Valentine's Day Sprinkle Cookies

Soft, buttery cake-like sugar cookies, perfect for Valentine's Day. These delicious Valentine's Day Sprinkle Cookies are a great treat for school parties, surprising your sweetheart or just because.

Kids love these cake like sugar cookies, for two reasons, they are loaded with sprinkles (inside and out), and they taste like cake! For these Valentine's Day Sprinkle Cookies, I use clear vanilla extract in to give the cookies the "cake batter" flavor that we all know and love.

I am a huge fan of pure vanilla extract, but when creating this recipe, which the original name is Birthday Cake Cookies, I decided to use clear vanilla extract. Clear vanilla extract reminds me of my childhood. All of the cakes at birthday parties were made with clear vanilla extract. The distinct flavor is one we all are familiar with. While it is not as good as pure vanilla extract, the use of it in this recipe really captures the taste of everything "birthday cake" we all know.

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When testing this cookie dough, years ago, I tried them with and without the sprinkles in the cookie dough. Although they do nothing for the flavor, the sprinkles inside the cookie dough make them cookies true sprinkle cookies. Plus, kiddos love how many sprinkles are in these cookies.

What Makes These Cookies So Soft?

Sour Cream! The sour cream in this recipe requires the cookie dough to be chilled in the refrigerator overnight before baking. Sour cream adds to the soft cake-like texture these Valentine's Day Sprinkle Cookies have. I find that the longer this dough is chilled the better the texture is. I have tried baking them after chilling the dough for only two hours and they just didn't turn out as good as when they are chilled overnight.

How To Make Valentine's Day Sprinkle Cookies

These cookies come together with a few simple steps, and chilling the dough overnight gives them the best texture, soft, tender, and perfect for sharing!

STEP 1

In a small bowl, stir together the baking soda and sour cream. Set this aside.

STEP 2

In the bowl of a mixer, fitted with the paddle, cream together the butter and sugar, approximately 5 minutes.  Until the mixture has become paler in color and is completely creamed.  

STEP 3

Next add in the salt, vanilla, baking powder and egg.  Mix for 1 minute on medium speed.  Add in the sour cream mixture and mix until fully combined.  

STEP 4

Finally, add in the flour and sprinkles and mix just until the flour is incorporated.  Cover the bowl and refrigerate overnight.

STEP 5

Preheat an oven to 350° F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Using a .5-ounce portion scoop, scoop out the cookies and place on the prepared baking sheet.

STEP 6

Gently press each cookie dough ball into the remaining sprinkles, flattening out the cookie slightly as your press.  Place back on the baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes.  The cookies are ready when the edges have just a hint of browning.  Enjoy!

Tips For Making Cookies

Using softened butter is important when making these cookies. The butter needs to be completely soft and at room temperature. This will allow for proper creaming of the butter and sugar. Which helps create the perfect spread and texture to this cookie dough.

Do not overmix your cookie dough. Overmixing will create a tougher dough. Mix just until the flour is fully incorporated.

Do not overbake your cookies. I know, all cookie recipes say this. It is especially true for this recipe. The soft cake-like texture is lost when they are overbaked. All ovens are different, which should be kept in mind when baking. The sweet spot for my oven and this recipe is 12 minutes. I recommend testing one cookie at 10 minutes and adjusting the time accordingly before baking all of the cookies.

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