dough in mounds as the recipe called for would correct for any flattening but apparently not. I’d like to make these again, though, for an upcoming cookie exchange and was wondering if creaming the butter and sugar by themselves together first would help. I’d love to know your thoughts!
I haven’t had any issues with the dough being loose or liquidity, but you could try just creaming the butter and sugar together by themselves as you suggested.
Also see this post for my tips and tricks for perfect cookies, i.e. King Arthur flour, Silpat, etc. https://www.averiecooks.com/2014/02/the-best-soft-and-chewy-chocolate-chip-cookies.html
Glad the cookies tasted great!
I have never used them before. I bought them, and I was careless because they aren’t what I needed. So, now I have like 5 bottles of them! I will get jimmies for this recipe. Thank you for your reply!
Eeek, well, yeah they’re tooth-crackers (at least the ones I’ve bought over the years). Maybe yours are different? and you can get away with them in these!
Hi! All I have in the house are grande nonpareils. Do you think they would work for this recipe? Or will the run like they do in cake batter?
grande nonpareils = are those the really HARD, crunchy, firm little balls? I personally would not want to bite into a hard ball inside soft cake and would wait until I had softer sprinkles to add. I’d be more concerned about the texture than that of color running.
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I seldom write comments after I tried and savoured the countless web recipes, but truly this one hit the spot, a perfect cookie and a new family favourite. I live in Switzerland so the ingredients are not 100% exact; I had the round sprinkles that are super tiny, but seriously an AMAZING COOKIE!!!!
Glad they came out perfectly for you and that they’re a new family favorite! Thanks for trying the recipe (all the way from Switzerland!) :)
hi! i love your blog :)
i know this question might sound stupid, but i live in italy and i can’t seem to find sprinkles anywhere, so i was wondering if trying to do these with mini smarties would turn out wrong.
i wanted to do these for my little sister’s birthday.
I would do mail order rather than smarties. Those would not be the same at all and could adversely effect the dough and sort of dissolve when heated. Not a good idea.
i’ll order them then! thank you so much for replying :)
Honestly, I made these today and they came out perfectly flat. I followed the recipe in every minute way.
HOWEVER- they are totally worth it, flat or not. Amazingly delicious! I can’t imagine loving them any better if they were mounded. Thanks Averie!
I have a cookie baking tips segment within this post https://www.averiecooks.com/2014/02/the-best-soft-and-chewy-chocolate-chip-cookies.html
Silpat, King Arthur Flour, chilled dough…those are my top 3 suggestions. But it sounds like flatness didn’t effect taste and happy you enjoyed them!
What do you think about chilling the dough in a log. Then, cutting into rounds and baking?
I don’t tend to do that because sometimes dough get crumbly after it’s been chilled and cut. Where the knife hits it, it breaks and crumbles. Not sure if that would happen with this dough because I haven’t tried it.
WOW! My granddaughter and I made these cookies yesterday. They were a huge hit with the family. The only change I would make the next time is to use less sprinkles. These would be great without sprinkles too. Just love the idea of small batch cookies too. So glad I found your website.
Thanks for finding my site and glad you love the recipe! Glad your granddaughter and family are pleased with these!
Love these! I made the cake batter version previously but I would love to try these sometime. The sprinkles just make my life better. :)
Check out my baking blog! http://Www.forloveofbaking.com to see my funfetti cookies!
Sydney