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Soft, chewy, buttery, sprinkle-packed small batch funfetti sugar cookies made completely from scratch — no box cake mix required!
Table of contents
Small Batch Funfetti Sugar Cookies
What I love about this recipe is how quickly it comes together; there are no complicated steps or waiting for the dough to chill before you bake them. Just mix, scoop, & bake! These small batch funfetti sugar cookies are perfect for people who are explicitly in love with funfetti cake from a box mix. They bake up thick, chewy, and soft with slightly crispy edges (the way a cookie should be).
I think you’ll want to go ahead and start preheating your oven before you even read the rest of this post…
Ingredients Needed for Small Batch Funfetti Sugar Cookies
These small batch funfetti sugar cookies don’t require a ton of ingredients; here’s what you’ll need to make them:
- Butter: The one and only. All good cookie recipes need it.
- Sugar: This recipe uses just over 1/2 cup of sugar (granulated and light brown), meaning you can’t reduce the sugar without seriously affecting the final structure and texture of these cookies. These bars aren’t overly sweet though, don’t worry!
- Egg: Only one large egg is needed here, which helps deliver a chewy final result!
- Clear imitation vanilla: This is a trick I learned from Christina Tosi (creator of Milk Bar) years ago; clear imitation vanilla is what gives you that box mix funfetti cake flavor from your childhood (which personally, I love). You can replace it with an equal amount of pure vanilla extract if you prefer!
- All-purpose flour: Only 1½ cups of all-purpose flour is needed!
- Baking powder, baking soda, & cornstarch: Helps to create a soft, slightly fluffy cookie bar.
- Salt: Cookies made without salt taste a little plain, so don’t skip it.
- Sprinkles: These are funfetti cookies, after all! I would avoid nonpareils and stick to jimmies or confetti-type sprinkles!
Small Batch Funfetti Sugar Cookies Recipe: Troubleshooting & FAQ
CAN I USE COCONUT SUGAR INSTEAD OF BROWN SUGAR?
Nope! These small batch funfetti sugar cookies use baking soda to react with the brown sugar (which is slightly acidic, thanks to the molasses in it) to give the cookies their signature chewy texture. Unfortunately, coconut sugar doesn’t have this same acidic quality; so if you use coconut sugar instead of brown sugar in this recipe, your cookies will likely be flatter and spread far too much.
DO I HAVE TO CHILL THE COOKIE DOUGH?
Nope! These cookies can be baked right away! If, however, your dough looks or feels a little too mushy/warm, a short 10-15min chill in the fridge wouldn't hurt!
HOW CAN YOU TELL WHEN THE COOKIES ARE DONE BAKING?
Remove these cookies from the oven while they still look ever so slightly underdone in the center. The residual heat of the pan will continue to finish cooking them to soft perfection.
HELP! MY COOKIES SPREAD WAY TOO MUCH AND LOOK THINNER THAN YOURS. WHAT DID I DO WRONG?
It's likely that the dough was too warm; this can happen when your butter is too softened. Alternatively, if you chilled the cookie dough and your cookies still came out too thin, you may have an ingredients issue. It’s likely that you used way too much sugar by accidentally packing in too much in the measuring cup.
HELP! MY COOKIES CAME OUT WAY TOO PUFFY. WHAT DID I DO WRONG?
If you used cup measures as opposed to weight measures, there’s a larger chance your cookies will come out puffy. Why? As weird as this sounds, measuring cups aren’t as accurate as you think. For example, somebody who scoops the measuring cup into the flour will have way more than somebody who uses a spoon to scoop the flour into the same-sized measuring cup. This is why you should really be measuring by weight with a kitchen scale instead—it’s much more reliable and completely eliminates any inconsistencies.
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Small Batch Funfetti Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- 55 g unsalted butter softened
- 100 g granulated sugar
- 30 g light brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon clear imitation vanilla extract (or pure vanilla extract)
- 180 g all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 6 tablespoon rainbow sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a medium bowl using a handheld mixer, beat the butter and sugars on medium-high speed until creamed, about 2 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and beat on high speed until well combined, about 1 minute.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cornstarch, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low until just combined. Add the sprinkles and mix until evenly combined. The dough will be thick.
- Using a large (3-tablespoon) cookie scoop*, drop the dough on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
- Bake for 11-13 minutes until lightly browned on the edges. The centers will look very soft. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
Nutrition
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T
Can you please write out the measurements (convet)
into cups and tablespoons please?!
Michael Johnson
I post my recipes in grams as it's the most accurate way to bake and it's how I develop them; cups are not only inaccurate but they vary in volume worldwide! In any event, if you look at the recipe card underneath the ingredients list, you can click "US Customary" and it'll convert to the less accurate volume measures 🙂
Kt
Oh my god these cookies are amazing! I need a full batch recipe please haha. They baked up thick and soft and look ready for a fun party. Thank you!