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    Home » Recipes

    Published: Jan 10, 2023 by Sloane · 14 Comments

    Birthday Cake Sugar Cookies

    4.3K shares
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    Jump to Recipe·Print Recipe

    These birthday cake sugar cookies are soft, sweet, and loaded with rainbow sprinkles - everything you could ever want from an easy birthday themed treat!

    birthday cake cookies piled on baking sheet

    These birthday cake cookies are perfectly soft, and just a tiny bit cakey. This recipe comes together in a flash, much faster than an actual birthday cake. So if you want something simple and sweet for your birthday, these cookies will without a doubt make your day a little extra special! 

    For more cookie recipes, try Small Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies, Brown Butter Snickerdoodles, and Espresso Chocolate Chip Cookies.

    Jump to:
    • Ingredient Notes
    • Kitchen Equipment
    • Step by Step Instructions
    • Expert Baking Tips
    • FAQ
    • Storage Tips
    • Baking in Grams
    • Other cookie recipes you'll love
    • 📖 Recipe
    • 💬 Reviews
    one cookie with bite taken out

    Ingredient Notes

    Ingredient quantities are listed in the recipe card below. Here you'll find notes on why I chose certain ingredients, as well as ingredient substitutions. 

    recipe ingredients
    • All-Purpose Flour: You'll need about two cups of flour for this recipe.
    • Baking Soda: Be sure your baking soda is fresh by testing it some vinegar!
    • Salt: A must in all sweet recipes, so do not skip over it!
    • Unsalted Butter: You'll need one stick of room temperature butter.
    • Granulated Sugar: You'll need about ½ cup of sugar. 
    • Light Brown Sugar: Just a touch of brown sugar makes the flavor and texture of these cookies perfect!
    • Egg: You'll only need one egg for this recipe. Make sure it's room temperature so it will incorporate in the mixture properly!
    • Vanilla: Vanilla is what makes birthday cake shine, so for the best birthday cake cookies, you'll want to use a good quality vanilla extract!
    • Sprinkles: I recommend using only jimmies sprinkles, as the other types of sprinkles tend to bleed into the dough. 

    Kitchen Equipment

    • Kitchen Scale
    • Electric Mixer
    • Cookie Scoop
    • Baking Sheet
    • Parchment Paper
    • Oven Thermometer

    Step by Step Instructions

    butter and sugars in bowl
    STEP 1
    egg and vanilla added to bowl
    STEP 2

    STEP 1: Cream butter & sugars. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugars together until light & fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.

    STEP 2: Add egg & vanilla. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until fully incorporated. 

    dry ingredients added to dough
    STEP 3
    sprinkles added to dough
    STEP 4

    STEP 3: Add dry ingredients. Scrape down the bowl, then add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Do not over-mix!

    STEP 4: Add sprinkles. Gently fold in the sprinkles. 

    portioned cookie dough on baking sheet
    STEP 5
    baked cookies on baking sheet
    STEP 6

    STEP 5: Portion & freeze cookie dough. Using a 2 tablespoon cookie scoop, portion the cookie dough and place on one baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Freeze the cookie dough for 30 minutes. 

    STEP 6: Bake. Place the frozen cookie dough on one prepared baking sheet placed about two inches apart. Bake the cookies for about 10 minutes. Allow cookies to cool completely on the baking sheet, and enjoy! 

    Expert Baking Tips

    • Use a cookie scoop. Use a 2 tablespoon cookie scoop to portion the cookie dough into equally sized cookies!
    • Freeze the portioned cookie dough. To ensure the cookies bake up to the right thickness, don't skip the freeze time!
    • Scoot the cookies. Immediately after the cookies come out of the oven, use a large round cookie cutter or glass to scoot the edges and form a perfectly round cookie.
    birthday cake cookies piled on parchment paper

    FAQ

    How to make soft & thick birthday cake cookies without cake mix:

    These cookies get their birthday cake flavor from a lot of butter, sugar, and vanilla, NOT birthday cake mix. Using boxed birthday cake mix would make cookies far too cakey, but this recipe makes perfectly soft & thick cookies that are so good you can't eat just one.

    What type of sprinkles are best for baking?

    Always use jimmies for baking! Any other type of sprinkle will melt or bleed into the batter. I love using Watkin's rainbow sprinkles, because they are made with no artificial dyes.

    Do these cookies require chill time?

    Yes, freeze the cookie dough balls for 30 minutes just before baking so they maintain their textured top. You can skip over the freeze time and bake them right away for 1-2 minutes less. They may loose their textured top, but they'll still be delicious!

    Storage Tips

    Store these birthday cake cookies in an airtight container for 3-5 days. You can freeze portioned cookie dough balls or baked cookies in a freezer bag for up to 3 months. 

    birthday cake cookies stacked

    Baking in Grams

    All of the recipes on this blog are carefully developed to create incredibly delicious baked goods that you can easily recreate in your own kitchen with success. The only way this is possible is to standardize the way ingredients are measured - by weight. Volume measurements are extremely inaccurate and leave room for significant errors. Not all measuring cups are made equally, so your one cup of flour will be different from my one cup of flour. By providing precise measurements in grams (aside from minor ingredients, which are given in tsp/tbsp), I can ensure that you can make the recipe accurately and with less cleanup! All you need is this kitchen scale. 

    If this still isn't enough to convince you, I have provided volume measurements in the recipe card. If you are interested in understanding the conversions, this is the best conversion chart.

    But trust me, once you try baking in grams you'll never turn back!

    Happy baking! x

    bite taken out of birthday cake cookie

    Other cookie recipes you'll love

    • Vegan Tahini Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
    • Chocolate Peppermint Crinkle Cookies
    • Gluten Free Peanut Butter Blossoms
    • Spiced Apple Pie Cookies

    If you tried this recipe, I'd love to know how it turned out for you! Leave a star rating & review below and post a picture (or video!) on Instagram and tag me so I can see your bakes! Not ready to make this recipe yet? Click the heart button on the right of your screen to save it for later 🙂

    Print

    📖 Recipe

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    birthday cake cookies piled on baking sheet

    Birthday Cake Sugar Cookies

    ★★★★★ 5 from 3 reviews
    • Author: Sloane
    • Prep Time: 30 minutes
    • Cook Time: 10 minutes
    • Total Time: 40 minutes
    • Yield: 26 cookies 1x
    • Category: cookies
    • Method: baking
    • Cuisine: American
    Print Recipe
    Save Recipe Recipe Saved

    Description

    These birthday cake sugar cookies are soft, sweet, and loaded with rainbow sprinkles - everything you could ever want from an easy birthday themed treat!


    Ingredients

    Scale
    • 280g (2 ⅓ cups) all-purpose flour
    • ½ tsp baking powder
    • ½ tsp baking soda
    • 1 tsp kosher salt
    • 170g (¾ cup) unsalted butter, room temp
    • 150g (¾ cup) granulated sugar
    • 106g (½ cup) light brown sugar
    • 1 egg, room temp
    • 2 tsp vanilla extract
    • 48g (¼ cup) rainbow jimmies sprinkles

    Instructions

    1. In a medium size bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
    2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugars together until light & fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
    3. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until fully incorporated. 
    4. Scrape down the bowl, then add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Do not over-mix!
    5. Gently fold in the sprinkles. 
    6. Using a 2 tablespoon cookie scoop, portion the cookie dough and place on one baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Freeze the cookie dough for 30 minutes. 
    7. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, and line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
    8. Place the frozen cookie dough on one prepared baking sheet placed about two inches apart.
    9. Bake the cookies for about 10 minutes. Allow cookies to cool completely on the baking sheet, and enjoy! 

    Notes

    • Use a cookie scoop. Use a 2 tablespoon cookie scoop to portion the cookie dough into equally sized cookies!
    • Freeze the portioned cookie dough. To ensure the cookies bake up to the right thickness, don't skip the freeze time!
    • Scoot the cookies. Immediately after the cookies come out of the oven, use a large round cookie cutter or glass to scoot the edges and form a perfectly round cookie.

    Nutrition

    • Serving Size: 1 cookie
    • Calories: 240
    • Sugar: 17.2 g
    • Sodium: 131.6 mg
    • Fat: 10.8 g
    • Carbohydrates: 36.1 g
    • Protein: 3.2 g
    • Cholesterol: 42.9 mg

    Keywords: birthday cake cookies, funfetti cookies, birthday cake batter cookies, confetti sugar cookies

    Did you make this recipe?

    Tag @sloanes.table on Instagram and hashtag it #sloanestable

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Carly says

      July 20, 2020 at 7:41 pm

      By far the most delicious cookies I've ever had! So easy to make and SO SO good!!

      Reply
    2. Pat says

      February 27, 2021 at 2:17 pm

      I do not know how to convert could you please tell me what they are in regular measurements. They look like they are probably very delicious. That you,.

      Reply
      • Sloane says

        February 27, 2021 at 6:30 pm

        This is the best conversion chart: https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/learn/ingredient-weight-chart

        Reply
    3. Anne says

      April 14, 2021 at 9:43 pm

      Delicious, soft and easy to make! These cookies are a new family favourite. They’re amazing!

      ★★★★★

      Reply
    4. Ana says

      May 10, 2021 at 10:55 am

      Really delicious! I didn't have time to bake them right away so I refrigerated the scooped cookie dough overnight. Baked them the following morning with no issues. Thanks for the recipe!

      ★★★★★

      Reply
    5. Monica says

      May 20, 2021 at 2:00 pm

      Can you freeze these cookies?

      Reply
      • Sloane says

        May 20, 2021 at 2:44 pm

        Yes! You can freeze the baked cookies for about 3 months or the pre-scooped cookie dough for cookies on demand!

        Reply
    6. Holly says

      January 12, 2022 at 11:20 am

      Loved these cookies! They actually taste like birthday cake😍

      ★★★★★

      Reply
    7. Corinne says

      January 15, 2022 at 6:43 pm

      What size scoop do you use for these cookies?

      Reply
      • Sloane says

        January 16, 2022 at 10:45 pm

        I used a 2 tbsp cookie scoop!

        Reply
    8. FS says

      January 29, 2022 at 10:30 pm

      Tasted so good but they didn’t flatten at all. They kept their scoop shape.

      Reply
    9. Debbie says

      July 15, 2022 at 6:55 am

      1 cup of butter equals 2 sticks of butter not 1 on your 2X recipe .

      Reply
    10. Debbie says

      July 15, 2022 at 6:57 am

      On the 2x recipe, are you saying 1 cup and 1 stick of butter? Thank you.

      Reply
      • Sloane says

        August 08, 2022 at 10:48 am

        Hi Debbie,
        The recipe card does not adjust the number of sticks - sorry! So yes, if you were to double the recipe it would be 2 sticks (or 1 cup) of butter.

        Reply

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    Hi, I'm Sloane! Welcome to Sloane’s Table! I am a Dartmouth College alumna, professional baker, recipe developer, and food photographer. Here, you will find trust-worthy recipes of baked goods ranging from easy & indulgent, bakery-worthy, and simple & healthyish.

    Learn more about me →

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