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A white bowl filled with homemade rainbow sprinkle cookies covered in colorful jimmies and nonpareils.
Linda

Rainbow Sprinkle Cookies

Soft, buttery sugar cookies loaded with rainbow sprinkles that stay crisp on the edges and chewy in the middle.
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 12 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Servings: 24 cookies
Course: Dessert, Snack
Cuisine: American
Calories: 140
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Dry Ingredients
  • 2.5 cups all-purpose flour spooned and leveled
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 0.75 tsp kosher salt
Wet Ingredients
  • 1 cup unsalted butter 2 sticks, softened but still cool
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg room temperature
  • 1 egg yolk room temperature
  • 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 0.25 tsp almond extract optional but recommended
Mix-Ins
  • 0.75 cup rainbow sprinkles jimmies style, not nonpareils

Equipment

  • Large Mixing Bowl
  • Electric Mixer
  • Baking Sheets
  • Parchment Paper
  • Cookie Scoop or Tablespoon

Method
 

Prep
  1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
  3. In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the bowl.
  4. Beat in the whole egg, egg yolk, vanilla, and almond extract until fully combined, about 1 minute. The mixture should look creamy and pale.
  5. Add the flour mixture and beat on low speed just until no dry streaks remain. Do not overmix.
  6. Gently fold in the rainbow sprinkles with a rubber spatula, distributing evenly without overworking the dough.
  7. Using a 1.5 tablespoon cookie scoop or rounded tablespoon, portion dough onto prepared sheets 2 inches apart. Bake 10-12 minutes until edges are set and just starting to turn golden but centers still look slightly underdone. Rotate pans halfway through.
  8. Cool on the baking sheet 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Cookies will firm up as they cool.

Notes

Use jimmies-style sprinkles (the long thin ones) rather than nonpareils, which bleed their color into the dough and create a muddy look. For extra sprinkle coverage, roll the tops of dough balls in additional sprinkles before baking. Dough can be refrigerated up to 3 days or frozen in scooped portions for up to 2 months; add 2 minutes to baking time if baking from frozen.