- Dairy-free: Use a plant-based butter stick.
- No almond extract: Add an extra teaspoon of vanilla, or leave it out.
- Gluten-free: Use a 1-to-1 gluten-free flour blend.
- Less sweet: Skip rolling the dough in sugar.
- No sprinkles: Use mini chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, or peanut butter chips instead.
- Any holiday: Swap the sprinkle colors for Valentine’s Day, Easter, Fourth of July, Halloween, or birthdays.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- There’s NO chill time, so you can go from mixing bowl to warm cookies in about 35 minutes.
- They stay soft and chewy for days and taste just like a bakery sugar cookie.
- They’re festive, beginner-friendly, and PERFECT for holiday cookie boxes and gifting.
What Makes These Cookies So Good
- Buttery Base: Soft, chewy, and rich with vanilla and a hint of almond.
- Sprinkles: Fun color and a gentle crunch in every bite.
- Sugar-Rolled Finish: Sparkly, crackly, bakery-style edges.
How Big Should I Make My Cookies?
- Medium scoop (about 1 ½ tablespoons): About 20 cookies. Bake 8 to 10 minutes.
- Large bakery-style (about 70 grams): About 12 big, thick cookies. Bake 11 to 13 minutes.
- Small scoop (about 1 tablespoon): About 30 cookies. Bake 7 to 8 minutes. Perfect for cookie boxes
Ingredients
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- 1 cup unsalted butter, stene
- 1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp almond extract
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ cup sprinkles
- ¼ cup granulated sugar for rolling
Instructions
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Preheat and prep. Preheat your oven to 350°F and line your baking sheets with parchment paper so the cookies don’t stick and bake evenly.
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Cream the butter and sugar. In a large bowl, beat the softened butter and 1 ¼ cups of sugar with a stand mixer or hand mixer for 2 to 3 minutes, until light, pale, and fluffy. Don’t rush this step! It’s what gives these cookies their soft, airy centers.
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Add the eggs and extracts. Add the eggs, vanilla extract, and almond extract. Beat for another 1 to 2 minutes, until the mixture is smooth and creamy.
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Whisk the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt. Whisking first spreads the baking powder evenly so every cookie bakes up the same.
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Combine. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low, or fold with a spatula, until almost combined. A few streaks of flour are totally fine at this poi
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Fold in the sprinkles. Add the sprinkles and gently fold just until they’re evenly mixed in and no flour streaks remain. Overmixing can make the sprinkles bleed and the cookies tough.
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Scoop and roll in sugar. Scoop the dough with a medium cookie scoop and roll each ball in the ¼ cup of sugar until fully coated. Place them about 2 inches apart on your baking sheets. The sugar coating gives them that sparkly, crackly bakery finish!
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Bake. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until the edges look set but the centers still look soft and a little underdone. Trust me on this one! Pulling them out early is the secret to keeping them soft and chewy.
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Cool on the pan. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes. They keep baking from the heat of the pan and set up perfectly.
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Enjoy! Move them to a wire rack to cool completely, or grab one while it’s warm. I won’t tell!