Confetti Cookies

These colorful, fun, confetti cookies boast crispy on the outside, tender on the inside cookies with lots of sprinkles. Make this thick and puffy, melt-in-your-mouth sugar cookies recipe for the holidays, birthday parties, family dinners, and more. You’ll love that this recipe is both egg-free and dairy-free.

Several colorful confetti cookies on a plate.

Every now and then you need a cookie that stands out in a crowd like these baked from scratch Confetti Cookies. Whether it’s a holiday party, a birthday party goodie bag, or a cookie exchange, these special cookies have the pizazz you need!

If you have folks with food allergies or special diets like vegan and/or vegetarian, these confetti cookies are egg and dairy-free and delicious, too.

What Makes This Recipe Shine?

  • Creaming the butter and sugar together creates cookies that are soft and tender in the middle
  • Adding applesauce is another favorite trick for making these cookies extra soft
  • Slightly underbaking the cookies helps keep the insides soft
  • Using nonpareils sprinkles adds colorful little balls that contribute texture to this confetti cookies recipe that holds up well in baking, too

Key Ingredients

You can find the full printable recipe, including ingredient quantities, below. But first, here are some explanations of ingredients and steps to help you make this recipe perfect every time.

Here are the ingredients you’ll need for this recipe, including substitution ideas:

  • Sugar
  • Vegan butter — For storebought butter, I use Earth Balance buttery sticks (spreadable tub margarine does not work for this recipe). You can also make your own vegan butter.
  • Coconut oil — For a more neutral flavor, use refined coconut oil. If you don’t mind coconut flavor, then virgin coconut oil works here.
  • Vanilla Extract
  • Applesauce — We’ll be using unsweetened applesauce as an egg replacer in this recipe.
  • Flour — I recommend all-purpose flour for light and fluffy cookies.
  • Cornstarch — We’ll add a bit of cornstarch to make these cookies so tender and delicious.
  • Salt — Adding salt gives the cookies more complexity of flavor.
  • Baking powder — We’ll add lift and rise to these cookies thanks to baking powder.
  • Candy sprinkles — Sprinkles are a candy decoration used in baking. Here’s a guide to the different types of sprinkles. I recommend using nonpareils. because they hold up well in baking.

How to Make Confetti Cookies

If you’re wondering how to make confetti cookies, you’ve come to the right place. Imagine a white cake cookie full of sprinkles. That’s what to expect here. You can use a rolling pin to roll out the dough and cut the cookies, but I very much prefer rolling them into balls. It’s much easier to make them this way because there’s no need for the rolling pin.

Here’s a summary of the steps to make them:

  1. Cream Fat and Sugar together by beating until smooth and fluffy.
    A stand mixer has been used to make cookie dough. The cookie dough is in the stand mixer bowl, and the mixer attachment is full of cookie dough too.
  2. Add the vanilla and applesauce and beat again to combine.
  3. Combine Dry Ingredients from the flour to the sprinkles.
  4. Make the Cookie Dough by stirring together the flour mixture and the sprinkle mixture. 
  5. Form the dough into a ball, cover it with plastic wrap, and refrigerate it for 30 minutes to an hour.
  6. Roll the dough into balls (about the size of a golf ball), place on a prepared baking sheet, and bake for 5 to 6 minutes.
    Several confetti cookie dough balls are lined up in rows on a cookie sheet, waiting to be placed in the oven.
  7. Let cookies cool on the pan for a couple of minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Measuring Flour: Stir the flour first and spoon into your measuring cup. Then use a butter knife to level it off. That way you get a precise amount of flour for this recipe.

Use red and green sprinkles to make confetti cookies for the holidays!

I like calling these confetti cookies, but you can call them sprinkle cookies. funfetti cookies or even cake batter cookies.

Whatever you call them, this recipe makes delicious sugar cookies full of sprinkles. I got the inspiration for them from a dear friend who included them in her annual Christmas goodies. Marty made her confetti cookie recipe in the form of sandwich cookies. Her treat bags also included banana nut bread, pumpkin bread, peanut butter cookies, coconut cookies dipped in chocolate, and peanut butter balls.

And do you know what everyone always went crazy over? What everyone asked for from year-to-year? Confetti Cookies. I can see why, because the texture of confetti cookies are light and fluffy with a soft center and crispy edges. They’re addictive!

Three funfetti cookies on a counter with a plate behind them full of more cookies.

Frequently-Asked Questions

Do you put sprinkles on cookies before or after baking?

Depending on your recipe, you can add sprinkles into the dough before baking to make colorful cookies infused with sprinkles.

What’s in a sprinkle cookie?

Sprinkle cookies are basically sugar cookies with colorful sprinkles baked right into the cookies. You can change the colors of the sprinkles based on the season, making these cookies a year-long favorite.

Rows of baked cookies fresh from the oven.

Storage Tips

Confetti cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the fridge for up to 10 days. You can freeze them in freezer-safe containers or bags for up to 3 months. This recipe is also perfect for making frozen cookie dough so you’ll have frozen dough balls in the freezer ready to bake.

Vegan Birthday Treats

These confetti cookies are so fun and colorful! Here are even more fun vegan cookies you can serve at Birthday parties and other events:

If you’d like a holiday-themed festive recipe, try these Christmas Tree Cupcakes or these Christmas Chocolate Chip Cookies. They’re so easy to make and so very festive!

A white plate is full of confetti cookies, with colorful sprinkles.
A white plate has several colorful confetti cookies, sugar cookies with sprinkles baked right into the dough.

Confetti Cookies

These colorful, fun, confetti cookies boast tender cookies with lots of sprinkles. Serve them as is or add some creamy filling to make sandwich cookies. It's a flavor party for your taste buds! 
5 from 3 votes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
Servings: 24 cookies
Calories: 93kcal

Ingredients

  • 1 cup sugar
  • ½ cup vegan butter , softened
  • ¼ cup coconut oil , softened
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • ½ cup applesauce , unsweetened
  • 2 ½ cups all purpose unbleached flour
  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch
  • ¾ teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • cup multi-colored candy sprinkles

Instructions

  • Begin by adding the sugar, vegan butter, and coconut oil into a mixing bowl. Using your mixer, beat until smooth and fluffy. Add the vanilla and apple sauce and beat again to combine. Set aside.
  • Combine flour, cornstarch, salt, baking powder, and sprinkles and stir to combine. See Notes for tips on measuring flour for this recipe.
  • Pour the flour mixture into the mixing bowl with the sugar mixture and stir to combine. 
  • Form the dough into a ball and cover it with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. This will make the dough easier to handle.
  • When you're ready to bake, begin by heating your oven to 350°F and lining a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Cut-Out Cookies

  • You have two options for rolling out the dough. 1) Prepare your surface by giving it a light dusting of flour. 2) Prepare your surface by laying down a sheet of waxed paper and lightly dusting it with flour. I prefer #2 because the dough is delicate and the waxed paper allows me to lift it and thus makes it easier to remove the cut cookie and place it on the pan.
  • Cut off a chunk of the dough and keep the rest where you were storing it (in the fridge or freezer). Using a rolling pin, roll out your dough to 1/8-inch thickness. You need to keep flour on your rolling pin and cookie-cutter at all times too. 
  • Place cut cookies on prepared pan. You can place them fairly close to one another as the dough doesn't spread too much as it bakes. Sprinkle the tops of the unbaked cookies with a little bit of sugar to add shimmer.
  • Bake cookies for 5 to 6 minutes or until they are a light golden brown. Remove from oven and cool for several minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Drop Cookies

  • Roll dough into 1" balls and place on baking sheet about 1 inch apart. You can use the bottom of a glass to slightly flatten the cookies, or leave them in ball form. Bake for 8 minutes. These cookies may not seem done when you remove them from the oven but they will firm up as they cool, leaving a crispy exterior and soft on the inside.

Storage

  • Regardless of the cooking method, allow cookies to cool slightly on the pan before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. After they've cooled, transfer to an airtight container and store at room temperature for up to 3 to 4 days, in the fridge for up to 7 days or they can be frozen for up to 2 months.

Recommended Equipment

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Notes

Measure Flour: Spoon flour into your measuring cup and then use a butter knife to level it off. That way you get a precise amount of flour for this recipe.
Make-ahead Tip: You can make the dough a couple of days before baking. Just wrap the dough ball in waxed paper, and then put in a freezer bag and freeze it. Then when you’re ready to roll it, just cut off small chunks at a time. The cooler the dough, the easier it is to work with…and vice versa.
To make sandwich cookies, roll the dough to about 1/4″ thickness between two slices of parchment paper. Use a cookie cutter to cut into circles. Bake until done and allow to cool before adding frosting between two cookies. I love the strawberry frosting from my Best Vegan Strawberry Cake recipe.
Calories: 93kcal | Carbohydrates: 11g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Sodium: 103mg | Potassium: 16mg | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 180IU | Vitamin C: 0.3mg | Calcium: 10mg

The nutrition information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator and should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

This post was originally published in 2018 and was updated to include new photos, new text, and an updated recipe in 2021.

36 Responses to Confetti Cookies

  1. Avatar thumbnail image for MarlyJeremy Lake Reply

    Good post guys

    • Avatar thumbnail image for MarlyMarly

      Thanks, Jeremy!

  2. Avatar thumbnail image for MarlyChelsie Reply

    The pictures and text seem to me that these are balls before baked but the directions say to roll and cut into circles? Think I’m going to make some both ways and see which I like better, just thought it was odd.

    • Avatar thumbnail image for MarlyMarly

      Hi Chelsie! I got this recipe from my dear friend and mother figure in my life, Marty. She always rolled out it cut it into shapes and so when I first veganized this recipe I did the same. But since then I figured out it’s so much easier just to roll them into balls and tastes great either way. I must have forgotten to fix the instructions. I will do that and add a note about rolling the dough and cutting cookie shapes as an option.

  3. Avatar thumbnail image for MarlyKari Reply

    help! I just finished making these cookies, (they are delicious by the way) but I can’t seem to get the strawberry cream filling right. its too runny and won’t spread across the cookie. I put in the freezer hoping that would help but it seems the earth balance butter just wont mix in well. any suggestions?

  4. Avatar thumbnail image for MarlyJessica Reply

    Do you think I can make these gluten-free and how? I want to bring these to a bakesale this Sunday and would love to be able to provide for my gluten-free friends.

    Thanks!

    • Avatar thumbnail image for MarlyMarly

      Hi Jessica
      I have never made this gluten free, but here’s what I would do if I were going to give it a try. I would probably up the cornstarch to 1/2 cup and then do 2 1/4 cups of some gluten-free flour mixture (all purpose sold in the health food section of most stores) or try some combination of my own like 1 cup brown rice flour, 1 cup white rice flour, and 1/4 cup of something like almond flour.

      I hope this helps. Let me know how it goes!

  5. Avatar thumbnail image for MarlyJulieD Reply

    Love, love your cookies!!! Thank you so much for participating in the cookie swap! 🙂

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