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.
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.
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:
- Cream Fat and Sugar together by beating until smooth and fluffy.
- Add the vanilla and applesauce and beat again to combine.
- Combine Dry Ingredients from the flour to the sprinkles.
- Make the Cookie Dough by stirring together the flour mixture and the sprinkle mixture.
- Form the dough into a ball, cover it with plastic wrap, and refrigerate it for 30 minutes to an hour.
- 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.
- 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!
Frequently-Asked Questions
Depending on your recipe, you can add sprinkles into the dough before baking to make colorful cookies infused with sprinkles.
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.
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!
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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
- ⅓ 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
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.
Oh my gosh, these are fabulous! Thanks so much for sharing 🙂
These are AH-DOR-A-BLE!! I didn’t even pull out a single hair! Thank you for the great directions – and for veganizing this fun recipe. I used EBalance shortening – but I’ll be on the lookout for the coconut stuff next trip to the market. Sounds yum!
You forgot to mention sprinkling them w/ sugar – I didn’t realize that until I looked at your photo. A wee touch that def gives them some sparkle. Next time.
You’re right! I’m going to change the instructions to include sprinkling some sugar before baking. I thought of that on the last batch I think and really liked how that made them look.
So glad the recipe turned out for you. So fun!
The shortening worked fine, thanks for the encouragement! They’re so cute! 🙂
These are gorgeous! Do you think the coconut spread plays a big role in the cookie? I’m wondering if the results would be similar if one just used additional earth balance or subbed veg shortening… I’ll report back when I try it! Thanks so much for sharing such a unique cookie recipe!
You know, I bet using the Earth Balance veg shortening would work just fine. Can’t wait to see how it works for you!
These cookies are adorable! I love the sprinkles and the strawberry filling sounds like the perfect addition. I’m so glad I found your blog!
These look great! They make me think of confetti cake, which was such a favorite dessert as a kid…I think mostly because of the colors! 😉
These are the most gorgeous cookies ever.. and such perfect gifts!.. i can never keep a secret.. i usually get too stressed and let it out:)
love the beautiful colors..
These are the sweetest cookies, I just love all the colors and the cream filling, just yummy!
What fun and festive cookies! Sprinkles just make everything that much better. 🙂
These are absolutely beautiful!!