Celebrate the occasion with a batch of gourmet cookies. Weighing in at almost 6 ounces each, these birthday cake stuffed cookies will give you another reason to celebrate.
Recipe: $7.60 | Per Serving: $0.84 | Yield: 9 cookies
Stuffed cookie recipes are trendy and fun, and this birthday cake cookie is no exception. Each cookie contains a slice of birthday cake inside and another slice on top, making every bite special and soft.
In the past, we've stuffed cookies with candy (Milk Dud Cookies), with marshmallows (Fluffernutter Peanut Butter Cookies, Chocolate Chip Marshmallow Cookies). We've even stuffed cookies with more cookies! Our Blue Monster Cookies are still the stuff of legends.
But stuffing a birthday cake-flavored cookie with an actual piece of birthday cake? That's unbeatable, especially with white chocolate and sprinkles.
These cookies suit any occasion, but we're celebrating this blog's third birthday with them. Instead of a cake recipe, we opted for something better (and we were right).
For more birthday cake fun, try our Birthday Cake Overnight Oats, Birthday Cake Pancakes, and Birthday Cake Crepes.
Jump to:
🍯 Why This Recipe Works
- They're unique. Anyone can whip up some cookies or make a cake, but combining the two is practically unheard of unless you're thinking of a cookie cake- which is NOT the same.
- They're surprisingly easy to make. This recipe doesn't require too much time or effort to make, and there's no dough chilling required either, so you can have a batch of cookies in the oven in minutes flat.
- They're perfect as gifts! With the size of these cookies, you can easily gift them out as homemade treats for family and friends. They'll even do great at bake sales or local markets too. Think of them as DIY Stocking Stuffers for Foodies.
🥘 Ingredients
Ingredient Notes:
Cornstarch- This will help the cookies to stay puffy and light. (We also use cornstarch in our Captain Crunch Cookies and Butterscotch Chocolate Chip Cookies).
Butter- Use room-temperature butter (salted or unsalted) for this recipe. Cold butter could be used but will require an extra minute or two of work.
Extracts- Use a combination of almond extract and vanilla extract for that iconic "birthday cake" flavor.
Sprinkles- I recommend using Jimmie rainbow sprinkles for the cookie dough because the color won't bleed, and the sprinkles hold up well to baking. Confetti sprinkles look nice on top though!
Birthday Cakes- Use Little Debbie Birthday Cake snack cakes as the center filling in every cookie. You'll only need half of a cake per cookie.
White Chocolate- For a nice topping on every cookie, use some melted white chocolate. White melting wafers work well too!
For specific ingredients and measurements, please see the recipe card below.
🧾 Substitutions
Butter. If desired you can swap out the two sticks of butter in this recipe for 1 cup of Crisco shortening. Butter flavored shortening is great, but plain shortening works fine too.
Eggs. If desired, you can swap out the 2 eggs in this recipe for ½ cup + 2 tablespoons of applesauce.
Birthday cakes. Can't find Little Debbie Birthday Cakes? That's okay! You can swap them out for a different snack cake like Cake Bites. These are little square petit fours found at Walmart, Publix and on Amazon, and they don't need to be cut before use. They even come in fun colors so you can match themes!
📖 Variations
You can omit the melted chocolate and sprinkles on top of the cookies and instead place half of a birthday cake bite over the top of the cookie while it's still warm. Press down slightly and allow the icing on the cakes to melt and adhere to the cookie like glue as it cools.
🔪 Instructions for Birthday Cake Stuffed Cookies
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Step 2: Add flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt to a large mixing bowl (Image 1).
Step 3: Whisk together until combined (Image 2).
Step 4: In another bowl, add the sugar and butter (Image 3).
Step 5: Cream the butter and sugar together for 2-4 minutes (Image 4). If using cold butter, beat it separately for 1 minute before adding the sugar.
Step 6: Add in the eggs, vanilla, and almond extract (Image 5).
Step 7: Mix well to combine (Image 6).
Step 8: Add in half of the flour mixture (Image 7).
Step 9: Mix together at low speed to incorporate (Image 8). You will have a soft dough.
Step 11: Mix again at low speed until combined. The dough will be much thicker.
Tip: Your dough should feel soft and playable like Play-Doh, but it shouldn't be wet enough to stick to your fingers or so dry that it is crumbling either.
It should be easy to peel the dough off of the sides of the bowl and mixer. If the dough is too dry, add in a splash of milk, and if it's too wet, add flour in a tablespoon at a time until desired consistency is reached.
Step 12: Add in ½ cup of Jimmie rainbow sprinkles (Image 9).
Step 13: Mix well to distribute (Image 10).
Step 14: Divide the dough into 9 balls of dough (Image 11). If you weighed them on a scale, they'd be about 4.5 ounces each.
Step 15: Take a ball of dough and slice it in half. Take a birthday cake and slice it in half as well (Image 12).
Step 16: Take one half of the dough and press it down with your fingers (Image 13). Flatten the other piece and set it aside.
Step 17: Top one flattened dough piece with half of a birthday cake (Image 14).
Step 18: Add the second piece of dough over the top (Image 15).
Step 19: Use your fingers to crimp the edges of the cookie dough (Image 16). Once the cake has been well hidden, gently shape and roll the dough back into a ball.
Step 20: Evenly space the cookies onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet (Image 17). The cookies will spread, and you may need to work in batches.
Step 21: Bake in the oven at 375F for 9-10 minutes. They will seem undercooked but no longer be glossy or shiny (Image 18). This is okay!
Step 22: Allow your cookies to cool completely on the baking sheet without being disturbed. I like to wait an hour for the best results.
Once cooled, melt your white chocolate in 30 second intervals in the microwave until smooth.
Step 23: Add a small spoonful of white chocolate over the top of the cookie (Image 19). Shake the cookie around to help the chocolate spread. Top with sprinkles and a small slice of cake (Image 20).
Step 24: Allow the chocolate to set and harden (about 15 minutes) before serving.
Enjoy!
🍴 Recipe Tips
- Choose the better sprinkle option. For the cookie sprinkles, rainbow jimmies work best without color bleeding. Confetti or any sprinkles are fine for topping.
- The type and temp of butter aren't super important. Use salted or unsalted butter; if cold, beat it separately to soften before adding other ingredients.
- Make sure that the cookies cool completely. Cool cookies completely on the baking sheet before transferring to avoid breakage. Cooling finishes cooking. Letting cookies cool is a pretty common tip for cookies (especially thick cookies like Honey Chocolate Chip Cookies).
- They might look underdone. These are soft cookies, and they will appear unfinished when you remove them from the oven. Letting them cool and settle will finish the cooking process. The tops should not be glossy, and the edges should look set.
- Food safety tip. Check the internal temperature of cookies with instant read thermometer; it should reach 160°F for safe consumption.
⏲️ Make Ahead Instructions
Refrigeration: Prep the cookies in advance and store them in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 2 days before baking.
Freezing: Alternatively, freeze the cookies for longer storage. They can last up to 3 months in the freezer. When ready to bake, bake them directly from frozen, adding an extra minute or two to the baking time if necessary.
👩🏻🍳 Storage
Container Storage: Keep your cooled and frosted cookies in an airtight container. Ideally, store them in a single layer or with parchment paper between them to prevent sticking.
Room Temperature: The cookies will remain fresh at room temperature for up to a week. Enjoy them throughout the week!
💭 Recipe FAQs
I recommend using heat seal individual baggies for these cookies if you plan on taking them to the market or presenting them as a gift. This will keep them all fresh and easy to portion out without letting the other cookies go stale.
I like to use butter because it's more flavorful and allows the cookies to have a nice texture, but Crisco can make cookies more tender. You can use either one and still get some delicious cookies.
I recommend using parchment paper instead of a greased baking sheet as parchment paper helps to prevent the cookie from spreading more than it should, and it also helps to prevent sticking to the pan. As the cookies cool, if moved too soon, the centers can fall out, and parchment makes that less likely to happen.
❤️ More Delicious Cookie Recipes
If you tried these birthday cake stuffed cookies, please leave a ⭐️ star rating and share your feedback in the 📝 comments section below. I would truly appreciate it!
📖 Recipe
Birthday Cake Stuffed Cookies
Ingredients
- 4 cups all purpose flour ($0.52)
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch ($0.02)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder ($0.10)
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt ($0.01)
- 1 ¼ cup granulated sugar ($0.45)
- 1 cup butter, room temp ($1.98)
- 2 large eggs ($0.30)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract ($0.06)
- 1 teaspoon almond extract ($0.62)
- ½ cup rainbow jimmie sprinkles ($1.28)
- 5 cakes Little Debbie Birthday Cakes ($1.68)
- ¼ cup white chocolate chips ($0.26)
- 2 Tablespoons confetti sprinkles ($0.32)
Instructions
Make cookie dough
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Add flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt to a large mixing bowl.
- Whisk together until combined.
- In another bowl, add the sugar and butter.
- Cream the butter and sugar together for 2-4 minutes. If using cold butter, beat it separately for 1 minute before adding the sugar.
- Add in the eggs, vanilla, and almond extract.
- Mix well to combine.
- Add in half of the flour mixture.
- Mix together at low speed to incorporate. You will have a soft dough.
- Add in the remaining half of the flour mixture.
- Mix again at low speed until combined. The dough will be much thicker.
- Your dough should feel soft and playable like playdoh, but it shouldn't be wet enough to stick to your fingers or so dry that it is crumbling either. It should be easy to peel the dough off of the sides of the bowl and mixer.
- If the dough is too dry, add in a splash of milk, and if it's too wet, add flour in a tablespoon at a time until desired consistency is reached.
- Add in ½ cup of jimmie rainbow sprinkles.
- Mix well to distribute.
Divide and assemble
- Divide the dough into 9 balls of dough. If you weighed them on a scale, they'd be about 4.5 ounces each.
- Take a ball of dough and slice it in half. Take a birthday cake and slice it in half as well.
- Take one half of dough and press it down with your fingers. Flatten the other piece and set it aside.
- Top one flattened dough piece with half of a birthday cake.
- Add the second piece of dough over the top.
- Use your fingers to crimp the edges of the cookie dough. Once the cake has been well hidden, gently shape and roll the dough back into a ball.
- Evenly space the cookies onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. The cookies will spread, and you may need to work in batches.
Bake and cool
- Bake in the oven at 375F for 9-10 minutes. They will seem undercooked but no longer be glossy or shiny. This is okay!
- Allow your cookies to cool completely on the baking sheet without being disturbed. I like to wait an hour for the best results.
Decorate and set
- Once cooled, melt your white chocolate in 30 second intervals in the microwave until smooth.
- Remove a cookie from the baking sheet and place it in front of you in a clean work space.
- Add a small spoonful of white chocolate over the top of the cookie. Shake the cookie around to help the chocolate spread. Top with sprinkles and a small slice of cake.
- Allow the chocolate to set and harden (about 15 minutes) before serving.
- Enjoy!
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