Soft and Chewy Confetti Cookie Recipe
These cookies will bring back all of the 80s and 90s funfetti birthday cake memories and, no matter what your age, some extra sprinkles always bring some extra fun in life. This confetti recipe is the perfect celebration treat and it’s easy to swap out the color of sprinkles to match any occasion.
I won’t name any names but there is a famous cookie shop that serves extra large cookies with a rotating menu and they’ve grown like wildfire in the past few years. I think they excel in anything birthday cake, confetti, funfetti, or cake batter and I wanted to create my own version for two reasons – I can have them anytime and I can control the quality of ingredients. Now that I mention it, I also enjoy their pie cookies so expect my own version of these in the near future too!
For these confetti cookies, I aimed to make them soft and chewy with a cake batter flavor and colorful enough to qualify for a kid’s birthday. Since I’ve had several requests directly from my own and other kids to make them, I’d say they passed that test. I’ve even had a few requests from kids who want them served at their birthday parties!
And, it’s definitely not just kids that will love this funfetti cookie recipe since I’d bet that anything confetti brings back birthday nostalgia and this fun recipe is no exception. While these homemade funfetti cookies might not utilize the boxed cake mix of many of our childhoods, this is one of the most simple cookie recipes so you can make a batch of these in less time than it takes to bake and frost a cake – even a boxed one!
Ingredients
One of the best parts of baking at home is knowing what’s in your food. I like to aim for quality food at home so that I’m able to relax about ingredients when I’m out to dinner or on vacation since I know my family is getting good quality nutrition most of the time.
At home, I can use my favorite flour and non-GMO ingredients and avoid fake food dyes. More studies are coming out that prove fake food dyes are not safe but it’s much easier said than done to find dye-free sprinkles. Luckily, there are a few brands out there that use real foods to color their sprinkles. Speaking of quality ingredients, I use KAMUT® White Flour in this cookie recipe (and in most of my recipes) because it tastes better and it is healthier than traditional white flour but if you don’t have KAMUT® White Flour, don’t worry! I’ve written this recipe for both KAMUT® White Flour and white all-purpose flour but I do recommend giving KAMUT® Brand Wheat a try if you haven’t! You can learn more about my favorite flour here.
I aim for quality ingredients whenever possible because I think that quality really shines through in the finished product. I think baked goods made with pasture-raised eggs and the best quality butter for your budget will not only result in a better-tasting treat, but you’ll feel better after you eat a treat made with great ingredients and without artificial flavors, colors, and chemicals.
A lot of funfetti cookie recipes include white chocolate chips but these cookies are sweet enough without them so I think you can skip them and just use sprinkles as the only mix-in.
Technique
Line three baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside to start on the dry ingredients. Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl using a whisk or dough hook and set aside. To get the right texture – something right in between a soft sugar cookie and a chocolate chip cookie, I use a combination of baking soda and baking powder in this recipe.
For the wet ingredients, I place cold butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and add both sugars. I use brown sugar which isn’t common in sugar cookies but less than I would use in a chocolate chip cookie – again, going for that happy medium between the two. If you do not have a bowl-lift stand mixer or a very high-powered stand mixer, use room-temperature butter. You can even use a handheld mixer and a large bowl but, again, use room temperature butter. I like to use cold butter for most cookies because I can make them anytime, on a whim, and it often reduces chill time or even allows me to skip chilling dough altogether. If you are using a tilt-head mixer or a hand mixer, just chill dough a little longer. Since I know using cold butter is a bit of a unique take (just like my frequent use of KAMUT® Brand Wheat), I always write my cookie recipes for both cold and room temperature butter.
When the butter and sugars are creamy and smooth (this will take a while if you’re using cold butter – keep mixing if you still see chunks of butter), lower the mixer speed and add eggs one at a time.
Now it’s time for the secret ingredient. To get that childhood funfetti cake mix flavor, we’ll use a combination of vanilla extract and almond extract. Just a little bit of almond extract gives that flavor without actually giving these cookies an almond taste and I believe the trick is to keep the ratio of vanilla higher than the almond. We’ll use a tablespoon of vanilla extract and only one teaspoon of almond extract.
At this point, add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients all at once or in batches. If you are using a smaller mixer or a mixing bowl and hand mixer, add the dry ingredients in a few batches and mix until just combined after each addition.
Remove the bowl from the stand mixer (if using) and mix in the sprinkles by hand using a wooden spoon or a sturdy spatula. This recipe calls for ¾ cup of your favorite colorful sprinkles. It might seem like a lot but, after lots of tests using more or less, this is the perfect amount.
Spray a one-ounce cookie scoop with nonstick cooking spray and place up to six level scoops of funfetti cookie dough on each tray.
Chill trays in the fridge for 30 minutes if you use cold butter and for one hour if you use softened butter. When there are just a few minutes left of chill time, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Cookies are done baking when the bottom edges of the cookies are just starting to turn golden brown.
How to Get Soft Cookies
Since these cookies are inspired by cake, they better turn out soft! To get soft cookies, be sure not to over-bake and when you remove from the oven, set the cookie sheet directly on the cooling rack rather than transferring cookies to the rack. Let the cookies cool completely on the cookie sheet before removing them to maintain a soft cookie.
These cookies can sit on the counter, covered, for up to two days and this chewy cookie freezes well too – they will still be soft after thawing and they only take about 30 minutes to thaw on the counter. I do not recommend storing these cookies in the fridge because it will dry them out and you won’t get the soft funfetti cookies you want with this recipe.
Cookies for Any Occasion
The standard, multi-colored sprinkle works great in these cookies any time of year and for most birthdays but you can match these cookies to any theme just by switching up the sprinkle color. If you’re like me and want to avoid artificial food dyes, it can sometimes be tricky to find sprinkles in specific colors but it is definitely possible during the holidays! I’ve made this same recipe with red and green sprinkles for Christmas and it was a fun addition to the typical holiday cookie plate.
Soft and Chewy Confetti Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 ⅓ cups KAMUT® White Flour or 2 1/2 cups white all purpose flour
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp fine sea salt
- 1 ½ sticks unsalted butter *see note
- 1 cup sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 TBSP pure vanilla extract
- 1 tsp almond extract
- ¾ cup sprinkles
Instructions
- Line three baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- Cream together butter and both sugars.
- Add eggs, one at a time, to the butter and sugar and mix until just combined.
- Add vanilla and almond to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined.
- Add dry ingredients to wet. In 3 batches or all at once if using large stand mixer.
- If using a stand mixer, remove bowl and add sprinkles. Mix with a wooden spoon or sturdy spatula.
- Spray a 1 oz cookie scoop with cooking spray and add level scoops of dough onto trays, evenly spaced and up to 6 per tray.
- Refrigerate scooped dough on trays for 30 minutes **see note
- When there’s a few minutes left of chill time, preheat oven to 350℉
- Bake for 16 minutes until edges of the bottom of the cookies are just starting to brown. Rotate and swap trays halfway through bake time.
- Let cool completely on trays on cooling racks.
