Funfetti Sugar Cookie Cake
A sugar cookie cake with sprinkles, white chocolate chips, and topped with a homemade vanilla frosting. This Funfetti Sugar Cookie Cake is easy to make and a perfect dessert for any occasion!
I think that every Monday should start with a little something sweet. Specifically a soft, thick sugar cookie cake filled with white chocolate chips and sprinkles. Oh and topped with vanilla frosting and more sprinkles. Yep, Monday is definitely looking a little better right about now.
I actually made this birthday cookie cake for a potluck at work and loved how it turned out. So, I decided to make another one to photograph so I could share the recipe with you.
This cookie cake is so simple to make, and since it’s baked in a springform pan (or cake pan) there’s no dough chilling required. All you have to do is mix up the cookie dough, press it into the pan, and bake it.
This is also a fun dessert to make in place of a birthday cake and easier to make!
Recipe Ingredients
This homemade cookie cake recipe is made using classic sugar cookie ingredients, but there’s no dough chilling required! Here’s what you’ll need to make this recipe:
- All-purpose flour: Spoon and level the flour to measure it, otherwise you might measure out too much by accident.
- Baking powder: This is a sugar cookie cake, so it uses baking powder not baking soda. The two are not interchangeable, so just be sure to use the correct one.
- Salt: Is a must in any sugar cookie recipe. The salt balances out the sweetness in the dough and enhances the vanilla flavor.
- Butter: Always use unsalted butter in baked goods because the amount of salt in salted butters can vary between brands.
- Granulated sugar: Sweetens the dough but doesn’t add any flavor like brown sugar does.
- Eggs: You’ll need one whole egg and one egg yolk to make the recipe.
- Vanilla extract: Pure vanilla extract will give the best flavor.
- Sprinkles: You can use any kind that you prefer. I do suggest using the longer rainbow sprinkles (aka jimmies), not the round little balls of sprinkles (nonpareils) because they tend to bleed their color if you mix them too much.
- White chocolate chips: The first time I made this cookie cake I used a full cup of white chocolate chips and while it was delicious, it was a little too sweet. And trust me, that’s saying a lot coming from someone with a major sweet tooth. The second time around I only used half a cup of white chocolate chips and it made a huge difference, the sugar cookie cake really shines through and isn’t overly sweet!
How to Make a Sugar Cookie Cake
To make the cookie cake, you’ll start by whisking together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
For the wet ingredients, cream together the room temperature butter and granulated sugar. Then, you’ll mix in an egg, egg yolk, and some vanilla extract. Once everything is well combined you’ll mix in your dry ingredients along with some sprinkles and white chocolate chips.
Once you bake the cookie cake and it’s cooled, you’ll top it with some easy homemade buttercream frosting. You can find my full tutorial for how to make buttercream here along with a few other flavors that you can try on this cookie cake. The strawberry buttercream in that post would be wonderful in this recipe or even this cream cheese frosting!
Baking Tips
- You can change the color of the sprinkles for different holidays (Halloween, Christmas, etc.) or use a different frosting.
- I know it’s tempting to frost the cookie cake while it’s still warm, but resist the urge! If you frost the cake while it’s warm, the frosting will melt.
- Once you add the sprinkles to the cookie dough, mix them in until just combined. You don’t want to crush them!
More Homemade Sugar Cookie Recipes to Make!
- Cut Out Sugar Cookies
- Soft & Chewy Sugar Cookies
- Sugar Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting
- Cheesecake Sugar Cookie Cups
Funfetti Sugar Cookie Cake
Ingredients
For the sugar cookie cake:
- 2 cups (250 grams) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup (170 grams) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 large egg yolk room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup (45 grams) sprinkles
- 1/2 cup (85 grams) white chocolate chips
For the vanilla frosting:
- 1/2 cup (115 grams) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 and 1/2 cups (180 grams) powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) heavy whipping cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
To make the sugar cookie cake:
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9 inch springform pan (or cake pan) with nonstick cookie spray and set aside.
- In a medium sized mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl using an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar for 1-2 minutes or until well combined. Mix in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract until fully combined.
- Slowly mix in the dry ingredients until just combined, then gently mix in the sprinkles and white chocolate chips.
- Scoop the cookie dough into the prepared pan and press it down into one even layer. Bake at 350°F for 30-40 minutes or until the top of the cookie cake is set and the edges are lightly browned. Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
To make the vanilla frosting:
- In a large mixing bowl using an electric mixer, beat the butter until smooth. Mix in the powdered sugar until the mixture starts to come together, then mix in the heavy whipping cream and vanilla extract until well combined and smooth.
- Once the cookie cake has cooled, carefully remove it from the springform pan. Pipe the frosting on the cooled cookie cake as desired.
I found this recipe on Yummly while looking for recipes my step-kids might like for their birthday. Neither are fans of cake, and they don’t like chocolate either, so I was just trying to figure something out. I made it and it was a huge hit. The kids loved it, and the family loved it. This was 3-4 years ago, and it is now my go to for my step-kid’s birthdays. I will say I’ve never made it in a cake pan, I’ve always just used one of my glass pie dishes and it works out just fine for us. Thank you so much for this recipe, it’s perfect and has made birthdays so much easier for me.
Thank you! So happy your family loves the recipe!
This was so good! Doubled the recipe, used red, white, and blue sprinkles in the batter and spread out onto a parchment lined sheet pan. Next time I will triple the recipe so the batter will cover my whole pan. I made the vanilla buttercream and used star sprinkles to decorate. These were so yummy and everyone at our neighborhood block party loved them! Can’t wait to make them again for the next holiday and use sprinkles to match. Thanks Danielle for your delicious, easy recipes! 🙂
Hi there! Question – If I leave the white chocolate chips out do Ineed to add more flour?
You can just leave them out, you don’t have to add more flour or make any other adjustments.
Came across this on Pinterest when I was looking for a last-minute birthday dessert that didn’t involve chocolate. I followed mostly to a tee…. Only (very random!) exception is that I had a half-used bag of white cake mix so I did half that and half flour. Result was soooo very good. Will save and make again. I topped it with store-made frosting that I piped as decorative dots to mark each slice + happy birthday message. More would have been too sweet. Thanks for the great recipe!!
This recipe is easy and delicious.will make again.
I just made this cookie cake! It was delicious for my daughter’s 5th birthday. We’ll be making it again!
I’m making this cake for my one year old nephew. Would I double the recipe for a 9×12 sheet cake. Thank you, Laura
Hi, Laura! That would be fine. You will probably have some cookie dough left over, but you could use it to make some cookies or small deep dish cookies in a muffin pan. Hope that helps!
Are the white chocolate chips inperative? Huge flavor difference? Need to know asap! Also if my childs not a fan of almond can I leave it out and if so should i add additional vanilla? If so how much? Thanks!
You can leave out the white chocolate chips. I’m not sure what you mean by almond? There’s just vanilla extract in this recipe.
Hi Daniells came out great used a 10x 2 cake pan for 28 minutes might leave it 30 next time i will double the recipe for a 12 x 2 cake 5 stars have you double the recipe. thank youj
Thank you, Adela! I’m glad you liked this cookie cake recipe too 🙂
What tip did you use for your piping?
Hi, Sadie! I used the Wilton 1M open star piping tip for the frosting.
This cookie cake looks beautiful Danielle! Pinning to try it!
Thank you, Mira!
Love how your recipes are focused on simplicity, deliciousness and presentation, and that they tend to be very easy to make and present; because it takes out the stress from baking and makes it enjoyable and fun.
Thank you for the kind comment, Anna! It’s always my goal to make baking easy and enjoyable for readers, so I really appreciate that 🙂
This cookie cake showed up on my Pinterest feed and I just had to check it out…it’s SO gorgeous, Danielle! I love the funfetti flavor and your beautiful frosting! And I bet your co-workers loved this, too. What a great dessert for the summer!
You’re so kind, Gayle! Thank you!