Funfetti Cookies

Soft and chewy Funfetti Cookies loaded-up with rainbow sprinkles! These cookies are the perfect mash-up of classically soft sugar cookies and Funfetti cake flavors.

Funfetti Cookies Recipe

These cookies are soft, chewy, buttery, and stuffed to the brim with sprinkles! I love sprinkles — I mean does it get more fun than all the colors of the rainbow packed into a thick sugar cookie-esque treat?!

Making these cookies is quick and easy; you just need a bowl and a spoon, no mixer! The only extra step is chilling the dough, which doesn’t require your attention. I think the best cookies need some chill time. It makes them taste better and gives them a great texture. The flavors also get better as they sit together. More details on this below.

Why chill the cookie dough?

These cookies (like many cookies) benefit from chilling time. Here’s why:

• For texture reasons, we melt the butter for this recipe. However, baking cookie dough with melted butter in it makes the cookies spread and become thin, hard, and crispy. This is because the fat (butter) hasn’t had a chance to re-solidify. The longer the fat stays solid, the less the cookies will spread.
• The sugar in the dough gradually absorbs liquid, so when you chill the dough, the sugar more time to absorb liquid–which further prevents spreading.
• The dough flavor develops as it sits. Maybe it’s not quite like a fine wine that needs to age for years, but chilling time allows the flavors to strengthen in this cookie dough.

Rolling out the perfect Funfetti Cookies

• While it’s not necessary to use a food scale to make these cookies, you’ll be surprised at what a difference it makes. It might sound like extra work, but I find the process goes even faster than using measuring spoons to create each cookie dough ball. With a spoon, scoop out the cookie dough, place it on the food scale and remove or add more dough (to reach the desired weight), roll it up, and repeat! The more even the sizes of cookies, the more perfectly they will all bake. Plus, they’ll all look so nice — like straight out of a bakery!
• Instead of rolling a perfectly round ball, try shaping the dough so it’s taller and skinnier. When the cookies bake, you’ll get that perfectly thick and chewy center as well as the crisp edges. Using this technique, the bottom of the cookie ball bakes first, which will push out and become the crisp edge. The top of that tall cookie dough ball then becomes the thick and chewy center. Perfect texture every time!
• Press the edges inwards. Working quickly, right out of the oven, use the back of a large spoon or metal spatula to press the edges of the cookies in towards the center. This creates really great crispy edges and ensures the cookie has a nice chewy center. It also makes the cookies prettier. You’ll need to work quickly, as the cookies set up fast and resist being pressed inwards after sitting out for more than a minute or two.

Let’s chat sprinkles

• Mix gently. When stirring the jimmies into the dough, stir gently with a wooden spoon to get even dispersion and avoid mashing and breaking up sprinkles or dying the dough.
• Use sprinkle jimmies, not nonpareils. Here’s a breakdown of different types of sprinkles, but essentially the jimmies won’t dye the cookie dough and they bake up nicely. Nonpareils will bleed color into the cookie dough and may leave you with some funky-colored Funfetti Cookies.
• Change up the colors. This is a fun recipe to play around with during holidays or for specific special events — swap out the rainbow jimmies for a color suited to the event.

Funfetti Cookie Tips

• Start with room-temperature ingredients. Using room-temperature eggs ensures that the eggs disperse more evenly into the batter. That gives these cookies a better texture (the eggs trap air). Soaking refrigerated eggs in a bowl of warm (not hot) water for about 10 minutes warms the eggs easily. Otherwise, pull the eggs out of the refrigerator about 30 minutes before use.
• Measure the flour correctly. If you pack in too much flour, these cookies will puff up and end up cakier, rather than soft and chewy. Spoon flour into the measuring cup and level with the back of a butter knife. If you press a measuring cup into a bag/container of flour you’ll pack in a lot more than intended.
• Leave ample room on the baking sheet. These cookies are large and spread a good amount on a cookie sheet! I only bake 6-8 cookies at a time on a standard size cookie sheet.
• Ever so slightly underbake. If you overbake these cookies, the taste and texture is off. Slightly underbaking these cookies keeps them soft, chewy, and flavorful. Remember, the residual heat on the pan continues to bake the cookies for a couple of minutes even after they’re pulled out of the oven.
• Let them cool completely: Most cookies are the best right out of the oven, but I think these Funfetti Cookies taste even better after they’re completely cooled! These also taste great the second day when the flavors have gotten more of a chance to meld.

Cookie Storage

• Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature. They’re best enjoyed within 3-4 days. Freeze cookie dough as opposed to baked cookies (see next bullet point).
• Instead of freezing already-baked cookies, freeze the dough! Drop the cookie dough balls on a large sheet pan and freeze until solid. Once solid, transfer the frozen cookie dough balls to an airtight container or bag and freeze for up to three months. To bake: You can bake these Funfetti Cookies straight from the freezer. There is no need to thaw, but you may need to add a few extra minutes to the baking time. Bake until the edges are lightly browned, and the center is still soft.

More dessert recipes

• Magic Cookie Bars with M&M’s candies
• Dessert Cheese Ball brownie-batter flavored
• Gingersnap Cookies with an amazing spice blend
• Chewy Granola Bars with miniature chocolate chips
• Sugar Cookie Snack Mix with powder sugar-coated cereal

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5 from 7 votes

Funfetti Cookies

By Chelsea Lords

Soft and chewy Funfetti Cookies loaded-up with rainbow sprinkles! These cookies are the perfect mash-up of classically soft sugar cookies and Funfetti cake flavors.

Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes minutes

Chilling Time: 1 hour hour 10 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour 50 minutes minutes

Servings: 22 cookies

Ingredients 

USMetric

 

1x2x3x

• ▢ 8 tablespoons unsalted butter
• ▢ 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
• ▢ 1/3 cup white, granulated sugar
• ▢ 1 large egg
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• ▢ 1 tablespoon honey
• ▢ 3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• ▢ 1-3/4 cups white all-purpose flour Note 1
• ▢ 1/3 cup jimmies-style sprinkles Note 2

Instructions 

• PREP: Melt the butter in a very large, microwave-safe bowl. Once melted, set aside for 5-10 minutes to cool to room temperature. It's important the butter isn't hot when you add in the sugars or it will melt the sugar and make the cookies greasy.
• WET INGREDIENTS: Once butter is cooled to room temperature, stir in the light brown sugar and white sugar. Whisk until smooth, about 1-2 minutes (the butter and sugars should fully incorporate). Take your time; it may seem like the two won't come together, but keep mixing until completely integrated. Stir in the egg, vanilla extract, and honey. Mix until smooth.
• DRY INGREDIENTS: Add in the salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Stir to integrate. Add in the correctly measured flour (See Note 1) and mix until JUST combined (don't overmix). Gently stir in the sprinkles. Cover the bowl tightly and chill for 90 minutes.
• PREP FOR BAKING: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or use a nonstick liner. Roll balls of dough (1.5 tablespoons (30g) in size) into tall cylindrical balls (see picture above for shape and size). Place 6 cookie balls on the pan to give the cookies plenty of room to spread. Place the pan with the cookie balls in the freezer for 10 minutes (dough gets warm from being handled). Repeat rolling the rest of the cookie dough balls -- you should get around 20-21 cookies from this dough.
• BAKE: After 10 minutes in the freezer, bake for 8-12 minutes, erring on the side of underbaking to keep them soft and chewy. (We like ours right at 10 minutes.) Remember, the cookies will bake a little more out of the oven, so take them out as soon as the edges start to lightly brown. Remove from the oven and immediately press any edges that have strayed out a bit inwards with the back of a metal spatula. Let cool on the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Repeat with the remaining dough until all the cookies are baked -- or freeze some of the dough if you prefer (see step 7).
  
• STORAGE: Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature. They're best enjoyed within 3-4 days. Freeze cookie dough as opposed to baked cookies (see next step).
• FREEZING DOUGH: Instead of freezing the baked cookies, freeze the dough! Drop the cookie dough balls on a large sheet pan and freeze until solid. Once solid, transfer the frozen cookie dough balls to an airtight container or bag and freeze for up to 3 months. To bake: Bake these cookies straight from the freezer. There is no need to thaw, but you may need to add a few extra minutes to the baking time. Bake until the edges are lightly browned, and the center is still soft.

Video

Recipe Notes

Note 1: If you press a measuring cup into a bag of flour and scoop, you will pack in way too much flour, resulting in the wrong texture of cookie. To accurately measure the flour, spoon the flour into the measuring cup until its overfilled. Then use the back of a table knife to level the measuring cup at the top.

Note 2: Use sprinkle jimmies, not nonpareils -- jimmies won't dye the cookie dough while nonpareils likely will bleed into the dough and may leave you with some funky-colored cookies.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 97kcal | Carbohydrates: 13g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 19mg | Sodium: 118mg | Potassium: 12mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 145IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 11mg | Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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