Sprinkle Cookies Supreme

Buttery soft sugar cookies exploding with sprinkles and topped with a simple swirl of vanilla frosting. And more sprinkles. 

How typical. An explosion of sprinkles and sparkles and ornaments and sugar for one of the last recipes in my Christmas Cookie Palooza.

But these here cookies? Well, they’re anything but ordinary. They’re the kind of buttery, soft and chewy sugar cookie that will make anyone, of any age, smile ear to ear. They’re the first to go on a cookie platter. A birthday, holiday, celebration kind of cookie. A sprinkled dessert so jolly, they’ll make Santa blush. I call these sprinkle cookies “supreme” because that’s just what they are.

Supremely awesome. Just like my triple chocolate scones.

This has to be one of the most tested cookie recipes to come out of my kitchen. For the past month, I’ve played around with my Soft-Baked Funfetti Sugar Cookie recipe, my Sugar Cookie Bars recipe, and the Frosted Sugar Cookie recipe in my cookbook. I wanted a recipe for frosted sprinkle sugar cookies that would yield a decent amount of cookies– whether that be for a party, a get together, a bake sale, a cookie exchange, whatever. I also wanted an easy sugar cookie recipe AND there had to be a plethora of sprinkles.

A tall order. I got to work.

Once I baked that winning recipe, I made four batches in two days. My refrigerator was home to more butter and eggs than anything else. I found sprinkles on my glasses and frosting on my pants. I noticed the frosting on my pants while out in public, for the record. I made two batches of these frosted sugar cookies with rainbow sprinkles (I buy them in bulk from here) and 2 batches with Christmas colored sprinkles.

What the heck do I do with all that sitting on my counter?? Let’s just say I’ve had some very happy, sugar-high friends leave my house recently.

Though the recipe itself is pretty straightforward, there are a few helpful tips to read before you begin. I really want you to make these! Not only because I live and breathe sprinkles, but because they are so good. Really really good. They blow any store-bought sprinkle cookie out of the water.

You’ll probably look at this recipe and wonder why I add an extra egg yolk and some cornstarch. Neither are traditional sugar cookie ingredients, you’re right. However, there’s a method to my madness.

For the egg yolk: though I could certainly use 2 full eggs instead of 1 egg + 1 egg yolk, I’ve learned through the years that the yolk is where all the goodness hides. Eggs are an indispensable ingredient when it comes to cookie baking; they aerate, aid in setting, provide structure, leaven, emulsify, and thicken. Most importantly? They are used as a binder in cookie recipes. Using more egg whites in a baked good typically yields lighter, fluffier desserts. More yolks create a denser treat with a richer flavor– which is exactly what we want in cookies like this! You know how my Chewy Chocolate Chunk Cookies are so chewy, thick, and fudge-like? The extra egg yolk plays a huge role in that.

Oh, and the eggs– make sure they are room temperature. Typically, when a recipe calls for room temperature butter, the eggs should be room temperature as well. That’s something I picked up on recently. Room temperature eggs incorporate quicker and more easily into the dough, which prevents your cookie dough from being overmixed and allows your cookies to have uniform texture among the batch.

For the cornstarch: if you’ve been reading my blog for awhile, you know I love using cornstarch in some cookie recipes. It’s a miraculous little ingredient, pulling heavy weight in the chilling and baking process. It helps thicken your cookie dough as the dough chills and keeps your cookies soft as they bake. You will love how soft these frosted sugar cookies are!

Also… don’t forget to chill the cookie dough. I know I always remind you, but it’s so important. Set aside enough time to do so; your cookies will spread into one massive, unattractive cookie… mess… on your baking sheet if the dough is not sufficiently chilled.

Even though the cookies are supreme, I think the frosting is the star of the show. I love this vanilla frosting. I like to add a pinch of salt to offset its sweetness. Especially when it’s spread onto an already sweet sugar cookie.

Enjoy, sugar cookie lovers.

Follow me on Instagram and tag #sallysbakingaddiction so I can see all the SBA recipes you make. ♥

Funfetti Cookies Supreme

Yield: 2 and 1/2 dozen

Total Time: 3 hours, 45 minutes

Buttery soft sugar cookies exploding with sprinkles and topped with simple swirl of vanilla frosting. And more sprinkles. Always more sprinkles.

Print Recipe

Ingredients:

Cookies

• 1 cup (230g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature


• 1 and 1/2 cups (300g) granulated sugar


• 1 egg + 1 egg yolk, room temperature preferred


• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract


• 3 cups (360g) all-purpose flour (careful not to overmeasure)


• 1 and 1/4 teaspoons baking soda


• 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar¹


• 1 teaspoon cornstarch


• 1/2 teaspoon salt


• 1 cup sprinkles, plus more for decor on top of frosting²

Frosting

• 3/4 cup (170g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature


• 2 and 1/4 cups (270g) confectioners' sugar


• 3 Tablespoons (45ml) heavy cream or half-and-half³
  
  


• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract


• 1/8 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. For the cookies: In a large bowl using a hand-held mixer or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the softened butter for about 1 minute on medium speed. Get it nice and smooth, then add the sugar on medium speed and beat until fluffy and light in color. Beat in egg, egg yolk, and vanilla. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl as needed.


2. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, cornstarch, and salt together until combined. With the mixer running on low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in 3 different parts. The dough is quite thick and will be a little crumbly at first. But if you keep mixing, the dough will come together. Once combined, gently beat in the sprinkles on low speed until evenly disbursed. Cover the cookie dough tightly and chill in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours and up to 3 days. Chilling is mandatory. Alternatively, you can roll the cookie dough into 1.5 Tablespoon balls and chill on a cookie sheet (covered) and then bake as directed in the next step.


3. Remove cookie dough from the refrigerator and let sit out at room temperature for at least 15 minutes. If the cookie dough chilled longer than 3 hours, allow to sit at room temperature for 30-40 minutes. This makes it easy to handle, while still keeping a firm texture from chilling. Preheat oven to 325F degrees and line 2 large cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Roll cookie dough into balls, about 1.5 Tablespoons of dough in each ball, and set on cookie sheet-- about 8-9 cookies per sheet. Bake in batches for 11-12 minutes or until the edges are slightly browned. The cookies will still appear very soft in the centers. That's ok; they'll set up and become firmer as they cool. Allow the cookies to cool on the cookie sheets for 3 minutes, then move to a wire rack to cool completely.


4. For the frosting: In a large bowl using a hand-held mixer or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy - about 2 minutes. Add confectioners' sugar, cream, vanilla extract, and salt with the mixer running on low. Increase to high speed and beat for 3 full minutes. Add more confectioners' sugar if frosting is too thin, more cream if frosting is too thick, or a pinch more of salt if frosting is way too sweet.


5. Frost the cooled cookies as desired and decorate with more sprinkles. Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the refrigerator up to 6.


6. Make ahead tip: Unfrosted cookies freeze well. Cookies may be rolled into balls and frozen up to 3 months to bake at a later date. No need to thaw frozen balls of dough before baking; simply bake for an extra minute or two.

Recipe Notes:

1. Cream of tartar is used to react with the baking soda; it cannot be left out. If you're curious about using baking powder instead of baking soda + cream of tartar, I'm unsure of the exact amount needed to properly leaven the cookies. Update 8/2016: It would be about 1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder.


2. For the cookie dough, avoid using nonpareil sprinkles (the little balls)-- they bleed their color. You may decorate the frosting with nonpareils (like I did).


3. Cream or half-and-half is preferred for creamiest, fluffiest frosting. Keeping that in mind, milk would be an OK substitute if you do not have either on hand.

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For a cookie cutter sugar cookie, try my Soft Cut-Out Sugar Cookies.

See more recipes with sprinkles. There’s… a lot.

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