Birthday cake cookies are chewy, buttery, and filled with white chocolate chips and sprinkles. Plus, they're made entirely from scratch - no need for a boxed cake mix today!
Sometimes, birthdays need cake and cookies. Filled with flavors reminiscent of a classic yellow cake with buttercream frosting, these birthday cake cookies will be the hit of the party.
You will love these birthday cake cookies because they embrace that classic birthday cake flavor, but without a boxed cake mix. If you've been looking for a birthday cake cookie that's not made with a boxed cake mix - look no further!
This recipe was made from my curiosity of how to make a cookie actually taste like a classic yellow birthday cake. Turns out, it was as simple as adding some extra vanilla extract, a hint of almond extract, as well as white chocolate chips.
Ingredients and substitutions
- Room temperature eggs and butter - Room temperature ingredients cream together seamlessly to create an even dough that bakes up nicely in the oven. Butter should not be melted or cold. To bring eggs to room temperature quickly, fill a small bowl with warm tap water. Add your eggs and allow to set for 10 minutes.
- Unsalted butter and salt can be substituted with salted butter if needed.
- Sugars - We're using a combination of granulated sugar and brown sugar in this recipe for optimal texture and flavor. Granulated sugar helps aerate the butter when creaming the two together, which helps lift your cookies as they bake. Brown sugar adds a caramelized, molasses flavor and chewy texture to your cookies.
- All-purpose flour - Adds structure to your cookies and balances the wet ingredients in the recipe. I haven't tested this recipe with other types of flours, so I can't say for sure how your cookies would turn out with substitutions. To avoid wasting ingredients, I highly suggest searching for a recipe that has been developed with the type of flour you'd like to use.
- Rainbow jimmies - I recommend using rainbow jimmies instead of nonpareils or sugar sprinkles. Nonpareils like to bleed when mixed into a batter. Jimmies hold up well to baking and look great in the finished product!
- White chocolate chips - Can be omitted entirely or substituted with chocolate chips. Omitting the chocolate chips will reduce the amount of cookies the recipe makes.
- Baking soda - Cannot be substituted with baking powder. The two are not interchangeable.
- Extracts - A combination of vanilla and almond extracts enhance the flavor of your cookies and give it that 'birthday cake' flavor.
Tips and tricks
Use room temperature ingredients - Room temperature ingredients mix together to create a smooth, even dough without streaks or clumps.
To bring ingredients to room temperature quickly - Slice sticks of butter into small, ½ inch slivers. Small pieces warm up faster than a whole stick. Place eggs into a bowl and cover with very warm tap water. They'll come to room temperature in about ten minutes.
Do not substitute or omit ingredients - Baking is an exact science. Each ingredient serves a purpose in this recipe. Halving the butter or sugar, for example, will result in a dry cookie. Adding extra flour will cause cookies to spread less and turn out bland. Adding extra wet ingredients that aren't listed, like applesauce or sour cream, will result in a wet dough that spreads more in the oven and may turn out cakey instead of chewy.
Properly measure your flour - This is the most common issue in baking. If you have issues with your cookies not spreading, turning out extra thick, or having a bland flavor, you probably measured too much flour into your cookie dough.
To properly measure flour - I highly recommend using a kitchen scale. Measuring by weight ensures your ingredients are 100% accurate every time. If you don't have a kitchen scale, use the spoon and level method. Gently stir your flour, then use a spoon to add flour to your measuring cup. Last, level off the top with a knife. By scooping flour directly from a container with your measuring cup, you’re compacting the flour into the cup. This adds up to 25% extra flour to your dough. Check out my flour measuring test on my post 10 tips for baking cookies to see the weight difference of each measuring method!
For evenly sized cookies - Use a cookie scoop. I use a medium OXO cookie scoop for all of my drop cookies for perfectly sized, round cookies.
Use parchment paper - This helps prevent your cookies from spreading too much while baking. A greased baking pan causes your cookies to spread more than they should and also creates crispy thin edges.
Refrigerate your dough - Chilling is important for several reasons. This time allows the flavors to meld, creating a tastier cookie. The flour has time to hydrate, which creates a chewier, thicker cookie. Lastly, some of the moisture evaporates, which creates a concentrated flavor and helps the dough spread less in the oven.
Frequently asked questions
Your cookies will keep for up to 5 days in a tightly sealed container at room temperature. To help keep cookies fresh, place a slice of bread in the container with the cookies. Replace the bread slice as needed.
Yes, baked cookies can also be frozen for up to 3 months. Simply place on the counter top to thaw for about 30 minutes.
Dry baked goods can happen for several reasons. If any of the moisture-adding ingredients have been reduced, like sugar, butter, or eggs, this can cause baked goods to turn out dry. If too much flour was added (I recommend weighing your flour or using the spoon and level method), cookies can turn out dry or cakey. Lastly, baking too long in the oven can dry out baked goods.
Chilling cookie dough allows the flavors to meld and firms up the dough so it spreads less in the oven. Some of the moisture in the dough evaporates, which prevents excess spreading in the oven. If you don't rest your dough, it's very likely that your cookies will spread into thin blobs on the baking sheet. See my section above, "chilling cookie dough", to see my chill time test results.
If your cookies aren't spreading in the oven, it sounds like too much flour was added to the dough or the dough is too cold.
It is extremely important that the flour is measured properly for this (and any) baking recipe. Either weight your flour with a kitchen scale (gram measurements can be found in the recipe card in parentheses), or use the spoon and level method.
Using a spoon, fill your measuring cup with flour, then level off with a knife.
Using your measuring cup to scoop your flour directly from a bin compacts the flour into the cup, adding up to 25% extra flour to your dough. This makes your cookies cakey and thick. They'll spread less when baking and may turn out dry.
This can happen when your dough is too warm or the baking sheet was greased instead of lined with parchment.
- Don't skip the step of refrigerating your dough. Refrigerating not only helps the flavors meld, but also makes the dough easier to roll into balls and reduces spreading.
- If your dough is still spreading in the oven, try refrigerating the dough balls for 10 minutes, then transfer directly into the oven.
- Use parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. I do not recommend using a greased cookie sheet. A layer of grease/cooking spray makes cookies of any kind spread more in the oven.
Recommended
📖 Recipe
Birthday Cake Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- ½ cup (99 g) granulated sugar
- ¾ cup (160 g) brown sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- 2 ¾ cups (330 g) all purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ cup (80 g) rainbow sprinkles
- 12 ounces (340 g) white chocolate chips
Instructions
- In a large bowl, add butter and sugars. Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, cream together until light and fluffy. Add eggs, vanilla extract, and almond extract. Beat until light and fluffy, about 1-2 minutes.
- In a separate bowl, whisk (or sift) together the flour, salt, and baking soda. Gently stir dry ingredients into butter mixture until just combined (do not overmix).
- Add white chocolate chips and sprinkles and stir until just combined.
- Cover bowl or wrap dough in wax paper. Chill for at least 1 hour (up to 24 hours) in the refrigerator. Refrigerating allows the flavors meld and also creates a firmer dough to roll into balls.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Remove dough from refrigerator. Scoop dough using a 1.5 tablespoon scoop or shape by hand into 1.5 inch balls.
- Place cookie dough balls 2 inches apart onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for about 10-12 minutes, or until lightly browned around edges and across the tops. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
Equipment Recommendations
Notes
- Cookies will keep for up to 5 days in a sealed container. To help keep cookies fresh, you can place a slice of bread in the container with the cookies. Replace the bread slice as needed. Raw cookie dough will keep in the refrigerator for 3 days.
- Cookie dough balls (and baked cookies) freeze well, up to 3 months in a sealed plastic container or freezer bag. Allow frozen balls to thaw for up to 10 minutes on the baking sheet before baking, or add 1-2 minutes to the baking time.
- Try using sprinkles to match your favorite sports team, school colors, holiday colors, or the party's theme colors.
- Be sure to check out my 10 tips for baking cookies, based on reader comments and questions!
Hi. Made these twice now. Mine do not spread into cookies. Would you know why?
Hi Christine, if cookies aren't spreading in the oven, it sounds like the dough was too dry and/or didn't have enough moisture-adding ingredients to help them spread in the oven. A few possibilities:
- Too much flour was added to the dough (I recommend using a scale and measuring by weight because flour can easily be packed into cups, unintentionally adding up to 25% extra to a recipe)
- Moisture adding ingredients like butter or sugar were reduced, substituted, or omitted
- Dough was too cold, especially if either of the above things happened. If you've still got some dough left, bringing it to room temperature before baking can help it spread more in the oven.
Haven’t made your recipe yet but you literally read my mind about searching for a cake cookie recipe that doesn’t involve CAKE MIX! Omg. Anywho, have you ever tried this recipe with cake batter flavoring?
I haven't tried cake batter extract because I found that I could get a similar flavor from the addition of vanilla and almond extracts. If you give it a try, let us know how it goes!
They were great and super easy!I made them immediately after I commented.
My 11 year old granddaughter has made these cookies several times. They are delicious! I usually only want sweets that are chocolate but I love these cookies.
Is there a way to make them into a bar cookie?
Yes, these can be made into bars! I'd suggest pressing the dough into a greased/parchment lined 9x13 pan (no refrigerating needed beforehand), and baking at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 25-30 minutes. The bars should be evenly browned across the top and a toothpick inserted into the center should come out clean.
Making these into bars was an eipc fail! At 14 minutes they were brown and the toothpick came out clean. When I cut them and took a bite of an edge cookie, after the first quarter-inch they were completely raw. I have never had this happen. I made these as regular cookies before and they turned out well and followed your advice for the bars to a “T.” I’m giving three stars because the regular cookies are good, but would not recommend baking these as bars.
Hi Kat, I'm sorry to hear that your bars didn't turn out. It makes sense that the bars were still raw inside, 14 minutes is not enough time to bake the bars through in the center. The recommended baking time for bars is 25-30 minutes. It sounds like maybe they browned across the top too fast. Were they placed on a center rack in the oven, or more towards the top?
Heather: They were on the middle rack and weee very brown and the toothpick came out clean as a whistle. That is what is so strange. I updated my rating to 5 stars as I got to thinking your original post is for cookies, not bars, and those were perfect. I will try making the bars again sometime and if they brown too quickly/pass the toothpick test, put foil on them and leave them in the full time anyway and see what happens. The recipe is delicious.
Can these cookies be made into bars? If so how long would you bake them?
Yes, these can be made into bars! I'd suggest pressing the dough into a greased/parchment lined 9x13 pan (no refrigerating needed beforehand), and baking at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 25-30 minutes. The bars should be evenly browned across the top and a toothpick inserted into the center should come out clean.
These are really good. My 2 yo son and I made these without the white chocolate chips. Super easy and delicious.
Hi. Just made these on Friday sooo good. Kept the rest in the fridge and made a fresh batch on Saturday. And Sunday made another fresh batch to finish them all. All the family loved it. But I was wondering why when I picked up the cookies after they cooled, they broke in two on Friday. I thought maybe bc it only chilled for one hour as you said. The second fresh batch I made Saturday, they still broke apart just not as much. And the ones I made Sunday a made the balls smaller than 1 1/2 tablespoon as you stated and they held togther. What did I go wrong?? The flavor n texture were great for eating. Just holding it was tedious the first night bc they were breaking apart.
Hi Josarie, it's hard to say without being in the kitchen with you as to what went wrong. When you say breaking apart, do you mean they were dry/crumbly, or did they spread too much and become brittle? If they were dry/thick/crumbly, that likely means there was too much flour added to the dough. If they spread thin and brittle, that can be caused by a greased cookie sheet (instead of parchment), too much butter/too little flour, or warm dough. Adding too many chocolate chips can also cause cookies to fall apart. Refrigerating shouldn't change the consistency of the dough, only make them spread less in the oven. A smaller cookie will definitely hold together more easily - good idea! If you have any more details I'd love to help you figure out what happened!
I made these yesterday, and they were great! The only thing that I did differently was add 1 cup mini chocolate chips. Sprinkles make them very festive. I use almond extract in other cookies and cakes, but never considered it in a standard cookie like this. Loved it! This recipe is definitely a keeper! Thanks!
I think I forgot to rate this with stars on my original comment. 5 stars all the way. 🙂
Hi Heather,
Would these cookies work good to make a “cookie sandwich” I’d like to put a coloured frosting in the middle?
Hi Danielle, that sounds like a super cute idea! These cookies should work for that. If you give it a try, let us know how it goes!
Could you please post the weight of the flour and sugar by weight (in grams)? I feel more comfortable knowing it's more accurate. When I did the recommended 120g to 1 cup of flour conversion, the cookies came out very oily and kept falling apart. Thanks!
Hi there, if you click between 'US Customary' and 'Metric' in the recipe card (directly below the ingredient list) this will give you the option of gram measurements. Hope this helps!
*update* the recipe card now shows both measurements side by side.
Is it okay to skip the almond extract? Or can I replace it with vanilla extract instead? Thank you so much!
Almond extract will help give you that cake batter flavor, but it can be omitted if you don't have any on hand.
Is it possible to do 3/4 cup butter instead of 1 cup?
I haven't tried this myself, but I imagine the cookies should still turn out but maybe be less moist. If you give it a try, let us know how it goes!
So delicious! My husband claims these are the best cookies he has ever had - we have been devouring these since I baked them a couple of days ago. Thank you for the recipe!
I'm so glad you both enjoyed the recipe!
Hi there. Is it possible to omit the white chocolate chips? Will I have to adjust the recipe? Thank you!
Hi Kristine, yes you can omit the white chocolate chips - the recipe will make a few less cookies, but won't affect anything else.
hi is it possible to store this cookie dough in the fridge or freezer months before baking even with the sprinkles? or will the sprinkles leave a stain on the dough?
Hi Danielle, I've frozen this dough with the sprinkles and haven't had any issues. As long as you're using rainbow jimmies, they shouldn't bleed (I only have this issue with nonpareils).
Can you make this into a giant cookie? Like a giant cookie cake kind of cookie? If I did that, what would the baking time be? And would I use a 9-in round cake pan?
Any suggestions would be great!! Thank you!
Hi Tiffany,
If you'd like to make this recipe into a giant cookie, there are a few options.
By cutting the recipe in half (the amount for 18 cookies), you can do two things:
- Form a 9 inch round disc on a lined baking sheet, bake at 350 degrees for 14-16 minutes, making a 12 inch round giant cookie.
- Or, press into a 9 inch pie pan and bake at 350 degrees for 20+ minutes or until lightly browned across the top to make a cookie pie.
Using the full amount of ingredients (for 36 cookies) you can:
-On a pizza pan, spread cookie dough and bake at 350 for 22+ minutes to make a 14 inch round pizza sized cookie.
-Or, make your cookies into bars in a 9x13 pan like this recipe:
https://thetoastykitchen.com/chocolate-chip-cookie-bars/
Hope this helps!
Absolutely it does! Thank you so much! I’m making this for my soon to be 6 year old’s birthday party in a few days, this is his choice instead of a cake 😄