Birthday Cake Sugar Cookies (no chilling required) + Cake Batter Buttercream
Can you believe I am actually posting on my blog? And I actually made a recipe and measured stuff? Birthday cake sugar cookies felt appropriate because they have sprinkles, and sprinkles say party to me, but mostly because it’s my birthday week!
“These might be my favorite cookies that you make!” When my husband said that, I knew I had a winner. He is known to have a sweet tooth, it once almost got him arrested, but prefers the chewy and gummy fruit variety (think starburst, watermelon slices, and fuzzy peaches). He eats what I bake but rarely makes praising statements like the one above. Me, on the other hand, I dream of cakes and cookies, and one of my favorite flavors is funfetti. So with my birthday coming up, launching a recipe blog, and overall wanting to spread joy in the world covered in sprinkles, I wanted to make a cookie that held all the joy of a funfetti cupcake, but in cookie form.
One of the greatest parts of this sugar cookie is that you don’t have to chill before baking, they roll out super quick, and they have minimal to no spreading when they bake up. This means that they will hold true to whatever shape you bake them in, the details won’t be lost, but also, if your three year old mangles one of the hearts, it will still look mangled when you pull them out of the oven.
One of my favorite parts of sugar cookies is the decorating. When I created this recipe, the wheels started to turn about how I wanted them to look decorated. I had a busy week that was only made more active by sick kids, doctor's appointments, and naps that were refused. When I finally got a minute to sit down to decorate, it seems like the powers of hell were against me. My icing colors were not turning out great, but I didn’t think I had time (or energy) to start again. SO I went in a new direction. I finished decorating, but in the end felt disappointed that what I had wanted to do, didn’t happen. I let myself feel frustrated and upset; over cookies, it was as ridiculous as it sounds. It led me to this weird mental place, where I started to think of all the things that I didn’t do as good as I had hoped, and it got me down.
SO, I decided to whip up a new batch and start over quickly. This turned out to be a blessing because I couldn't find where I wrote down my recipe that I just created! I made a new one, and it was even better! And then the icing was smoother, the colors came together, and I am so happy with the result. I don’t always get things right, but I can always try again and learn from my mistakes. A good reminder for my birthday week! The last year was a great year, but I can make this year even better!
Remember: If you make this recipe please post a picture on Instagram and tag me @sleepingmakesmehungry or use #sleepingmakesmehungry
Birthday Funfetti cookies (no chilling required)
Makes about 2-3 dozen depending on the size of cookie cutter
Ingredients
1 cup butter
¾ cup white sugar
½ cup brown sugar
2 ½ tsp vanilla
1 tsp almond extract
1 large egg
3 ½ cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
¾ tsp salt
½ tsp cream of tartar
½ cup sprinkles – optional but recommended (the jimmy kind, not the non-perils, they will dissolve)
Directions
1. Preheat your oven to 350°F
2. In the bowl of your mixer or large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, vanilla, and almond extract until just combined. Now add baking powder, salt and cream of tartar, mix for 2 minutes
3. Add flour, mix until just combined, and then add sprinkles. Mix the sprinkles until evenly dispersed in the dough.
4. Roll the dough till about ¼inch thick and cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Place about 3/4 inch apart on the baking sheet. Bake for 6-8 minutes. Let cool on cookie sheet for at least 5 minutes before moving to a cooling rack.
5. Ice with your favorite frosting, get the full birthday effect with cake batter buttercream.
Cake batter buttercream
Ingredients
1 cup butter, softened
3 cups powdered sugar
½ cup white cake mix
2 tsp vanilla
¼ cup Heavy Whipping Cream
Pinch of salt
Directions
In the bowl of your stand mixer (this way is easier) or in a large mixing bowl combine butter and 1 cup of powdered sugar. Whip it and whip it good with the whip attachment. Mix for at least 3 minutes, it will start to get lighter and fluffier. Scraping down the sides if needed.
Add in the cake mix, vanilla, pinch of salt, and heavy whipping cream. Mix it until incorporated, now add the rest of the powdered sugar.
Mix for 8-10 minutes. You will see the icing/frosting get lighter and fluffier and almost glossy looking. Stop to scrape down the sides as needed. If adding color, you can add it during this step. If you are making lots of different colors, I wait until it is completely done, divide into little bowls, and mix the colors at the end.
BIRTHDAY CAKE SUGAR COOKIES (NO CHILLING REQUIRED) + CAKE BATTER BUTTERCREAM
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter
- ¾ cup white sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 2 ½ tsp vanilla
- 1 tsp almond extract
- 1 large egg
- 3 ½ cups flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ¾ tsp salt
- ½ tsp cream of tartar
- ½ cup sprinkles – optional but recommended (the jimmy kind, not the non-perils, they will dissolve)
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- ½ cup white cake mix
- 2 tsp vanilla
- ¼ cup Heavy Whipping Cream
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F
- In the bowl of your mixer or large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, vanilla, and almond extract until just combined. Now add baking powder, salt and cream of tartar, mix for 2 minutes
- Add flour, mix until just combined, and then add sprinkles. Mix the sprinkles until evenly dispersed in the dough.
- Roll the dough till about ¼inch thick and cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Place about 3/4 inch apart on the baking sheet. Bake for 6-8 minutes. Let cool on cookie sheet for at least 5 minutes before moving to a cooling rack.
- Ice with your favorite frosting, get the full birthday effect with cake batter buttercream.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer (this way is easier) or in a large mixing bowl combine butter and 1 cup of powdered sugar. Whip it and whip it good with the whip attachment. Mix for at least 3 minutes, it will start to get lighter and fluffier. Scraping down the sides if needed.
- Add in the cake mix, vanilla, pinch of salt, and heavy whipping cream. Mix it until incorporated, now add the rest of the powdered sugar.
- Mix for 8-10 minutes. You will see the icing/frosting get lighter and fluffier and almost glossy looking. Stop to scrape down the sides as needed. If adding color, you can add it during this step. If you are making lots of different colors, I wait until it is completely done, divide into little bowls, and mix the colors at the end.