Funfetti Cookies
Inspired by the favorite childhood boxed birthday cake, these Confetti Cookies are slightly chewy, soft and chock full of rainbow sprinkles. Perfect for birthday parties, graduations, baby showers, tailgates and more, Funfetti Cookies are a delicious treat to serve for any occasion! Makes 30 cookies.
Love celebratory sweets? Don’t miss Dessert Nachos and Bourbon Maple Bacon Cupcakes!
2018 hasn’t been the year I thought it would be. While it has shown our little family so much happiness, it’s also been riddled with heartbreak and unforeseen challenges.
And though it feels against my former journalist nature, I’m looking for silver linings everywhere.
Hey, if no one buys our house, that means we have more time to hunt for the perfect home and also speculate on projects we’d like to undertake here. Even though this pregnancy has been rougher than my last, Baby Speckle is active, happy and healthy, constantly kicking and wiggling throughout the days.
And this little blog turns SEVEN today.
Why I love this recipe:
We’ve come a long way since I kicked off this personal project with my Yogurt French Toast years ago, and we’re celebrating today with Funfetti Cookies.
Also known as Confetti Cookies or Sprinkle Cookies, these beauties are one of our favorites. They’re a good pick-me-up and are oh-so-colorful.
This cookie batter is an easy one to put together, and it’s especially fun to make with kids. We all love the way these confetti cookies turn out soft and chewy, and I think this recipe would be excellent for a crowd.
Other sprinkle-filled recipes for celebrating: Funfetti Dip | Funfetti Pancakes | Funfetti Sugar Cookie Bars | Funfetti Ice Cream Sandwiches | Sour Cream Funfetti Cupcakes | Funfettini Birthday Cake Martini
Want another type of cookie? Check out my Cookie Recipe Index for more ideas!
What do I need to make Funfetti Cookies?
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- Glass bowls
- Measuring spoons
- Rainbow nonpareils
- Rainbow sprinkles
- Nonstick baking mat
- 1 tablespoon cookie scoop
In addition to these tools, you’re going to need some ingredients to make this funfetti cookie recipe.
- Unsalted butter—this is our base for the recipe. It needs to be softened, meaning you need to remove it from the fridge about an hour before baking.
- Light brown sugar—or dark brown sugar, if that’s the only one you’ve got.
- Granulated sugar—also known as “white sugar.”
- Egg
- Pure vanilla extract—the real deal stuff has more flavor than the imitation vanilla, so try to use that if you can.
- All-purpose flour—we keep unbleached AP flour at our house, but you can use the regular kind, too.
- Kosher salt—or another salt with a relatively fine grain
- Baking soda
- Rainbow sprinkles—you want to use the cylinder shaped sprinkles, which are sometimes called jimmies. Why? They hold onto their shape and color better than nonpareils (the round ones), which will immediately bleed color into your cookie dough.
- Rainbow nonpareils—we’ll use these to roll the cookies in. If you don’t have them and have a ton of regular rainbow jimmies, feel free to use those instead.
How To Choose The Right Sprinkles
There are so many sprinkles on the market out there. We’ve had the best luck with cylindrical-shaped sprinkles, which are also known as jimmies. They hold their shape, and their colors typically don’t run.
While nonpariels sometimes run, unlike the jimmies, we use them on the exterior of these cookies because they add nice color and crunch.
How to make Confetti Cookies
Make the cookie dough.
In a large mixing bowl, whip the softened butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar with a hand (or stand) mixer at high speed until the butter and sugar turn a light yellow and are well incorporated. This process is called “creaming the butter” and it makes a huge difference in the texture of the final cookie.
Next, add the egg and vanilla extract, and beat until combined.
Combine the flour, salt and soda in a smaller bowl, and whisk. Pour in half of these dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing until combined, then add the other half, blending until the batter has come together.
Measure in ½ cup of the colorful sprinkles. Stir them into the batter with a spoon, gently incorporating them.
Chill the dough for at least 2 hours. This is important, so don’t skip it.
Bake the Sprinkle Cookies
Preheat the oven, and line a sheet pan with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. This will prevent the cookies from sticking to the cookie sheet.
Combine the rest of the rainbow sprinkles with the nonpareils in a large bowl.
Use a cookie scoop to scoop rounds of cookie dough. Roll the dough in your hands until smooth, then transfer to the sprinkle bowl. Use your fingers to gently roll the dough in the sprinkles until coated. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but you do want the majority of the cookie dough to have sprinkles on it.
Place the cookie dough on the baking sheet, leaving about 2” between each.
Bake for 10-11 minutes, or until golden brown. Keep an eye on these cookies because they will firm and brown up quickly if you’re not paying attention.
Transfer to racks to cool, and enjoy warm with a glass of your favorite kind of milk!
Erin’s Easy Entertaining Tips
There’s nothing like homemade cookies for a birthday celebration… or any kind of gathering, especially ones that involve kids.
I love these Confetti Cookies because they’re fun to bake—solo or with kids—and they’re fun to customize for different occasions, too.
Here are some tips and tricks to making the best Funfetti Cookies for any type of gathering:
- Bake the cookies in advance. These Confetti Cookies are delicious at room temperature or slightly warm. If you want to serve them warmer, pre-bake them and then warm in a 200F degree oven for 10ish minutes. Keep an eye on them so they don’t burn.
- Double or triple the recipe for a crowd, especially if you’re expecting a lot of people who adore cookies. You can always send friends home with extra cookies if you don’t want them in your house.
- Learn how to Freeze Cookie Dough and freeze the cookie dough 1-2 weeks in advance, then bake them fresh just before guests arrive.
- Make a variation on this classic cookie recipe. I have some ideas below…
Variations On Funfetti Cookies
I love this Funfetti Cookie recipe because you can change the colors to whatever you’d like, depending on the time of the year or the occasion.
Since themed sprinkle mixes are sold in stores and online, it’s fun to make twists on this cookie and transform it into a holiday-centric dessert.
- Red, white and blue sprinkles for July 4th
- Red and green for Christmas (like these Christmas Funfetti Cookies)
- Pink and red for Valentine’s Day
- Orange and black for Halloween (like these Halloween Funfetti Cookies!)
- Green and gold for St. Patrick’s Day
Frequently Asked Questions
You know the sprinkle cake you so loved as a kid? These made-from-scratch Confetti Cookies are the cookie version of that sweet.
Y’all should know by now that baking from scratch makes me exceedingly happy. You don’t really need that many more ingredients from your pantry to make these beauties at home. (Also, I don’t keep cake mix on hand because that has been known to lead to bad middle-of-the-night decisions, sooooo.)
Yes. If you use regular sprinkles* affiliate link (also known as “jimmies,” apparently), the cookies are a bit softer, while nonpareils make for a crunchier variety. I like to use nonpareils* affiliate link in the coating of the cookies to add a bit of texture for the final cookie.
Technically, you don’t have to, but you’ll end up with a flatter cookie.
These cookies are delicious without any icing. If you want to ice ‘em, please do. I suggest using Cream Cheese Icing because it would make an incredible combination.
Tips and tricks to the best Confetti Cookies
- Let the cookie dough chill. This allows the butter to solidify and gives the flour a chance to hydrate. These two will affect cookie’s texture. Chilled cookie dough leads to fluffier cookies that spread less.
- Use a cookie scoop to make life easier in scooping the cookie dough.
- Involve kids if you have them. This recipe is sprinkle-studded and utterly delicious… and there are a lot of steps where kids can be completely involved. Depending on your child’s age, they might be able to help with the batter, making the rolling of the cookie dough, the sprinkle additions and more. Stay with them and help them through the steps.
- Make a batch… and freeze the cookie dough that you’re not going to bake so you can enjoy it later.
Y’all ready to make these beauties?
Scroll on down to learn how simple they are to mix up in your own kitchen!
Homemade Funfetti Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened (1 stick)
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup rainbow sprinkles
- ½ cup rainbow nonpareils for rolling
Equipment
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Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, whip the softened butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar with a hand (or stand) mixer until the butter is light yellow and the sugars are well incorporated.
- Add in the egg and vanilla extract, beating until combined.
- Combine the dry ingredients–flour, salt and soda–in a smaller bowl, and whisk.
- Pour in half of the dry ingredients, mixing until combined, then add the other half, blending until the batter has come together.
- Measure in ½ cup of the rainbow sprinkles. Stir them into the batter with a spoon.
- Chill the dough for at least 2 hours (or overnight.)
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat.
- Combine the rest of the rainbow sprinkles with the nonpareils.
- Use a cookie scooper to out rounds of the cookie dough. Roll the cookie dough in your hands until rounded and smooth.
- Roll in the mixture of rainbow sprinkles and nonpareils until coated.
- Place the cookie dough on the baking sheet, leaving about 2” between each so the dough can spread as it bakes.
- Bake for 10-11 minutes, or until golden brown.
- Enjoy warm with a glass of your favorite kind of milk!
Notes
Nutrition
About the Author:
Erin Parker is a Southern gal living in Texas with her husband and two daughters. She started The Speckled Palate to share what she was cooking as a newlywed… and over the years, it’s evolved to capture her love for hosting. Specifically, the EASIEST, lowest key entertaining because everyone deserves to see their people and connect over good food. Learn more about her…
These are the cutest and I love how simple they are. I’ve got a bunch of partially used jars of sprinkles in the cupboard and this is the perfect way to use them up. Congrats on SEVEN years of blogging! That’s amazing!!!!
These are the cutest and I love how simple they are. I’ve got a bunch of partially used jars of sprinkles in the cupboard and this is the perfect way to use them up. Congrats on SEVEN years of blogging! That’s amazing!!!!
Aww, thank you so much, Amy! You DEFINITELY should clear out your partially used sprinkle jars by making these cookies. We’ve loved ’em so much… but are currently out of sprinkles. For shame! 😉
Thank you, thank you! It’s hard to believe it’s been SEVEN years.
I made these for a Christmas party this year, only with red, white and green sprinkles instead of rainbow. They were such a big hit! The vanilla flavor is very present and I love how they are a mix of crunchy and soft. They were absolutely perfect and I cannot wait to make them again in more colors soon! So good!
I made these for a Christmas party this year, only with red, white and green sprinkles instead of rainbow. They were such a big hit! The vanilla flavor is very present and I love how they are a mix of crunchy and soft. They were absolutely perfect and I cannot wait to make them again in more colors soon! So good!
I love that you made these Christmas-y, Susannah! What a brilliant idea and a fun way to take these versatile cookies into a holiday treat! I’m so glad that you enjoyed the flavor and the texture of these. We’ve loved them all year, and I absolutely want to make them for Valentine’s Day in reds and pinks now!
I made a surprise for my mom with these and she loved them (im now her favorite child)
Haha. Well done, Sara! Nobody can turn down a Funfetti Cookie. 😉