These soft and chewy birthday cake cookies are full of white chocolate and rainbow sprinkles. They're made with clear vanilla extract for that classic birthday cake flavour in cookie form!
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How fun are these birthday cake cookies?! They have all the flavour and look of funfetti cake but they're way easier to make than a whole cake. These cookies are perfect for birthday parties or as a replacement for a birthday cake if you're not a cake person.
Why you'll love this recipe
- Nostalgic birthday cake flavour. These cookies are made with clear vanilla extract for that classic flavour found in vanilla birthday cakes or funfetti cakes.
- Soft and chewy sugar cookies. These cookies soft in the middle and crisp on the edges.
- Easy to make. No creaming softened butter or hand mixer needed. These cookies are made with melted butter so they're quick to whip up and ready in less than an hour.
Tools
- Baking sheet - You can use any baking sheet or baking tray to bake your cookies on. Always line it with parchment paper cut to size so that the paper doesn't lift on the edges of the tray.
- Electric hand mixer (optional) - You don't need to use a hand mixer for these cookies but I always do anyway. It's completely optional. You can also use a regular whisk.
- 4-tablespoon cookie scooper - Use a large cookie scooper to scoop the cookie dough (unless you're going for very small bite-sized cookies). I recommend using a 3-tablespoon or 4-tablespoon scooper. When you use more dough for each cookie, they spread nicer and look more like cookies you get from bakeries.
Ingredient notes
As always, the fullย recipe cardย with ingredient amounts and instructions is at the bottom of this post! Keep reading for more details on each ingredient or skip ahead to theย recipe.
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Unsalted butter -ย Melt the butter in the microwave or on the stovetop before you begin.
- Granulated sugar
- Egg -ย This should be at room temperature to prevent the melted butter from solidifying upon contact with a cold egg.
- Clear vanilla extract - This is a key ingredient for that classic, nostalgic birthday cake flavour. Clear vanilla extract has a very fragrant, sweet, and very artificial flavour but that's what we want here! You can certainly use regular vanilla extract but the cookies will have a different kind of flavour.
- Rainbow sprinkles -ย plus extra for topping
- White chocolate -ย roughly chopped, plus extra for topping
How to make birthday cake cookies
Prep -ย Preheat oven to 350ยฐF. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
Dry mixture -ย In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
Wet mixture -ย In a large mixing bowl, use a hand mixer or whisk to mix melted butter and sugar until combined. Add the egg and clear vanilla extract and whisk until incorporated.
Combine dry and wet mixture -ย Add the flour mixture and mix until almost combined. Add the white chocolate and rainbow sprinkles. Switch to a spatula to finish folding the dough together to prevent overmixing.
Scoop cookie dough -ย Use a cookie scooper to scoop the cookie dough. Release the dough ball onto your lined baking sheet, leaving about 2" in between each cookie for spreading.
Bake -ย Bake for about 11-12 minutes or until the edges are set but the middles of the cookies are still very soft. In the last 2 minutes of baking, press a few extra chunks of chocolate on top of each cookie and sprinkle with more sprinkles.
Let cool -ย Immediately after taking them out of the oven, swirl the cookies around with a round cookie cutter that's slightly larger than the cookies to push the uneven edges in for perfectly round cookies (optional). Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes until they're firm enough to handle before transferring them to a wire rack to cool.
Storage
These birthday cake cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Freezing
Baked cookies can be frozen in a freezer bag for up to 1 month. Thaw at room temperature for about an hour before eating.
Unbaked cookie dough can be frozen to be baked later! Scoop the cookie dough out onto a baking tray or cutting board and freeze the entire tray for about 30-60 minutes until the dough is firm to the touch. Transfer the cookie dough balls to a freezer bag and freeze for up to 1 month.
Bake directly from frozen at 350ยฐF for about 15 minutes (a few minutes longer than if baking unfrozen).
Frequently asked questions
You can. It won't change the structure of the cookies but the taste will be different. Clear vanilla extract has a very strong sweet, creamy, and artificial flavour that gives these cookies all their flavour. I would highly recommend using clear vanilla extract if you want a true birthday cake flavour.
Baking by weight is much more accurate than volume. When using US standard cups, ingredients like flour and sugar can easily be overpacked into the cup causing you to add too much of certain ingredients. Recipes with weight measurements are also easier to scale to smaller or bigger batches without dealing with weird fractions.ย To measure by weight, you simply need a kitchen scale which you can usually pick up for less than $20.
Small measurements are given in tablespoons and teaspoons because most kitchen scales are not accurate under about 10g. Tiny amounts like a ยผ teaspoon may not register accurately unless you have a drug scale. Mixing these measurements is a common practice among other recipe sites and commercial kitchens.
More cookie recipes to try
Recipe
Birthday Cake Cookies
Equipment
- 1 electric hand mixer, optional
Ingredientsย ย
- 180 g all-purpose flour
- ยฝ teaspoon baking powder
- ยฝ teaspoon baking soda
- ยฝ teaspoon salt
- 115 g unsalted butter, melted
- 125 g granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 tablespoon clear vanilla extract
- 100 g white chocolate, roughly chopped, plus extra for topping
- 50 g rainbow sprinkles, plus extra for topping
Instructionsย
- Prep: Preheat oven to 350ยฐF. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Dry mixture: In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- Wet mixture: In a large mixing bowl, use a hand mixer or whisk to mix melted butter and sugar until combined. Add the egg and clear vanilla extract and whisk until incorporated.
- Combine dry and wet mixture: Add the flour mixture and mix until almost combined. Add the white chocolate and rainbow sprinkles. Switch to a spatula to finish folding the dough together to prevent overmixing.
- Scoop cookie dough: Use a cookie scooper to scoop the cookie dough. Release the dough ball onto your lined baking sheet, leaving about 2" in between each cookie for spreading.
- Bake: Bake for about 11-12 minutes or until the edges are set but the middles of the cookies are still very soft. In the last 2 minutes of baking, press a few extra chunks of chocolate on top of each cookie and sprinkle with more sprinkles.
- Let cool: Immediately after taking them out of the oven, swirl the cookies around with a round cookie cutter that's slightly larger than the cookies to push the uneven edges in for perfectly round cookies (optional). Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes until they're firm enough to handle before transferring them to a wire rack to cool.
Ava says
Best birthday cake cookies ever!
John says
Not a big fan of these cookies. Theyโre kinda blah. Very underwhelming recipe, wouldnโt make them again.
Marianne says
Hi, I have made this recipe before and I absolutely loved it! Just wondering if I can make this with just half the dough and keep the other half in the freezer. And how would I go about making the cookies from the freezer? Thank you so much
Anonymous says
I wish the recipe helped make the cookies just a little bit more moist.
Celine says
wow these are sooo good!! soft, chewy and it melts in your mouth like there is a perfect amount of white chocolate and sprinkles ๐
Leslie says
I made these for my childโs birthday and they all loved it! I did however baked from frozen. I began baking 350F for around 14mins, removed and placed extra white chocolate and sprinkles and baked for another 3-4mins (or until top of cookies arenโt wet and edges of cookies turned golden brown). I also doubled the recipe and only used 2 sticks of butter.
This recipe is fantastic! A keeper for us! THANK YOU!
Nat says
Is the nutritional facts per one cookie?
Veronica says
I came across this recipe on TikTok and the cookies turned out perfect! I used a smaller cookie scoop and the same oven directions. Super easy and tasty.