Rainbow sprinkle sugar cookies make any dessert or gathering more festive. Their rich, buttery flavor, soft texture, and colorful sprinkles come together to create a sweet treat with classic flavor and a pop of color.
Sugar cookies are always a hit, no matter when or where you serve them. These simple cookies are sweet and buttery – a combo that pairs well with everything. That makes them the perfect choice for everything from weeknight desserts to potlucks, baby showers, or any event at all.
I’ve been making these delicious cookies since I was a little girl. While I love getting creative with recipes at times, I also like to keep things simple, especially when I’m pressed for time.
These sugar cookies with sprinkles are quick and easy, allowing me to bring something to parties or serve after dinner that are full of delicious flavor but have a little something extra. All I have to do is add sprinkles!
Rainbow Sprinkle Sugar Cookies
These cookies start with a basic sugar cookie dough made with flour, sugar, baking powder and soda, and all the other standard sugar cookie ingredients you’d expect. Except, I add a little corn syrup for extra sweetness and to make the cookies super chewy. I scoop the dough out into portions, press the tops into a bowl of sprinkles, and then bake them for about 10 minutes. After that, I let carry-over cooking time finish them off, cool them, and then watch everyone devour them. That’s all there is to it!
Why You’ll Love This Sugar Cookie with Sprinkles Recipe
- They’re simple and easy, and they come together in just a few minutes.
- They’re full of buttery, sweet sugar cookie flavor.
- You can add any kind of sprinkles to make them perfect for every occasion.
Ingredients
- Butter: Butter gives the cookies the fat they need to spread and their rich, buttery flavor.
- Egg: Egg adds more fat and moisture, helps hold the dough together, and promotes softness.
- Corn Syrup: Just a little corn syrup adds extra sweetness and makes the cookies soft and chewy.
- Sprinkles: Your favorite sprinkles give these cookies a cute pop of color.
See the recipe card for a full list of ingredients and their exact measurements.
Flavor Variations
- Add your favorite extracts to create cookies like lemon, maple, and more.
- You can add buttercream frosting for even more sweet flavor.
- Adjust your sprinkle colors to suit any occasion.
- Try adding chopped nuts for more flavor and texture. Almonds work particularly well with these cookies.
How to Make Rainbow Sprinkle Sugar Cookies
1: Beat the butter and sugar until creamy. Then, add the rest of the wet ingredients and beat until combined.
2: Whisk the dry ingredients in a second bowl.
3: Combine the dry and wet ingredients, mixing until just combined. Then, stir in the candy sprinkles.
4: Scoop the dough out with a 1 ½-inch cookie scoop and press the tops of the balls into a shallow dish with sprinkles.
5: Bake on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper for about 10 minutes. Then, let the cookies cool for a couple of minutes on the baking sheet.
6: Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely and enjoy!
Hint
Don’t bake these cookies until golden. For soft, chewy cookies, it’s important to remove the cookies just a couple of minutes before they’re finished and let the hot baking sheet finish them off.
Storage
Store these sugar cookies for up to a week in an air-tight container at room temperature. For longer storage, wrap them in plastic wrap and freeze them for up to 3 months in an air-tight, freezer-safe container or heavy-duty freezer bag.
What to Serve with Sugar Cookies with Rainbow Sprinkles
Like any really good cookie, these rainbow sprinkle sugar cookies are delicious with a glass of milk or a cup of coffee or tea. Chocolate, fresh fruit, and mixed nuts are also tasty pairings. Of course, their mild, sweet flavor makes them an excellent addition to any larger dessert table at parties and gatherings.
Tips
- Fully soften your butter so it creams easily. Otherwise, you could have little bits of butter in your batter.
- Mix the dough until the ingredients are just combined. Overmixing can make cookies tough.
- Only bake the cookies for 10 minutes. They’ll look underdone, but the heat from the baking sheet will finish them to perfection.
Frequently Asked Questions
Sugar cookies are cookies that are made primarily with flour, butter, eggs, vanilla, and a leavening agent.
Sugar cookies and shortbread are different. While both have a buttery, sweet flavor, sugar cookies are lighter than shortbread which is dense and crumbly.
Corn syrup prevents the crystallization of the sugars in the cookie dough. This makes the cookies soft and chewy. The extra moisture added by the corn syrup further enhances a cookie’s soft, chewy texture.
Dry sugar cookies are usually the result of using too much flour. To properly measure flour, loosely spoon it into your measuring cup and level it off with a knife. This prevents compacting.
Adding more fat like butter or eggs helps make cookies softer. Corn syrup also helps keep cookies soft due to extra moisture and its invert sugar properties. In addition, you should slightly undertake them, then let the carry-over cooking time from the hot baking sheet finish them off. This produces a perfectly baked cookie that is cooked all the way through but still soft and chewy.
More Delicious Cookie Recipes You’ll Enjoy
Here are some delicious Cookie Monster cookies that are full of delicious flavor and different textures, and the kids love to help make these.
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Rainbow Sprinkle Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 ⅔ cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup butter
- 1 ¼ cup sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon corn syrup
- ¼ cup colored candy sprinkles, we mixed pastel colors together pink, light blue, green, and yellow
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350° and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, using an eclectic mixer, beat butter and sugar together until creamy, about 3 minutes.
- Beat egg, vanilla and corn syrup into mixture until combined
- In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt together.
- Add dry ingredients into wet ingredients and mix. Stir in candy sprinkles.
- Using a 1½ inch cookie scoop, place rounded cookie dough on the prepared baking sheet.
- Gently press each cookie down into the sprinkles. Place sprinkle side up on the baking sheet..
- Bake for 10 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and let cookies sit on the baking sheet for a couple minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Fully soften your butter so it creams easily. Otherwise, you could have little bits of butter in your batter.
- Mix the dough until the ingredients are just combined. Overmixing can make cookies tough.
- Only bake the cookies for 10 minutes. They’ll look underdone, but the heat from the baking sheet will finish them to perfection.
