Birthday cake flavor x soft pillowy cookies = the best celebratory treat! Dotted with sprinkles, birthday cookies are the new birthday cake.

Sprinkle birthday cookies arranged on a counter. Close up of one cookie with a bite out of it.

Birthday Cookies Recipe

I have a brother who doesn’t like cake, so every year for his birthday my mom would put his candles in a slice of plain bread while we sang to him. Well, I started to feel bad for him and came up with these birthday cookies instead!

Perfect for any celebration, these birthday cake cookies are festive, fun, and delicious! I love making these quick treats for everything from parties to simple gatherings at the park. Soft and pillowy, these have the perfect birthday cake sugar flavor that is going to make you question whether you should just give up on the cake entirely.

Sprinkle birthday cookies stacked on a wire cooling rack.

Ingredients in Birthday Cake Cookies

Butter – I always use salted butter, but you can use unsalted an add an extra pinch of salt to the dough.
Granulated sugar – yes, you really only need a ¼ cup! Most of the sweetness will come from powdered sugar, we just need a little bit of granulated sugar in order to mix the egg into the butter!
Egg
Canola oil – The canola oil gives the outer edge of the cookies a nice sweet, melt in your mouth crispy texture and it also aids in the cookie spreading a bit.
Cake batter flavoring – Cake batter flavoring- I LOVE Lorann Oils Cake batter super strength flavor. I use 1 1/2 tsp of it. It can be purchased on amazon or on their website.
All purpose flour
Powdered sugar – Using powdered sugar will give this cookie a super soft, melt in your mouth texture.
Cornstarch
Sprinkles – I buy my sprinkles in bulk from my local grocery store’s bakery.
White chocolate chips

Birthday cookie dough scooped out and lined on a tray waiting to be baked.

How to Make Birthday Sugar Cookies

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat and set aside.
In a stand mixer or with an electric hand mixer, cream together the butter and granulated sugar until the butter is smooth.
Add the egg, canola oil and cake batter flavoring. Mixing until well combined.
Add the all purpose flour, powdered sugar and cornstarch.A Mix until a really soft dough forms.
Add in the sprinkles and white chocolate chips, mix until evenly distributed.
Portion out the cookie dough into equal sized portions- for small cookies, use a #40 scoop or 1 1/2 tbsp of dough. For larger cookies, use a #24 scoop or 3 tbsp of dough.
Bake at 350° F for 7-11 minutes, depending on cookie size. You will want to cook until the cookies spread and no longer look wet and glossy in the center. For the small cookies, about 7-9 minutes. For the larger cookies, 9-11 minutes.
Allow the cookies to cool on the pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Enjoy!

How do I store birthday cake cookies?

Store your cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or store in a resealable bag in the freezer for up to 3 months!

Can I make edible cookie dough for birthday cookies?

Yes! All you need to do is heat treat your flour and then use 1/4 cup of milk in place of the egg to make this dough edible! Check out this post for more info on how to heat treat your flour!

A counter top full of sprinkle birthday cookies. Across the top it says "birthday cookies" in rainbow text.

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