Celebrate ANY day with these amazing birthday cake cookies! They have the decadent texture of a blondie combined with fluffy buttercream icing that’s destined to melt in your mouth.
Today’s birthday cake cookies are the result of a conversation with Katy. It isn’t anyone’s birthday but they remind me of when Brady was a toddler. He loved my birthday cakes and so he brought me his teddy bear one day and told me that it was Teddy’s birthday. Being the mother that I am, I acted surprised and horrified that I’d forgotten such an important occasion and got to work mixing up cake batter and buttercream icing. Little Brady was so impressed with the results that a few days later, wouldn’t you know he found another stuffed animal who was celebrating its entry into this world. We celebrated a lot of birthdays back then :).
So last week I asked Katy “If you could invent any cookie, what would it be?”. Without missing a beat she said “birthday cake cookies.”
Hmm. I was intrigued by that and started running ideas by her. I chose the flavoring so that the cookie mimics the taste of a homemade birthday cake and the texture of these cookies is really most closely akin to a blondie, for extra deliciousness. Top it off with a generous layer of fluffy buttercream icing and a sprinkling of rainbow candies and we have a treat fit for the most special of days!
Recipe Ingredients
- Sugar
- Self-rising flour
- Brown sugar (light or dark brown sugar is fine)
- Butter (I use unsalted but if you only have , use that)
- Eggs
- Sprinkles
- Vanilla extract
- Butter flavoring
- Almond extract
How to Make Birthday Cake Cookies
First, place the butter in a bowl and melt it in a microwave. You can also melt it on the stovetop.
If you want, you can even build a fire in the backyard and melt it over that if you have a hankering. Or, if you live in the south right now, just put it out on the back porch for a few minutes and that should do the job.
The point is, you need to melt your butter.
Add in sugars and stir well by hand.
In a separate mixing bowl, beat the mess out of your eggs. This is when you get out all those frustrations.
Add flour, eggs, and flavorings to the sugar mixture.
Stir that up really well by hand.
If you want to make sprinkle cookies, toss in a handful of those and stir in well.
Spray a 9×13 baking dish with cooking spray and add the cookie dough.
Bake your birthday cake cookies at 350 for about 30 minutes.
When they’re done, the will still be soft in the center but golden brown all over.
Top with buttercream frosting
In a large bowl, cream the butter and about 1 cup of confectioner’s sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the butter flavoring, half of the milk, and remaining sugar and beat again until smooth and creamy, scraping down the sides and adding a little extra milk if needed.
Ice the cooled cookie bars.
Top with sprinkles, if desired. Allow icing to set by leaving uncovered for about half an hour.
How good do these birthday cake cookies look? I hope you enjoy them as much as my family does!
Storage
Store leftover funfetti cookies in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. You can also freeze them for up to 3 months, but the icing won’t be as creamy once thawed.
Recipe Notes
- To make your own self-rising flour, simply add 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon of salt for EACH cup of all-purpose flour. Stir well.
- Add a cup of white chocolate chips when you add the rainbow jimmies to your birthday cake cookie dough.
- Use this birthday cake cookie recipe and adapt it for any occasion, like adding red and green sprinkles for the holidays or red and pink sprinkles for Valentine’s Day.
- For an extra indulgence, serve your with a scoop of .
Celebrate a special day with these other delicious treats:
Easy Birthday Cake Recipe From Scratch
Valentine’s Day Brownies With Frosting
Italian Cream Cake with Pecan Cream Cheese Icing
Heart-Shaped Sugar Cookie Recipe With Royal Icing
Super Easy King Cake Recipe (WOW GOOD!)
Ingredients
- 2 sticks butter or 1 cup
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar light or dark
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups self-rising flour
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon butter flavoring
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 4 tablespoons rainbow sprinkles
Buttercream Frosting (half this if you want less icing)
- 2 sticks butter at room temperature
- 4 teaspoons butter flavoring can use clear vanilla instead
- 5-6 cups confectioner's sugar
- 4-8 tablespoons milk
Instructions
- First, melt the butter. In a large bowl, stir together the melted butter, white sugar, and brown sugar by hand until well blended. In a separate bowl or measuring cup, beat eggs well.2 sticks butter, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup brown sugar, 2 eggs
- Make sure the cookie dough isn't too hot. If it is, allow it to cool for a few minutes before the next step so you don't cook the eggs.
- Add the eggs, flour, and flavorings to the bowl. Stir well to combine. Stir in rainbow sprinkles, if using.2 cups self-rising flour, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon butter flavoring, 1 teaspoon almond extract, 4 tablespoons rainbow sprinkles
- Grease a 9x13 baking dish and pour in the cake batter. Bake cookies at 350 for 30 minutes, or until golden brown and set in the center. Center will still be soft. Allow to cool completely before icing.
To make the icing
- In a large bowl, cream the butter and about 1 cup of confectioner's sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the butter flavoring, half of the milk, and remaining sugar and beat again until smooth and creamy, scraping down the sides and adding a little extra milk if needed.2 sticks butter, 4 teaspoons butter flavoring, 5-6 cups confectioner's sugar, 4-8 tablespoons milk
- Ice the cooled cookie bars and top with sprinkles, if desired. Allow icing to set by leaving uncovered for about half an hour. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Every day of your life is a day worth celebrating 🙂
I’ll have to find a good excuse to make these birthday cake cookies. My oldest son turns 37 the last day of this month. I hope he’ll want me to make some. They look delicious!
I think he needs them, even if he doesn’t know it just yet
I made this wonderful recipe as a pan cookie in a scrubbed out Papa Murphy’s deep dish pizza pan. It turned out great! I baked it for 23 minutes at 325 degrees. Thanks for a versatile recipe!
Wow Christy!! What an awesome post!!! I wish every working mother could read this post! Thanks so much for sharing! Our kids are going to remember time we spent with them SO much more than a “perfect” house. Isn’t cleaning house when you have kids like trying to brush your teeth and eat oreos at the same time anyway? 🙂 Ha!
I love your site Christy every recipe I have made from here turned out amazing. These look delish. I was wondering if you can taste the almond extract? Thank you for any help.
You know, I’m not an almond extract fan myself. If I ever have cookies flavored exclusively with it, I politely eat what I must and pass on seconds 🙂 In this recipe though, I blended it with two other flavorings to produce a birthday cake flavor and it does blend very well to create a new flavor profile without standing out at all.
Thank you so much for writing me back. Thank you for letting me know about the almond extract I appreciate it.