These melt-in-your-mouth sprinkle cookies are soft, chewy and buttery on the inside with a fun little crunch on the outside from fun and festive nonpareils sprinkles! Made with only 6 simple ingredients, these cookies are ready to bake immediately – no need to refrigerate and chill the dough beforehand!
These soft, chewy, and colorful sprinkle cookies are the best cookies I’ve ever made!
My husband and I devoured an entire batch in a couple of days and we both agreed that they were some of the best cookies we’ve ever had.
What are Sprinkle Cookies?
These sprinkle cookies are sugar cookies with a crumby yet soft and buttery inside and a satisfyingly crunchy exterior thanks to the nonpareils sprinkles.
Inspired by one of my favorite treats found in Mexican panaderías (bakeries), they’re often referred to as galletas de gragea in Spanish.
Ingredients You’ll Need
To make these cookies, you need 6 simple ingredients:
- unsalted butter
- granulated sugar
- egg
- vanilla extract
- all-purpose flour
- nonpareils sprinkles
The great thing about this recipe is that there’s no need to refrigerate the dough before baking. Just prep the cookies and bake immediately!
How to Make Sprinkle Cookies
- Make the dough: Beat the butter and sugar until fully combined. Mix in the egg and vanilla extract, followed by the flour.
- Form the dough: Shape the dough into balls, about 2 tablespoons each.
- Dip in sprinkles: Roll the balls in sprinkles to coat the outside.
- Flatten the cookies: Gently press on the cookies with a flat object (like a cup) until they’re 1/4 inch thick.
- Bake: Bake in 350°F oven for 15-20 minutes, until the bottoms of the cookies are light to golden brown.
Tips and Tricks
- Check for doneness by looking at the color of the bottom of the cookie. It should be light to golden brown. If the tops of the cookies still seem a little soft, that’s okay. The cookies will continue to harden while they cool.
- These sprinkle cookies don’t spread out much, so keep that in mind when flattening them out. If you’d like to make them even thinner, feel free to flatten them out to your liking! Keep in mind that the baking time will likely change and be a little shorter.
Substitutions and Variations
Don’t have all the ingredients? Looking to make these cookies your own? Here are some helpful substitutions and variations you can try:
- Instead of nonpareils sprinkles, you could use rainbow sprinkles or “jimmies” if you prefer. Keep in mind that the texture of the outside of the cookie will change. Instead of the crunch that the nonpareils gives the cookie, using jimmies will leave the outside a little softer.
- To give the cookies a festive holiday flavor, add 1/2 teaspoon almond extract and reduce the amount of vanilla extract to 1 1/2 teaspoons.
Making Ahead and Storing
These cookies can be made ahead of time and frozen until ready to bake. To do so, prepare the dough as normal. Then, shape the dough into a large disc. Wrap the dough tightly with plastic wrap, and freeze for up to 3 months. When ready to use, let the dough thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Remove it from the fridge 1 hour before using.
To store baked sprinkle cookies, place them in an airtight container in a cool, dry place. They can be stored this way for up to 1 week.
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Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2.5 ounces nonpareils sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper and pour the sprinkles in a small bowl. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, add butter and sugar. Beat with a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment until creamed together, about 1 minute.
- Add egg and vanilla extract. Beat for 30 seconds to combine.
- Add flour one cup at a time and mixing on low until well combined before adding in the next cup of flour.
- Scoop and roll the dough into 18 balls (about 2 tablespoons per ball), and place them on the prepared baking sheets.
- Roll each ball in the sprinkles, pressing down firmly to get them to stick to the outside as much as possible. Transfer to prepared baking sheets.
- Flatten the cookies by gently pressing down on the tops with a flat surface until they're about 1/4 in thick. (The bottom of a measuring cup works great for this!)
- Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the bottoms of the cookies are light to golden brown.
- Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Isabel’s Tips:
Nutrition Information
I make these with my grandchildren…they love the rolling the cookies in sprinkles part the best!
Cant wait to try this classic cookie i ate as a kid, do you by chance have simple one for making mantecadas too?
Hi Jennifer! We don’t have mantecadas just yet but we will definitely put it on our list of recipes to make!
I recommend 13min for 350 and it is just right. I cut the flour a little bit and they were really good.
Tasted too floury to me. Next time I’ll try 2.5 cups.
These are my absolute favorite cookies. Love this recipe, didn’t change a thing!
I altered the recipe by changing to:
2 cups AP flour
1 cup self raising flour
1/3 cup Golden sugar
1/3 cup Truvia
1 teaspoon vanilla paste
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
When I made original recipe it came out too sweet. Also very dense so I lightened with self raising flour. Original tasted a little bland so I rebalance the flavorings. finally I just pressed the sprinkles into the top of the cookie rather than rolling. I love the updated result. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
Everyone requests these cookies, it is a favorite in our family and among my work friends! Delicious, and so cheerful!
Hi Isabel… I’m loving your recipes!! On the Easy Sprinkle Cookies you say there is only 6 ingredients but I want to make sure… is there no baking powder, baking soda, cream of tartar???
That is correct!
Great recipe. Had fun making the cookies with my daughter 🙂