These Holiday Sprinkle Cookies are pillowy soft and melt-in-your-mouth. They have a rich buttery vanilla flavor with a hint of almond and are studded with festive sprinkles. They’re an easy, crowd-pleasing cookie for your holiday baking.
This year the whole family will be together for Christmas, which means:
- My parents’ house will be filled with people.
- There will be plenty of baked goodies to go around.
- My Dad will likely be teary-eyed with happiness.
- My nephew is coming!
He’s a little bundle of joy (with the occasional toddler tantrum) and utterly adorable, so I wanted the perfect Christmas cookie for his visit. These holiday sprinkle cookies were exactly right.
On his first birthday he wasn’t very interested in cake—but he loved these sprinkle cookies. He clearly knows good treats when he sees them.
These cookies are buttery, soft, and melt in your mouth. The almond extract adds depth, the vanilla keeps them classic, and the sprinkles add festive color. Best of all, they’re simple to make—no royal icing or complicated decorating required, and chilling the dough is optional (though chilling will make thicker cookies).
Let’s walk through how to make them.
How to Make These Holiday Sprinkle Cookies
Start by creaming the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Use good-quality unsalted butter and make sure it’s softened but not melted; if it’s too soft the cookies can spread.
Beat in vanilla extract, a touch of almond extract for extra flavor, and one egg. For the dry ingredients, whisk together all-purpose flour, cornstarch, cream of tartar, baking powder, and a small amount of salt. The cornstarch and cream of tartar help create that wonderfully soft, tender texture.
Slowly add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, then fold in the sprinkles. I prefer jimmies to nonpareils because they are less likely to bleed color into the dough.
Scoop the dough into balls of about 1.5 tablespoons each (a cookie scoop works well), and space them about 2 inches apart on lined baking sheets. If you want thicker cookies, chill the dough for a couple of hours or up to 48 hours before baking. Otherwise, bake right away.
Bake at 350°F for about 8–10 minutes, until the tops are just set. The cookies will be soft when they come out and will firm up as they cool.
The result is a batch of soft, buttery holiday sprinkle cookies that are perfect for sharing—Santa and everyone on the nice list will approve.
Holiday Sprinkle Cookies
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Ingredients
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened but not melted
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp almond extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tsp cream of tartar
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup holiday sprinkles, I recommend jimmies
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 350°F if you’re baking right away. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
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In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
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Beat in the vanilla, almond extract, and egg until combined.
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In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, cream of tartar, baking powder, and salt.
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Slowly add the dry mixture to the butter mixture. Fold in the sprinkles on low speed or with a rubber spatula so the colors don’t bleed.
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Form dough into balls about 1.5 tablespoons each and place 2 inches apart on the prepared sheets.
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Bake 8–10 minutes, until the tops are just set. Let cool on the pan for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Notes
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