Chocolate Sprinkle Cookies are soft, chewy, and fudgy on the inside and rolled in vibrant rainbow sprinkles for a fun crunch on the outside! These cookies are made with simple baking staples and no chilling is required. They’re the perfect easy drop cookie recipe for busy holidays, birthdays, and cookie trays!
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Easy Chocolate Cookies with Sprinkles
It’s birthday month in our house, which means lots and lots of sprinkles! We typically make these cream cheese sugar cookies with frosting and sprinkles on top, but this year I thought it’d be fun to try out chocolate sprinkle cookies instead!
They’re a twist on the classic chocolate crinkle cookie because instead of rolling the dough in confectioner’s sugar we’re rolling the dough balls in crunchy, sugary, rainbow sprinkles!
And the final result? They’re soft, they’re chewy, and they’re delicious.
The contrast of the deep dark chocolate and the bright and cheery sprinkles is so perfect for birthdays or all types of celebrations. Plus, they’re soft and chewy with a fudge-like texture on the inside and the crunch from the sprinkles make these cookies so much fun to eat!
These chocolate confetti cookies are made with simple baking staples like real cocoa, and prepared in minutes without any chill time. The entire batch is ready in under one hour making them the perfect easy cookie recipe to bake on a whim or to include as part of your holiday cookie tray.
If you don’t have a birthday coming up, you can still enjoy them with a cold glass of milk on a hot day or a cup of hot chocolate on a chilly afternoon!
Why you’ll love this
- No chill time – This cuts down on prep time which means you get to eat cookies that much faster! Plus it doesn’t take up room in the fridge when you’ve got a lot going on in the kitchen.
- Perfect texture – if you like soft and chewy cookies, these are for you. The texture of these really is one of the best parts!
- Customizable – Change up the colors of the sprinkles depending on the occasion. Red and green for Christmas, orange and black for Halloween, red and pink for Valentine’s Day, or green for St. Patrick’s Day. You can even use chocolate sprinkles, because why not?!
Ingredients in chocolate sprinkles cookies
Ingredient Notes
- Unsalted butter – Bring the butter to room temperature ahead of time so it’s soft enough to cream easily. If you don’t have unsalted, salted works too, I’d just cut the salt by 1/4 tsp.
- Brown sugar – light or dark brown sugar will work, just make sure it’s loosely packed.
- Large egg – It’s a good idea to bring it out to room temperature at the same time as the butter so all ingredients start at the same temperature but if you don’t have time for that or forget to do it, it’s not a big deal.
- Flour – All-purpose flour is what I use. Make sure to measure correctly so that the texture is just right.
- Cocoa powder – Use unsweetened natural cocoa powder for that chocolaty goodness. I’m using Hershey’s Cocoa Powder in this recipe but any unsweetened will work.
- Sprinkles – You can pick up sprinkles at most grocery stores, cake shops, and even some craft places. I picked up my sprinkles from Walmart.
How to make Chocolate Cookies with Sprinkles
If you’ve ever made sugar cookies, snickerdoodles, or really any other cookie that you roll them into a ball – you’ll be able to make these! If you haven’t, you’re in luck because these are about as simple as it gets! It’s just making the cookie dough, rolling them in sprinkles, and baking!
Before you get started with the dough, line two cookie sheets sheets with parchment paper. If you don’t have parchment paper, you can spray with non-stick spray as well. Then preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Then it’s time to make the cookies!
1 – make the chocolate cookie dough
- Use a mixer and beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until all the ingredients are light and fluffy. For me it takes about 3-4 minutes but just watch – you want it to turn lighter than it starter.
- In the same bowl as your butter and sugar mixture, beat in the egg and vanilla until they are fully mixed in with the butter. The mixture should be smooth, without any clumps.
- In a separate bowl, slowly whisk together the dry ingredients of flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and the salt.
- Add all of the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and turn the mixer onto a low speed until just mixed together. Do not over mix the dough or it will turn out dry!
2 – roll the dough in sprinkles
- Scoop out about a tablespoon of dough using either your hand or a medium cookie scoop and roll it into a ball. Then place the ball of dough you just rolled up into the sprinkles and roll it around in the sprinkles until it’s completely coated.
- Place the ball of chocolate sprinkle dough onto the prepared baking sheet and repeat until you’ve used up all of your chocolate cookie dough.
3 – Bake the Sprinkle Cookies
- Place the cookie sheet in the preheated oven and bake for 11- 13 minutes. You will know the cookies are done when the edges of the cookies are firm! Don’t bake too long or you’ll lose the soft chewy inside.
- After the cookies are finished baking let them cool for 10 minutes on the pan, then place them onto a wire rack to cool.
Once the cookies are cooled completely, they’re ready to eat! But I won’t judge if you eat them before they’re cool – they’re good that way too!
I like to eat these plain, but they’d also be really good either topped with or with a scoop of this birthday cake ice cream sandwiched in between!
how to store chocolate cookies
These cookies are super simple to store if you don’t eat them all (I don’t recommend it) at once! Just put them in an airtight container and leave out at room temperature for up to five days.
how to freeze sprinkle cookies
These cookies also freeze great! Just place the completely cooled cookies in a freezer safe zipper top bag and place in the freezer for up to three months. Pop one (or more) out and let it thaw to room temperature and enjoy.
Or if you’d prefer to freeze the dough, roll the cookies into balls and place on a parchment lined baking sheet (without coating in sprinkles). Put in the freezer for a few hours to allow the cookies to freeze completely.
Then take each of those individual balls and place them in a freezer safe zipper top bag or container and freeze for up to three months. When you’re ready to bake, let the cookies come to room temperature, roll in sprinkles, and then bake according to the directions in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Expert Tips
Try using Christmas sprinkles or Halloween sprinkles around the holidays for a fun holiday twist.
These cookies are perfect to make ice cream sandwiches with. Just add some ice cream in between two cookies and voila!
To reshape your chocolate sprinkle cookies into perfect circles, do it once they’re just out of the oven while they are still soft.
Use either an electric hand mixer or a stand mixer. I’m using a KitchenAid stand mixer for this recipe. I don’t recommend trying to mix these by hand!
Measure your flour accurately. Baking is a science. If you don’t have a kitchen scale, use the spoon and level method.
Use a cookie scoop to help ensure all cookies turn out to be the same size. For even baking and for not having to hear arguments over who gets the biggest one!
Recipe FAQs
What kind of sprinkles should I use in these cookies?
My recommendation is to use the rainbow nonpareil (round ball) sprinkles for these cookies. They’re typically called rainbow nonpareils and will coat your cookies better than than the rainbow jimmies (long sprinkles) I use in recipes such as these rainbow donuts.
Do chocolate sprinkle cookies freeze well?
Oh yes! So I highly recommend making a second batch for some cookies on demand next month!
I like to layer them with wax paper or parchment paper so that they don’t freeze in a clump. I keep them stored in a freezer bag and just take a couple out at a time whenever the cravings hit.
Can I freeze the dough balls before baking?
If you’re not quite ready to bake them, you can certainly freeze the dough balls until later on. Flash freeze (place the rolled out dough on a baking sheet until they are solid) the sprinkle cookie dough balls then transfer them to a freezer bag or airtight container. Thaw at room temperature or in the fridge and then roll them in sprinkles just before baking.
More Chocolate Cookie Recipes
If you like these chocolate sprinkle cookies, try out these other delicious chocolate cookies next!
- Easy red velvet cookies – A 20-minute cookie recipe? Yes, please! These chewy chocolate cookies are dyed red for that signature red velvet look and drizzled with melted white chocolate.
- Chocolate cherry cookies – A chocolate-covered cherry in thick, chewy, chocolaty cookie form. So decadent yet so easy to make.
- Double chocolate chip pudding cookies – Melted chocolate chips and chocolate pudding give these ultra-soft cookies a delightfully gooey center.
- Chocolate whoopie pies – A creamy vanilla filling sandwiched between two fluffy chocolate cookies is what dreams are made of. The entire batch is ready to devour in just 30 minutes.
- Bear paw cookies – these fun chocolate cookies get a woodland inspired makeover with the addition of a cute bear face!
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Chocolate Sprinkle Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 stick unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- 1/ 2 cup brown sugar loosely packed
- 1/ 2 cup sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup cocoa powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ cup rainbow nonpareil sprinkles
Instructions
- Line two cookie sheets sheets with parchment paper. If you don’t have parchment paper, you can spray with non-stick spray as well. Then preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Use a mixer and beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until all the ingredients are light fluffy. About 3-4 minutes.1 stick unsalted butter, 1/ 2 cup brown sugar, 1/ 2 cup sugar
- In the same bowl as your butter and sugar mixture, beat in the egg and vanilla until they are fully incorporated into the butter.1 large egg, 1 tsp vanilla extract
- In a separate bowl, slowly whisk together the dry ingredients of flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and the salt.1 cup all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup cocoa powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp salt
- Add all of the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and turn the mixer onto a low speed until just mixed together.
- Scoop out about a tablespoon of dough and roll it into a ball. Then roll the dough around in the sprinkles.1/4 cup rainbow nonpareil sprinkles
- Place the ball of sprinkled dough onto the prepared baking sheet and bake for 11- 13 minutes. Cookies should be firm around the edges.
- After the cookies are finished baking, let them cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then place them onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- Serve once cooled.
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