This is the last recipe in my series of Easter treats – Sprinkle Crusted Soft and Chewy Sugar Cookies. If you haven’t made any delicious treats for Easter yet, now is your chance. You can have a batch of these ready for the Easter baskets within a couple of hours.
I really like a good, old-fashioned sugar cookie. I know, they’re plain and white, and don’t have 5 different kinds of chocolate bars or whatever mixed in, as seems to be all the rage these days. But I only like a certain kind of sugar cookie. They need to be thick, soft and chewy, not the paper-thin, cardboardy ones that end up getting slathered in icing.
These ones have a secret ingredient: almond extract. I love the flavor of it! I also use a generous dose of vanilla for extra flavor. The other ingredients are standard for cookies: flour, butter, egg, baking soda, salt, and of course, sugar. The little bit of brown sugar adds a bit more richness and helps keep the cookies soft.
The method for making these sugar cookies is the same as for most cookies: cream the butter and sugar together, then add the eggs and extracts, then the flour, baking powder and salt. Voila! You have cookie dough.
This is where we change things up a little bit. Normally, when you make sugar cookies, you roll dough balls in sugar (hence the name…). But, to make things just a little extra special and pretty, we’re going to roll them in SPRINKLES!
Now, sprinkles are not all created equally. The good ones don’t have much of a taste (just a bit of sweetness and crunch), but some are bad (mealy texture, taste like food coloring). So. If you don’t want bad sprinkles to ruin your delicious cookies, taste them first. If you don’t like them, don’t use them.
Once you’ve got all your cookie balls rolled, slightly flatten them with the palm of your hand or the bottom of a drinking glass.
Don’t these look so much cuter than regular sugar cookies? And there are so many colors (even pearlized!) and shapes of sprinkles available, the possibilities are endless…
You could make them themed for any holiday, or even use them as color coordinated favors for showers or weddings! So much fun!
Sprinkle Crusted Soft and Chewy Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 sticks (16 Tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 Tablespoon light brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/4-1/2 teaspoon almond extract (see note)
- Sprinkles (either non-pareil, jimmies or colored sugar)
Instructions
- Stir together flour, baking power and salt in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Cream butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar together using a stand mixer, or by hand. Add egg, vanilla and almond extract. Mix until well combined. Stir in flour mixture at low speed until dough forms.
- Scoop 1 Tbsp portions of dough and form into balls. Roll dough balls into sprinkles until fully covered. Slightly flatten balls with the ball of your hand or bottom of a drinking glass. Chill cookies completely, at least 2 hours in the fridge, or 30 minutes in the freezer.
- Heat oven to 375Β°F, with the racks at the upper-middle and lower-middle positions. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Place chilled cookie dough on the sheets, spaced roughly 1.5 inches apart.
- Bake both sheets at the same time, for 15-17 minutes, until edges are just starting to brown (see note). Don’t overbake.
- Remove sheets from oven, and let cool on sheet for 5 minutes. Transfer to cooling racks to cool completely. Store in an airtight container at room temperature or freeze. Sprinkle coated dough balls could also be frozen and baked later.
Notes
Cookie sheets can be baked separately if you wish.
6 Comments
Lois
April 18, 2014 at 5:05 PMThese look so good, and are small. I will make them for a sweet snack for Grandma Kuhl
Rebecca Baker
November 20, 2014 at 11:25 PMWhy do I need to bake both sheets at the same time? I wanted to make the dough and put it in the fridge until the next day. It would save me time tomorrow. But I hesitate to do that because it says to bake both sheets at once. Is the dough not supposed to be allowed to sit?
Carissa
November 21, 2014 at 7:22 AMYou can absolutely let the dough sit in the fridge overnight if it works better for you. I’ve done it myself and the cookies still turn out great. And you don’t have to cook both sheets at the same time either, it’s just to save time. I hope you like them! I make these every Christmas.
Rebecca Baker
November 21, 2014 at 11:47 AMAwesome! I am going to make them right now. Thank you so much. π
Rebecca Baker
November 21, 2014 at 2:43 PMThey turned out wonderful! Thank you.
Carissa
November 21, 2014 at 5:59 PMI’m glad you liked them. It’s one of my favorite cookie recipes ever!