Nothing is more comforting than a piece of sweet-smelling, luscious vanilla birthday cake. Often decorated with colorful frosting or sprinkles, it provides a quick transport back to childhood celebrations, large or small. It’s one of those things that is special in a way that is simple and yet hard to capture.
This recipe is revolutionary in that it allows you to truly make a vanilla birthday cake in the form of a cookie. It’s not a cake that pretends to be a cookie, nor a cookie that pretends to be a cake. It’s a solid, sturdy cookie that doesn’t break easily, and bakes into a round disc that’s thick enough to poke a birthday candle into if you want. The cookie has a creamy, vanilla-forward taste and a melt-in your-mouth texture that comes from a surprising ingredient-cream cheese. The dough is somewhat sticky, but your cookie scoop will allow you to handle it effortlessly. Colored jimmie sprinkles on the outside of the cookie bake into an intricate lattice in the oven that tasted a lot like frosting when cooled. People will be tempted to pick up one of these goodies because of the festive sprinkles on the outside, but they will go back for a second one because of the unforgettable mouthfeel.
Make this cookie for a casual birthday celebration, as a sweet something to take the edge off potent cocktails at an after-hours event, or anything in between.
The recipe below is for a cookie that tastes like a dense yellow cake. It has a distinctive texture that comes from an unexpected ingredient – cream cheese. The dough is rolled generously in colorful sprinkles, which melt in the oven to form a tight, multi-colored lattice that tastes much like frosting when cooled. These work well for birthdays, or any time you want to add something colorful to an assortment of baked goods. If you set a plate of these out on a dessert buffet, people will be enticed to take one because of the colorful sprinkles. They will go back to get a second one after they experience the familiar vanilla cake flavor and unforgettable mouthfeel of the cookie. I urge you to try these – they just might become your new favorite.
Ingredients:
2 and ¼ cups (11.3 oz) all-purpose flour
½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
¼ cup (1/2 stick) salted butter, softened
1 8 oz package cream cheese, softened
1 and 1/2 cups white sugar
1 and ½ tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 cup multi-colored jimmie sprinkles
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350° F. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda and baking powder; set aside. Place softened butter, softened cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Mix on medium-high speed for 2 minutes. Add egg and mix on medium-high speed for another minute. Turn mixer to low speed and add flour mixture one large spoonful at a time until fully incorporated. Turn off mixer, scrape bottom and sides of bowl with a rubber spatula, then mix on medium-high for 15 more seconds. The dough will be soft and slightly sticky.
Line a metal cookie sheet with parchment paper, and place jimmie sprinkles in a small bowl. Using a 2 Tbsp cookie scoop, drop a scoop of dough into the bowl of sprinkles. Pour sprinkles over the top of dough to cover. Using your thumb and middle finger, lightly grip the middle of the ball of dough by the middle. Gently roll the edges in the sprinkles until the entire ball is fully covered in sprinkles and somewhat flattened.
Repeat this process for 9 dough balls and place them on parchment paper, evenly spaced out. Bake for 12 minutes, or until cookies are slightly puffed up and centers do not appear jiggly. Transfer parchment paper to a wire rack to cool. When cookies are fully cooled, remove from parchment paper. Repeat with remaining dough – you should have between 2 and 3 sheets of cookies total.
