These Birthday Cake Cookies are full of white chocolate chips and colorful sprinkles. Made with only brown sugar these cookies have a warm molasses flavor and tender texture! Filled with all the sunshine and vibes of joy these cookies are both soft and chewy with perfectly crispy edges.
Let me let you in on a little secret ... every good cookie starts off with a solid cookie dough base. Once you've found the perfect base you can make a few tweaks here and there or change up your add ins for other equally delicious cookies.
So it is no surprise that this Birthday Cake Cookie dough base is the same base we use in our most delicious Old Fashioned Chocolate Chip Cookies. Made from scratch, there is no box cake mix here!
But if you do happen to be looking for a good cake mix recipe, you've got to give these other dessert recipes a try! Like our Whoopie Pie Cookie Sandwiches, Strawberry Lemonade Cookies, Pumpkin Spice Cookies or German Chocolate Caramel Brownies.
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🥘 Ingredients
With a handful of pantry staple baking ingredients it is so easy to make warm and delicious Birthday Cake Cookies in mere minutes.
- Salted Butter
- Brown Sugar
- Vanilla Extract
- Eggs
- Flour
- Baking Soda
- Salt
- White Chocolate Chips
- Rainbow Sprinkles
(Scroll down to the recipe card for exact measurements and full printable instructions.)
🍳 Step-by-Step Instructions
Firstly, before we do anything else you want to get your oven pre-heated to 350° F. Then it is time to combine the wet ingredients together.
Wet Ingredients
In a large bowl combine the brown sugar, vanilla and room temperature butter. Be sure to use room temperature butter and fresh brown sugar.
If brown sugar is older and dried out it is going to be missing vital moisture the cookies need. Fresh brown sugar is necessary for perfectly chewy cookies.
Using a hand mixer cream together the wet ingredients. The more you beat the butter and sugar the happier your cookie will be!
After sugar, vanilla and butter are combined add eggs to the wet mixture. Then use a hand mixer to mix in the eggs. Batter will become light brown and fluffy in texture.
Dry Ingredients
Secondly in a separate bowl combine the dry ingredients flour, baking soda and salt together. Afterwards, gradually add your dry ingredients to the bowl of wet ingredients.
When half of the dry ingredients have been added gently begin to fold them in using a spoon to make sure not to over mix the dough.
Then when the first half of the flour is mostly mixed in add the last of the dry ingredients, chocolate chips and sprinkles to the rest of the dough.
Again carefully use a spoon to bring the dough together, switching to finishing the mixing with your hands to avoid over mixing.
Scoop the Dough
Afterwards when the dough is ready go ahead and line your baking sheet with parchment paper. Then using a medium scoop, scoop the dough into balls and drop on the prepared baking sheet.
Lightly press 3-4 additional chocolate chips and add a small amount of sprinkles to the top of each Birthday Cake Cookies for optimal presentation.
Bake and Cool
Once all the cookies are ready place the baking sheet in the oven and allow to bake for 7 to 8 minutes. 7 minutes is what works for me, but ovens do vary, so check at 7 minutes but they could go as long as 10 minutes.
The most important thing is that when your Birthday Cake Cookies begin to just barely turn golden pull them from the oven.
Lastly, allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet on top of wire racks for 5 minutes before moving the cookies off the sheet and on to the wire racks to finish cooling.
👩🏻🍳 Make it Your Own
While these Funfetti Birthday Cake Cookies are delicious just as they are, there is always room for making it your own.
If looking for a bolder 'birthday cake' flavor you can use a combination of both vanilla and almond extract. It only takes a little bit, half a teaspoon of almond extract will do.
And the customization doesn't have to stop there.
Try swapping out your white chocolate chips for any other favorite chip you prefer. The options are endless, peanut butter chips, butterscotch chips, peppermint chips, or your standard chocolate chip would all be delicious!
💭 Top Tips
To keep clean up nice and easy, grab the parchment paper next time you are in the kitchen and line your baking sheet. This will also help prevent your Birthday Cake Cookies from cracking or crumbling when transferring.
Parchment paper also helps keep cookies from browning too fast, especially if you are using a dark colored cookie sheet since they absorb more heat.
Also, you can use aluminum foil in place of parchment paper if in a crunch. Just make sure to place the foil so the dull side is right side up on the baking sheet.
🍽 Storing
Birthday Cake Cookies dough freezes perfectly! Shape dough into balls using a small to medium scoop. Place on a cookie sheet to put in the freezer. Once partially frozen, transfer each ball to a freezer safe container.
Birthday Cake Cookies dough can store in the freezer for up to 12 months. When ready to use, pull out of the freezer and bake for 10 minutes.
To keep your leftover baked cookies nice and soft toss in a slice of bread, any kind, along with the cookies in an airtight container. The cookies will absorb moisture from the bread which will help keep them chewy, fresh and soft for longer.
📋 FAQ's
What is the best way to soften butter quickly?
There are lots of ways to soften butter. Some methods are faster than others. The first method I'd always suggest is taking the butter out of the fridge and placing on the counter an hour before needing to use.
But if you don't have an hour and need a quicker way to soften up butter for your Birthday Cake Cookies all you need to do is to grab a cheese grater. Carefully grate the stick of butter directly into the bowl. It's a little messy but it does the trick beautifully!
How should you measure flour?
The best way to measure floor is to spoon it directly into your measuring cup and use the spoon to level it off before adding it to the bowl.
Short of weighing flour on a food scale, spooning flour by small increments into a measuring cup is the most accurate way to measure flour. If you scoop up flour using the measuring cup itself, the flour compacts and you end up with too much flour in your dough.
How can you tell if baking soda is still fresh?
When making any kind of baked good, like Birthday Cake Cookies it is important to use fresh baking soda in your recipe.
It only takes a moment to check your baking soda. All you need is a glass, ½ a cup of warm water, ¼ teaspoon vinegar, and ¼ teaspoon baking soda.
Add water and vinegar to a glass and stir. Add baking soda to the glass. If it fizzes you are good to go, the leavening agent is still active. No fizzing - it is time to get a new container of baking soda.
Can you freeze cookie dough?
Birthday Cake Cookies dough freezes perfectly, as does most types of cookie dough! To freeze you will want to shape your dough into balls using a small to medium scoop.
Then place your dough on a cookie sheet to place in the freezer. Once partially frozen, transfer each ball to a freezer safe container. Cookie dough can store in the freezer for up to 12 months. When ready to use, pull out of the freezer and bake for 10 minutes.
How do you keep leftover cookies soft and chewy?
To keep your leftover baked Birthday Cake Cookies nice and soft, toss in a slice of bread, any kind, along with the cookies in an airtight container. The cookies will absorb moisture from the bread which will help keep them chewy, fresh and soft for longer.
📖 Recipe
Birthday Cake Cookies
Ingredients
- 3 cups flour*
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup salted butter softened
- 2 cups packed brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups white chocolate chips
- 2-3 tablespoons sprinkles
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350° F.
- In a large bowl use a hand mixer to cream butter, brown sugar and vanilla.
- Add eggs to mixture in large bowl and combine with hand mixer. Batter will start to become light brown and a little fluffy.
- In small bowl combine flour, baking soda and salt.
- Gradually add half of the dry ingredients, roughly a cup and a half, to the wet ingredients in the larger bowl. Fold in the dry ingredients using a spoon to be sure you do not over mix the dough.
- When flour is mostly mixed in add the last of the dry ingredients, chocolate chips and sprinkles to the large bowl of dough. Again fold in flour and chips till dough comes together. Avoid over mixing.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Using a small or medium cookie scoop, scoop balls of dough on to the baking sheet. Lightly press an additional 4-6 chocolate chips in the top of each scoop of dough for optimal presentation.
- Bake cookies in oven for 7-8 minutes. When cookies begin to turn just barely golden pull them!
- Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet on top of wire racks for 5 minutes before moving the cookies off the sheet and on to the wire racks to finish cooling.
Video
Notes
- Butter needs to be softened NOT melted. To bring to room temperature set out an hour beforehand on the counter.
- Be sure to use fresh brown sugar. If brown sugar is old and dried out it is missing vital moisture the cookies need. Fresh brown sugar is necessary for perfectly chewy cookies.
- The more you beat the butter and sugar the happier your cookie will be!
- When it comes to flour you may need a little extra or less depending on elevation and humidity levels. We have found that drier places require less flour (closer to 2 ¾ cups) and more flour for more humid locations (like 3 ¼ cups).
- Using a spoon, scoop flour into the measuring cup to prevent using too much flour in the recipe. If using the measuring cup to scoop flour directly from container the flour will be compacted, putting too much flour in the cookies. Scooping the flour gives the most accurate measurement short of weighing out the flour.
- My favorite sprinkles are the confetti sprinkles, the flat circular ones.
- It’s really hard to get all the flour at the bottom mixed in, I always finish off by mixing/ more like pressing by hand. When there are so many chocolate chips it’s the best way to bring the dough all together and make sure the dough isn’t crumbly.
- Use parchment paper to line the baking sheet do NOT use cooking spray.