The best SOFT and CHEWY SUGAR COOKIES loaded with SPRINKLES! No chill time – you can be diving into freshly baked Sprinkle Cookies in under 30 minutes.

My inner 5 year-old is squealing, because: SPRINKLE COOKIES! I mean, tell me these don’t brighten your Monday just a touch? Soft, chewy sugar cookies loaded with colorful sprinkles. Gimme!

This recipe was one of the first that I ever published, and I decided it was time for a facelift. I tweaked the recipe just a bit, and I took some new pictures (note: I also consumed no fewer than a dozen cookies during this process). #hardwork

We recently celebrated the start of a new school year, and I always make my kiddos cookies on the first day of school. For Juliette’s first day of Pre-K, she came home to a big plate of Sprinkle Cookies. If there is anything that you should know about Juliette, it is that she is one fancy girl. She loves glitter, sparkles, unicorns, dress up, and she especially loves SPRINKLES (pink and purple specifically). She was thrilled to dive into these cookies after her first day of school.

Sprinkle Cookies

This recipe starts with a basic sugar cookie dough. In addition to vanilla, I also add a tiny bit of almond extract. I absolutely love almond extract in a sugar cookie – feel free to leave it out, if you’d prefer.
After preparing the dough, we add a generous amount of sprinkles. I use rainbow sprinkles, but you can use any color that you’d like.
The dough gets scooped into balls, then gently rolled in more sprinkles. This makes the sprinkles really noticeable; there’s no guessing what kind of cookies these are.
Now here’s the key: We are going to underbake these just slightly. In order to get a soft, slightly chewy cookie, we have to remove them from the oven before they are completely cooked through. They will continue cooking on the baking sheet after coming out of the oven.

Whether you’re celebrating something special, or you’re just craving a Sprinkle Cookie, I hope you give these a try. The dough balls also freeze well, if you want to stick some in the freezer for another day. Freshly baked cookies at the ready? Yes, please!

Love SUGAR COOKIES? Try these: SUGAR COOKIE BARS – EASY SUGAR COOKIES – SUGAR COOKIE FRUIT TARTS

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Recipe

Soft Sprinkle Cookies

The best SOFT and CHEWY SUGAR COOKIES loaded with SPRINKLES! No chill time - you can be diving into freshly baked Sprinkle Cookies in under 30 minutes.

4.92 from 184 votes

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Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Dessert

Prep Time: 15

Cook Time: 10

Total Time: 25

Servings: - 20

Calories: 133kcal

Author: Allison - Celebrating Sweets

Ingredients

▢ 1 ½ cups all purpose flour, add an extra tablespoon for thicker cookies
▢ 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
▢ ¼ teaspoon salt
▢ ½ cup unsalted butter, softened slightly but still cool
▢ ¾ cup granulated sugar
▢ 1 large egg
▢ 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
▢ ¼ teaspoon almond extract, optional
▢ ¾ cup sprinkles, see note

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat butter until smooth. Slowly pour in the sugar, mixing as you pour. Beat sugar and butter for a minute, until light and fluffy. Add egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract, mixing until combined and scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. Add in flour mixture and mix until just combined. Add ½ cup sprinkles (see note) and stir by hand until combined.
Scoop 2-tablespoon portions of dough and roll into a ball. Place ¼ cup sprinkles on a plate and press the tops of the dough balls in sprinkles. Place dough balls onto prepared baking sheet leaving about a couple inches for spreading. I like to mound the dough balls higher rather than wider so that they bake up on the thicker side.
Bake for 9-11 minutes. The edges should be completely set, and the centers should look slightly under cooked. See note about shaping the cookies immediately after baking. Place the baking sheets on wire racks to cool. Repeat with remaining dough once the baking sheets are completely cool.

Notes

Butter should be softened slightly. It should not be starting to melt, or losing its shape.

Sprinkles: We have found that we like this recipe better with less sprinkles. We use about ¼ cup sprinkles IN the cookies and then roll the cookie dough balls in another ¼ cup sprinkles. We're leaving the recipe as originally written (because so many of you love it), but adding this note in case you want to reduce the amount as well.

How to get perfectly round cookies

Option 1: Immediately after the cookies come out of the oven place a round glass, bowl, or cookie cutter (larger than the cookie) upside down over the top of the cookie. Gently but quickly swirl the glass/bowl/cookie cutter in a circular motion. The edges of the cookie will bump against the inside of the glass creating a perfectly round shape. Note: This only works when the cookies are hot, straight from the oven, and still on the baking sheet.

Option 2: Immediately after the cookies come out the oven use the back of a spoon to gently push the edges inward to create clean edges and a perfect round shape.

Nutrition

Nutritional Information is an estimate based on third-party calculations and may vary based on products used and serving sizes.

Tried this recipe?Leave a comment and rating below!

Comments

Bobby Grant

November 03, 2021 at 1:07 pm

Best cookie I’ve had in a long time. I put M&Ms and Hersheys and it was delicious.

- Allison
  
  November 06, 2021 at 8:32 am
  
  Thanks for the kind review. I’m glad you enjoyed them!
  
- Belinda
  
  June 15, 2022 at 10:05 am
  
  Followed the recipe exactly and they turned out perfectly! Was looking for an easy recipe to make with my 4 year old and he is OBSESSED!!! they don’t last very long as they are so delicious!!
  
Janice McKamie

November 21, 2021 at 7:46 pm

How long can they stay in the fridge before Baking them

- Allison
  
  November 22, 2021 at 5:56 am
  
  One to two days. Some brands of sprinkles might begin to bleed color into the dough, so just keep an eye on it. If that starts to happen you might want to bake them.
  
  - Marie
    
    December 23, 2022 at 2:19 pm
    
    They look cute and dough was easy to work with but they are very bland. Not sure why. I won’t be making these again.
  - Allison
    
    December 28, 2022 at 4:14 pm
    
    Sorry to hear that. Did you use vanilla and almond extract?
- Randi
  
  December 17, 2021 at 7:04 pm
  
  How many cookies does one recipe make?
  
  - Allison
    
    December 18, 2021 at 9:02 am
    
    15-20
  - Lindsey
    
    September 18, 2022 at 11:31 am
    
    Delicious cookie recipe! My daughter picked out a unicorn sprinkle baking mix to use in it and the cookies turned out really good!
  - Allison
    
    September 23, 2022 at 1:57 pm
    
    I’m so glad! Thanks for stopping by. 🙂
michelle

December 03, 2021 at 10:26 pm

delicious sugar cookies with sprinkles! turned out exactly as you described them. slightly soft and chewy. will definitely make these again.

- Allison
  
  December 08, 2021 at 9:08 am
  
  That’s great to hear. Thanks for stopping by!
  
- Lindsey Suzanne Depner
  
  December 31, 2021 at 10:38 pm
  
  This was an easy recipe for my daughter to follow. She made a half batch for new years and they turned out to be an amazing touch to our little celebration. Super sweet, super cute and soft.
  
  - Allison
    
    January 04, 2022 at 9:49 am
    
    I’m glad you enjoyed them! Thanks for stopping by. 🙂
- Noah George
  
  June 22, 2022 at 3:58 pm
  
  AMAZING these are the BEST cookies ever although I think we put to many sprinkles!
  
Fae

January 22, 2022 at 10:55 am

The most delicious cookie! The sprinkles are so colorful and it makes my inner child happy! The recipe is complete and easy to follow! These are definitely one of my favorite cookies to make! Perfect for all ages!

Jenn

January 27, 2022 at 3:31 pm

BOMB recipe. I can’t bake for shit but this recipe slaps no cap. Highly recommend. Period.

- Allison
  
  February 01, 2022 at 9:55 am
  
  I’m glad you enjoyed them! 🙂 Thanks for taking the time to comment.
  
Kate

March 19, 2022 at 5:04 pm

I made these for my sister’s sprinkle and they came out so beautifully! I used a small cookie scoop and got 26 cookies. I also used vegan butter. Thank you for this great recipe!

- Allison
  
  March 21, 2022 at 11:47 am
  
  You’re welcome! I’m glad you enjoyed them. 🙂
  
Amanda

April 03, 2022 at 2:36 pm

Loved this sprinkle cookie recipe! They are so soft and delicious.

- Allison
  
  April 07, 2022 at 2:20 pm
  
  I’m so glad! Thanks for stopping by. 🙂
  
Marlot

June 10, 2022 at 10:29 am

Yum. The glass-as-cookie-cutter worked like a charm for perfect little circles of sprinkle-awesomeness, and you can home in on the best sprinkle zone that way. Plus – all the cookie scraps on top of vanilla ice cream?!!! Its own delicacy! Loved this recipe. Replaced the almond extract with Bakers Emulsion. Simple and perfect.

- Allison
  
  June 10, 2022 at 11:00 am
  
  Thanks for the kind review.
  
Stephanie

June 12, 2022 at 5:17 pm

I was feeing a bit down, so decided to bake and I’m so glad I chose to make these cookies! They are so delicious and easy. I usually mess up baking recipes but these came out absolutely perfect and delicious!!!!!

- Allison
  
  June 14, 2022 at 3:23 pm
  
  I hope you’re feeling better. Glad you enjoyed them. 🙂
  
Katie

September 19, 2022 at 2:13 pm

Can you freeze them after they are baked?

- Allison
  
  September 23, 2022 at 1:46 pm
  
  Yes!