Funfetti sprinkle cookies
Funfetti sprinkle cookies: 12 soft butter cookies in under an hour, with the trick that keeps the rainbow sprinkles from bleeding colour in the oven.
What funfetti sprinkle cookies are
Funfetti sprinkle cookies are butter cookies speckled with long rainbow sprinkles, the ones known as grageas or mostacillas in Spanish-speaking countries; the funfetti style was born in the United States with birthday cakes and moved on to cookies. They are made with a simple dough of butter, sugar, egg, vanilla and flour, to which 40 g of sprinkles are added at the end so they do not release their colour, and baked for 12 minutes at 180 °C as 35 g balls. The recipe yields 12 cookies, soft inside and golden at the edges, meant for children's birthdays and teatime; in an airtight jar they keep for 5 days.
Instructions
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Cream the butter with the sugar
In a bowl, beat the room-temperature butter with the sugar for 2–3 minutes with an electric mixer (or 4–5 minutes by hand with a wooden spoon) until the mixture turns paler and looks fluffy. That air is what makes the cookies soft. If the butter is cold, cut it into cubes and wait 20 minutes before starting.
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Mix in the egg and vanilla
Add the egg and the vanilla extract and beat just until they are combined and the mixture is smooth, about 30 seconds. If the egg is cold the butter splits and the dough looks grainy; that is why it should come out of the fridge together with the butter.
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Fold in the dry ingredients without overmixing
Mix the flour, baking powder and salt in a separate bowl. Add them to the butter in two batches, stirring on low speed or with a spatula only until no dry flour is visible. Overmixing develops the gluten and gives tough cookies; the dough should be soft and barely sticky.
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Fold in the sprinkles with a few strokes
Fold in the 40 g of rainbow sprinkles with the spatula using only 5 or 6 strokes, just enough to spread them. The more you stir, the more dye the sprinkles release and the greyer the dough turns. Use long sprinkles (vermicelli type): hard round ones do not melt in the oven and end up like little stones.
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Chill the dough for 20 minutes
Cover the bowl and chill the dough for 20 minutes. Cold butter firms up, the balls form without sticking and the cookies do not spread flat in the oven; the sprinkles also bleed less into a cold dough. Use the time to preheat the oven to 180 °C and line a baking tray with baking paper.
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Shape 35 g balls and decorate
With a spoon or a scale, take portions of about 35 g and shape 12 balls by rolling them between your palms. Place them on the tray 5 cm apart, press the tops very lightly and scatter the extra tablespoon of sprinkles over them, pushing them in a little so they stick.
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Bake for 12 minutes at 180 °C
Bake on the middle rack at 180 °C for 11–12 minutes, until the edges are just golden and the centres still look pale and soft: they finish cooking with the heat of the tray. If you prefer crisp cookies, leave them 1–2 minutes longer.
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Cool on a rack before storing
Leave the cookies on the tray for 5 minutes to firm up, then move them to a wire rack until completely cold, about 20 minutes. Keep them in an airtight jar at room temperature: they last 5 days. They are at their best the next day, once the centres have settled.
Foodtastico Tip
Shape the balls, top them with the extra sprinkles and freeze them on a tray; once hard, move them to a sealed bag, where they keep for 3 months. Bake without thawing, 2 minutes longer than indicated: fresh cookies for teatime or a birthday in fifteen minutes.
Nutrition information
| Calories | 150 kcal |
|---|---|
| Protein | 2 g |
| Carbs | 19 g |
| Sugars | 11 g |
| Fat | 8 g |
| Trans fat | 0 g |
Values per serving (1 of 4).
Frequently asked questions
What are rainbow sprinkles and what are they called elsewhere?
They are small cylinders of dyed sugar used to decorate baking. In Chile they are called mostacillas; in other Spanish-speaking countries, grageas or chispitas de colores; in English, sprinkles, and the long ones, vermicelli. This recipe uses the long ones, which soften in the oven. Pearl sprinkles, round and hard, are a different product and are only good for decorating.
Why do the sprinkles bleed into the dough and how do I stop it?
The dye in sprinkles dissolves with moisture and the warmth of your hands: the more you stir the dough, the more colour they release and the greyer it gets. Three measures prevent it: fold them in at the end, once the dough is already mixed, with only 5 or 6 strokes; chill the dough for 20 minutes before shaping the balls; and use good-quality long sprinkles, which bleed less than soft round ones.
Can I use chocolate chips instead of rainbow sprinkles?
Yes: swap the 40 g of sprinkles for 60–80 g of chocolate chips and follow the same recipe; you do not need to chill as long because chocolate does not bleed. If what you want is a full chocolate cookie, with cocoa in the dough, the site has a chocolate cookie recipe made for that.
Can the dough be frozen?
Yes. Shape the balls, top them with the extra sprinkles and freeze them on a tray; once hard, move them to a sealed bag, where they keep for up to 3 months. Bake them straight from the freezer, without thawing, for 2 minutes longer than indicated.
How long do the cookies keep and how do I store them?
In an airtight jar at room temperature they stay soft for 5 days. Do not keep them in the fridge: the moisture softens them too much and the sprinkles release colour. Once baked they can also be frozen for up to 2 months, separated with paper, and they thaw in 20 minutes on the counter.
Do hard round sprinkles (pearl sprinkles) work?
Not inside the dough: they are balls of compacted sugar that do not melt in the oven, stay hard between the teeth and can dye the dough a single colour. Use them only to decorate the top of the balls before baking, pressing them in a little so they stick.
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