Here’s a homemade and cake mix sprinkle sugar cookies recipe for dessert tonight?? Great idea!! Use any shape you like or try our No Cookie Cutter Sugar Cookies instead if you want to just slice into pieces. Either way are fun, delicious, and pretty with chocolate or rainbow sprinkles inside or on top.
You can sprinkle cookies a number of ways. If you enjoy them soft then less time and a thicker dough should be used. Thin and crispy like our Homemade Shortbread Cookies just need a few more minutes and cut out thin. It is easy to tweak it to your liking and can make a batch of each if you like too! (affiliate links present)
How to Make Sprinkle Cookies
Left plain with the sprinkles baked into the dough, or frosted with them on the top we will go over both ways so you can try them all. I will talk about them both here. The difference is not only how they look whether incorporated together or stuck to an additional frosting on top.
If you are hosting a cookie exchange these are great because it’s a cheap way of making a few different looks but with the same ingredients. You can color a tub of white vanilla frosting or make your own with just a mixture of powdered sugar and a bit of milk to make it as thick as you’d like it to be.
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How to Make Cake Mix Sprinkle Cookies
You can totally make these super easy too with a box of dry mix as the base. Instead of starting from scratch with flour and numerous other ingredients you can just follow our 3 ingredient Cake Mix Cookies recipe and fold in 1/4 cup of rainbow sprinkles at the end. For this one you need;
Ingredients
- 1 box cake mix any flavor but white is best so you can see the colors
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 c vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup sprinkles
- 1/2 c powdered sugar is optional to make them cake mix crinkle cookies style
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Mix together the ingredients minus sugar in a bowl. Refrigerate for an hour. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Scoop up a ball full with a small cookie scoop and roll into a ball with your hands. Roll into powdered sugar if you’d like it to look crinkled. If not just put on cookie sheet, bake for 10 minutes. Or just make a few Toaster Oven Cookies at a time.
Yes, it is best if you gently fold them in at the very end though so they don’t break apart too much. You can add rainbow or chocolate sprinkles into cookie batter for a bit of flavor, texture and to make them look pretty.
Bake until the outside is cracking and the middle no longer looks wet. Then remove and keep on the cookie sheet until cooled. Underbaking just a bit for less time will keep them soft vs. crunchy.
You can jump to recipe below but below we will explain in a bit more detail what we used and tips on getting them to the consistency of your choice. As for the decorations within there are tons of choices in the baking aisle as well as lots of sprinkles to buy online.
Think of the holiday that might be coming up and choose some that are those colors. If you are let’s say hosting a Super Bowl party you can even choose your teams colors, you can find every shade you could ever want on Amazon, seriously.
Homemade Sprinkle Cookies Ingredients
- ½ c unsalted butter, softened
- Powdered sugar
- Vegetable oil
- 2 eggs
- Vanilla
- Cornstarch
- 1 t salt
- Baking soda and baking powder
- Cream of tartar
- Flour
If you are not going to enjoy these and our Christmas Bar Cookies right away or think you won’t finish them all within the hour or so you’ll want an airtight container at room temperature to save them in. I would suggest that if you are choosing the option to add frosting that you do not do so until right when you enjoy them. Otherwise they will stick together and the texture on top gets wierd.
Another option is to separate the layers with a sheet of parchment or wax paper. They are still prettier if you keep the frosting separate (if using on top) and decorating when you take one out. If you incorporate sprinkles into the dough this won’t be an issue. Saving leftover cookies in freezer bags is another option, sucking the air out and kept on the counter is the best option.
Choose the option you prefer. Either incorporate the decorations inside, on the top with frosting or both really!!
How to Bake Crispy Sprinkle Cookies
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Line a few baking sheets with parchment paper and then set aside.
- In the bowl using the paddle attachment of a stand mixer, combine the softened butter and sugar. Cream until smooth.
- Add in the oil, vanilla or almond extract and eggs, mix on medium speed.
- In a bowl mix together cream of tartar, baking soda, baking powder, cornstarch and flour and then slowly incorporate into the bowl until light and fluffy.
- Scrape down the sides and mix again.
- Combine until the dough comes together and balls up in the center, pulling away from the sides of the bowl.
- Add sprinkles and mix just a bit again just to incorporate. Feel free to use any kind of sprinkles you like but colorful sprinkles rainbow is the most fun. Mini chocolate chips are another option.
- chill time is not necessary before you roll the cookie dough out
- Between two sheets of parchment, sandwich the dough and roll out until about ½ of an inch thick. Do not use flour as it will dry out the dough too much.
- Transfer to prepared baking sheet and bake for 7-8 minutes.
- The cookies should just be set with a slight browning on the bottom for a soft chewy cookie that is slightly underbaked.
- 2 minutes longer will make for hard and crumbly cookies, rather than soft and slightly chewy.
- Allow classic sugar cookies to cool for at least 15 minutes before decorating.
When ready to decorate, you can make easy cream cheese frosting in about 2-3 minutes. Once combined, scrape down the sides and then mix again on high speed for about a minute to fluff up. Spread on the top and immediately sprinkle bits on top so they stick. Over time they will stick.
Sprinkle Sugar Cookies
Equipment
- 1 mixer
- 1 Rolling Pin
- 2 bowls
- 1 cookie cutter
Ingredients
- 1/2 c butter, unsalted, softened
- 1 c powdered sugar
- 1/2 c vegetable oil
- 1 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp cream of tartar
- 1 c all purpose flour
- 1/4 c sprinkles
- Frosting, optional if adding sprinkles to the top instead of inside the batter
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper, set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, combine the softened butter and powdered sugar. Cream until smoothed. Add in the oil, vanilla and eggs, mix.
- In a bowl mix together cream of tartar, baking soda, baking powder, cornstarch and flour and then slowly incorporate into the bowl until creamy. Scrape down the sides, add in sprinkles and mix until incorporated just a bit. (if adding into the batter)
- Combine the two until the dough comes together and balls up in the center, pulling away from the sides of the mixing bowl.
- Put dough in between two sheets of parchment paper, sandwich the dough and roll out until about 1/2 of an inch thick. Do not use flour as it will dry out the dough too much.
- Transfer to prepared baking sheet and bake for 7-8 minutes for slightly chewy or 10 minutes for a crispy cookie texture. Allow to cool on a cooling rack before decorating.
- If adding frosting and sprinkles to the top wait until they are completely cooled, frost, sprinkle on top and enjoy.
Video
Notes
Cake mix sprinkle cookies
- 1 box cake mix any flavor but white is best so you can see the colors
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 c vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup sprinkles
- 1/2 c powdered sugar is optional to make them cake mix crinkle cookies style
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.