Favorite Sprinkle Cookies

These vanilla cookies have crisp edges, an easy method, and less than half the sugar as similar cookies.They are so delicious. You can use your hands or a food processor, and note that you'll form the cookies, then chill them in the fridge while the oven preheats.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 12

Total Time 27

Servings (Makes about 16 cookies)

Calories 146kcal

Author Amy Palanjian

Equipment

Ingredients

Cookies

1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ cup unsalted butter (softened at room temperature)
4-5 tablespoons milk
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup sprinkles

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Line a half sheet pan or cookie sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
Place all ingredients, except the sprinkles, into a bowl starting with 4 tablespoons milk. Use a clean hand to mix together to form a dough. Press the butter through your fingers to break it up and incorporate it into the flour. (Or, you can put the ingredients into a food processor and pulse to combine.) You shouldn't see any large pieces of butter.
(If the dough is a little crumbly, be sure it's throughly combined and if it's still crumbly at all, add ½-1 tablespoon additional milk until it comes together. The dough should be moist, but still easy to roll into balls.)
Add the sprinkles to a separate small bowl.
Portion out 1 tablespoon balls of dough using a measuring spoon. Roll into a smooth ball in your hand. Roll in sprinkles to coat all sides.
Place onto the prepared baking sheet. Press down lightly to make the cookie about about ½-inch thick. Repeat to make the rest of the cookies.
Place the pan into the fridge to chill while you preheat the oven to 375°F.
Bake for 12-16 minutes, or until lightly browned on the bottom of each cookies and set around the edges.
Remove from the oven and let cool completely on the pan.

Notes

Store prepared cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-5 days. They soften a little as they're stored. (They are most crisp around the edges on the day they are baked.)
Gluten-Free: Use gluten-free cup-for-cup flour.
Dairy-Free: Use plain unsweetened nondairy milk in place of dairy milk. Use coconut oil, just softened (so not totally liquid, but softer than when it comes out of the jar at room temp). I tested it with about 10 seconds in the microwave in a heat-safe bowl.
If the dough is a little crumbly, be sure the butter is throughly combined, and if it's still crumbly, add 1/2-1 tablespoon additional liquid until it comes together.
You can use whole wheat pastry flour, white whole wheat flour, or half all-purpose and half whole-wheat. The cookies will be darker in color, but the results will otherwise be the same. You may need a smidge more milk to make a moist dough.
To make this dough ahead: Store it in the fridge in plastic wrap for up to 24 hours. It will need to sit at room temperature for about an hour to soften up, or you can remove it from the plastic, put it onto a plate, and microwave for 5-10 seconds.

Nutrition