These are the happiest looking cookies I’ve ever seen! They’re fun and playful, perfect for wowing the little ones in your life (not to mention the adults – they’re full of vanilla flavour and have a satisfying soft and chewy texture with slightly crisp edges). Even though these are my favourite birthday or celebration cookies, they’re also fun for St. Patrick’s Day.
The original recipe is from Joy the Baker‘s cookbook, Homemade Decadence. She uses cream of tartar in her recipe, which I ran out of and it made me realize that it’s not an ingredient that a lot of people have on hand. So I substituted baking powder for the cream of tartar and it worked perfectly. I also added extra sprinkles as Joy only calls for 1/2 cup and I always found myself running out towards the end of rolling the cookies.
I hope that these cookies brighten your day and satisfy your sweet tooth!
Vanilla Bean Confetti Cookies
Ingredients
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- 2½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter*, room temperature
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 vanilla bean (substitute 1 Tbsp vanilla extract or paste)
- 1 teaspoon real vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup + 2 Tablespoons rainbow sprinkles, divided*
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine room temperature butter and sugar. Using an electric mixer, beat until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Split the vanilla bean in half lengthwise and scrape the seeds into the bowl. Add the vanilla extract and egg. Beat on medium speed until smooth and well combined.
- Add the dry ingredients to the large bowl and mix on low speed until combined. Add ¼ cup of the sprinkles and mix on low until combined.
- Pour remaining ¼ cup + 2 Tablespoons of sprinkles onto a plate. Using a medium-sized cookie scoop (2 Tablespoons), scoop out balls of cookie dough. Roll balls in your hands to make them smooth then roll them in the plate of sprinkles. Make sure the balls are evenly coated in sprinkles.
- Place sprinkle-coated dough balls on a plate and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate 2 hours or overnight.
- When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350°F. Place refrigerated cookies on sheet pans lined with parchment paper, spaced 2 inches apart. Bake about 12-16 minutes or until edges of cookies are set (slightly firm) but centres are soft and under baked. Cookies should have spread and be quite pale in colour with little or no browning visible (bottoms may be lightly browned). Let cookies cool on the pans for 5 minutes, then remove to cool completely on wire racks.
Notes
- Butter – you can use salted butter here if you don’t have unsalted
- Baking time – the original recipe said to bake 8-10 minutes, but mine took 16 minutes. So check on your cookies early and watch them carefully. Checking the edges for firmness/being set was the best way for me to tell if they were done.
- Sprinkles – you can get away with 1/2 cup of sprinkles (1/4 cup for rolling) if you just roll the top half of the dough balls in sprinkles and leave the bottom sprinkle free.