Thick, chewy birthday cake cookies packed with sprinkles and cream filled sandwich cookie pieces in under 20 minutes! These cookies require no chill time and are totally fool-proof! A great, impressive treat for any occasion.
Why This Recipe Works
These birthday cake cookies marry two of my favorite things in the world together: birthday cake flavored anything and thick, chewy cookies. They’re a birthday cookie! And not only are they absolutely delicious but they’re INSANELY EASY to make!
These cookies are ready to eat in less than 20 minutes since there is no chilling time thanks to one secret ingredient… cornstarch! Sounds out there, but trust me, adding it to cookies gives them the best, chewy texture and also gives them unbelievable shape. No one likes a flat cookie!
And? You can make this recipe with full confidence every time. I make about 5 batches of these cookies, tweaking it along the way, to ensure that you’ll get consistent results and get some serious impression points from anyone who eats them!
While me and my husband are big fans of all cookies like my chewy candy cookies, copycat Panera kitchen sink cookies, and double white chocolate cookies I think these birthday sugar cookies packed with sprinkles & cookie pieces might take the cake as a favorite…. HA!
Ingredients Needed
How To Make This Recipe
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and line a baking sheet with reusable non-stick spill mats or parchment paper.
In a medium sized bowl combine flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl with electric beats, or using a stand mixer, cream together butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Do this for 1-2 minutes until completely smooth.
Add egg, egg yolk, almond extract and vanilla extract to the butter mixture. Beat again until uniformly combined.
Now, add the flour mixture and mix until combined again. Your dough will be on the thicker side- this is good!
Pour sprinkles into your cookie dough and mix until evenly distributed.Take 12 of your sandwich cookies, crush them up with your hands, and fold them into the dough.
Scoop ~2 tbsp of dough with a spoon or cookie scoop and place onto your cookie sheet ~2″ apart.
Take your last 3 sandwich cookies, crush them up and then press them into to the tops of the cookie dough balls. (Be sure you don’t flatten them!)
Bake your cookies for 9 minutes, allow to cook, and enjoy!
Recipe FAQs
Absolutely! I like to use the vanilla ones because they give a more birthday cake flavor- but if you want to add some chocolate to your birthday cake cookies go for it!
Adding cornstarch is the best little party trick! It keeps your cookies soft and tender while also adding some height. It also allows your cookies to have a touch of a crisp on the outside, while keeping that center still soft. That is one thing my husband always looks for in a cookie- a little crisp to the bottom!
Like I mentioned above, the cornstarch in this recipe helps keep these cookies from becoming flat, so be sure not to skip that! Additionally, if you add too much sugar this could also cause your cookies to flatten. Be sure to measure carefully! Another reason your cookies may become flat is that your dough got too warm. If it’s a hot day place your dough in the fridge if you’re not baking immediately.
If you prefer to use shortening in your cookies you totally can. There are some differences between butter and shortening that may affect the texture of your cookies, though. For instance, butter has more water content. So, if you do decide to use shortening you will likely result in a slightly more firm cookie with even more height to them. But, they’ll still turn out if you sub shortening for the butter in this birthday cake cookie recipe!
Expert Tips
Be sure that your butter doesn’t get too warm. You want it to be softened to room temperature but not starting to melt. When you press on the softened stick of butter there should still be some resistance. If you can make an impression very easily pop it back in the fridge otherwise your cookies will spread too much and be flat.
More is not always better when it comes to sprinkles! Because of the sugar if you add more sprinkles your cookies may spread more. Feel free to add more on top of the cookies, pressing them in with the sandwich cookie pieces, before you bake them.
Other Recipes You Might Like:
If you love this recipe, be sure to leave a star rating on the recipe card and leave a comment below!
Don’t forget to pin it on your Pinterest board for later, or tag me on IG @no.food.rules if you try the recipe and love it!
XOXO
-Colleen
Birthday Cake Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup butter softened to room temperature
- 1/2 cup brown sugar packed
- 1/3 cup white granulated sugar
- 1 egg + 1 egg yolk
- 1.5 tsp almond extract
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup sprinkles
- 15 vanilla creme sandwich cookies divided
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and line a baking sheet with reusable non-stick spill mats or parchment paper
- In a medium sized bowl combine flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl with electric beats, or using a stand mixer, cream together butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Do this for 1-2 minutes until completely smooth.
- Add egg, egg yolk, almond extract and vanilla extract to the butter mixture. Beat again until uniformly combined.
- Now, add the flour mixture and mix until combined again. Your dough will be on the thicker side- this is good!
- Pour sprinkles into your cookie dough and mix until evenly distributed.
- Take 12 of your sandwich cookies, crush them up with your hands, and fold them into the dough.
- Scoop ~2 tbsp of dough with a spoon or cookie scoop and place onto your cookie sheet ~2" apart.
- Take your last 3 sandwich cookies, crush them up and then press them into to the tops of the cookie dough balls. (Be sure you don’t flatten them!)
- Bake your cookies for 9 minutes, allow to cook, and enjoy!
Amy says
I love everything birthday cake, so I assumed I would enjoy these. They knocked our socks off! I love that the recipe only makes 2 dozen so baking a batch is quick. I used store brand vanilla sandwich cookies and they worked great. These will definitely be in our regular cookie recipe rotation!
Clare Birmingham says
Your recipes are seriously the best!! The texture of this cookie was perfectly thick and chewy. The creme sandwiches didn’t appeal to me so I omitted them, and it still worked out amazing!! 😍
Colleen says
I’m so glad you loved it! Thanks for commenting!