These cookies are magical. They’re essentially the pastry form of a time machine. From the moment I tasted the dough, I was transported back to a way simpler time in life where I could eat half a dozen cookies in a day without total judgment because a kid giving in to her sweet tooth & sneaking cookies when no one was looking wasn’t an outrageous idea.
From dough to fully baked cookie form, these are reminiscent of those super soft cake-like sugar cookies you get at the grocery store. Do you know the ones I’m thinking about? They’re packaged, frosted, and they celebrate every holiday with a different color of frosting and sprinkles galore. There was a point in time where we actually had to stop buying these in our house because we just couldn’t control ourselves around them.
Which is why these are just so dangerous. I kept these on the counter and kept going back to look at them, reminding myself that I am at an age where I can no longer consume half a dozen cookies without any real consequences and I should be able to exhibit some self control. Keyword there: should.
These cookies are perfect for both kids and adults. Even better, the decorating with frosting and sprinkles element of these turns a day of baking into a fun day of cookie decorating and eating with little ones. Sprinkles will be everywhere, but the smiles and laughter are bound to make up for a little bit of mess.
This dough is super soft and may need to be kneaded or rolled in flour a bit before rolling out just to keep them from absolutely sticking to the countertop. No one wants to struggle to scrape cookie dough off the counter, losing the shape they cut out, and forced to start again. Adding a bit of flour to lose the tackiness won’t mess with the texture of these. Trust me! These bake out so soft that they’ll melt in your mouth even if you do need to play with them a little bit.
These cookies are sweet and slightly tangy from the addition of Greek yogurt and the cream of tartar. The almond and imitation butter are slight enough to give these cookies a bit of oomph, but not enough oomph to punch you in the face with an overload of almond or butter flavor. They add to the Birthday Cake flavor, if anything. Because really, it’s not just sprinkles that make Birthday Cake treats exciting. There’s a little something special in the taste as well, and these cookies have that little something that will take all adults back to their childhood and keep all kids wanting more!
| Cook Time | 8-10 minutes |
| Servings |
cookies
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- 1/2 cup salted butter softened to room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup white chocolate melted
- 1 Tbsp heavy cream or milk
Ingredients
White Chocolate Frosting
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- I a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cream of tartar, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar on medium high for 5 minutes until light and fluffy (it will look like buttercream frosting when it's ready).
- Add the egg and egg yolk one at a time until fully combined. Add in the vanilla extract, imitation butter, and almond extract; mix to combined. Add in the Greek yogurt and mix fully.
- Add the dry ingredients half at a time until the dough just begins to come together. Fold in the sprinkles.
- The dough will be super soft. Using a spatula, dump the dough onto a piece of plastic wrap. Flatten it into a disc and wrap in the clingfilm. Chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour.
- Move the rack into the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator. Cut in half to make it easier to work with and place the second half back in the fridge to keep chilling. Dust the counter with flour (you may also use two sheets of parchment paper if you want an easier clean up, you should still dust the parchment with flour though). The dough is sticky and you may need to roll it in the flour a bit to take some of the tackiness away (the cookies will still be okay, I promise!). Once the dough feels like it won't stick, lightly dust the counter with flour again and roll out until 1/2 inch thick. Using a two inch round cookie cutter, cut out circles of dough and place on the prepared baking sheets making sure to leave room for the cookies to spread. Chill in the freezer for ten minutes.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes until the edges begin to firm and JUST start to turn a light golden brown. You'll want to slightly undertake these cookies to keep them soft and melt-in-your-mouth. If they feel firm enough to move with a spatula, transfer to a cool baking sheet immediately. If not, allow them to cool on baking sheet for about 3 minutes before transferring.
- MAKE THE WHITE CHOCOLATE FROSTING: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add in the powdered sugar and mix on low until it begins to combine with the butter. Add in the white chocolate and the heavy cream. Mix on high for about 5 minutes until light and fluffy.
- Using a spatula or a butter knife, spread the white chocolate frosting on the cooled cookies. Add sprinkles, and enjoy!
*If you don't want to roll and cut out the circles, you can also roll the dough into a ball about the size of a Tablespoon and flatten into a circle about 1/2 inch thick with your hands.