Chocolate Sprinkle Cookies

These chocolate sprinkle cookies are a dream come true for chocolate lovers. Soft, fudgy, and packed with chocolate flavor, they're like a cross between chocolate crinkle cookies and brownies — but rolled in colorful sprinkles instead of powdered sugar. The result is a fun, festive treat that's perfect for birthdays, holidays, or any special occasion.

If you love these chocolate sprinkle cookies, you'll also enjoy my birthday cake cookies, which are the vanilla cousin to this recipe with that classic funfetti flavor. For a full-sized showstopper, my chocolate sprinkle cake brings chocolate frosting and colorful sprinkles together in one impressive dessert. And if you're baking for a smaller crowd, my mini birthday cake has sprinkles on the inside and out.

For more cookie ideas, my funfetti Oreo cookies are a nostalgic treat. Try my black cocoa cookies (a similar base to this recipe) if you want an even more intense chocolate flavor.

Jump to:

• ⭐ Why You'll Love This Recipe
• 📋 Key Ingredients in Chocolate Sprinkle Cookies
• Best Results: Baking in Grams
• 💡 Substitutions and Variations
• 📖 Step-by-Step Instructions for these Chocolate Sprinkle Cookies
• 🤫 Secret to Perfectly Round Cookies
• ❄️ Freezing and Storing These Sweet Treats
• Cookie Recipes
• Chocolate Sprinkle Cookies

⭐ Why You'll Love This Recipe

• Easy to make – My favorite thing about this recipe is that it comes together quickly. It uses simple ingredients you likely have in your pantry or can find in the baking aisle at your local grocery store.
• No chilling required – While some recipes call for chilled dough, these cookies bake up beautifully without extra wait time.
• Perfectly soft and chewy – Melted butter and an egg yolk create that fudgy, brownie-like center while the edges stay slightly crisp
• Great for gifting – Wrap them up with different sprinkles for a bakery cookie feel.

📋 Key Ingredients in Chocolate Sprinkle Cookies

The recipe card contains all the steps and ingredients for making these chocolate sprinkle cookies.

• Unsalted butter – Melted butter gives these cookies a rich texture.
• Granulated sugar & brown sugar – The mix adds sweetness and moisture for that chewy cookie consistency.
• Egg yolk – Adds richness and helps create fudgy cookies.
• Dutch-processed cocoa powder – Unlike natural cocoa powder, which can be slightly acidic, Dutch-processed cocoa is alkalized, resulting in a smoother, less sharp chocolate flavor. This type of cocoa is commonly used in desserts with a cookies and cream flavor. For an even darker chocolate profile that's inspired by Oreos, these cookies and cream cookies use black cocoa, which is a more heavily alkalized form of Dutch-processed cocoa.
• Rainbow sprinkles (or chocolate sprinkles) – The best way to add a pop of color and texture. I have a preference for Wilton and Betty Crocker sprinkles that are jimmies (the ones shaped like a tube). Other high-quality brands work fine, too.

💡 Substitutions and Variations

• 🍦 For ice cream sandwiches, let cookies cool completely before pairing them with your favorite ice cream.
• 🌈 Experiment with the kind of sprinkles you use. Chocolate sprinkles work, as do pastels and all kind of shades if you want to create a certain aesthetic.

📖 Step-by-Step Instructions for these Chocolate Sprinkle Cookies

After melting your butter, let it cool for about 10 minutes while you preheat your oven to 350°F.

Step 1: Cream Butter, Sugars, and Vanilla. Use a paddle attachment and the bowl of a stand mixer or a large mixing bowl and hand mixer. Cream melted unsalted butter, vanilla extract, and sugars together in your bowl for 3-4 minutes.

Step 2: Incorporate Dry Ingredients and Eggs. Stop the hand or electric mixer. Use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Then, add kosher salt (half as much if using table salt), baking powder, and baking soda as well as half of your eggs, cocoa powder, and flour.

Step 3: Finish Mixing the Dough. Mix dough for about 45 seconds on medium speed before adding the remaining egg, cocoa powder, and flour, beating again for 30 seconds. Now, add your rainbow sprinkles to your bowl. Fold these ingredients into the dough with a spatula.

Step 4: Shape the Cookie Dough Balls. With an ice cream or cookie scoop and your hand, form each round ball of dough. It should be about ⅔ the size of a golf ball. Right before baking, I roll the top of my cookie dough balls in rainbow jimmies. This really makes the colors pop.

Step 5: Arrange on Baking Sheet. Set each dough ball onto an ungreased aluminum cookie sheet (no pieces of parchment paper or silicone mats needed), with about 2 inches between them. 

Step 6: Bake Cookies. Bake in preheated oven for 11-12 minutes, at which point the edges of the cookies will be done baking. Leave them on the baking sheet 10 or so minutes outside of the oven, or until they're firm enough to handle. Place cookies on a wire rack to cool, and then serve or store.

🤫 Secret to Perfectly Round Cookies

As soon as your cookies exit the oven, you can also help shape and round them if you'd like.

🥛 Use a cookie cutter or even the open side of a glass that's slightly bigger than the cookies to gently slide them into a more circular shape. 

❄️ Freezing and Storing These Sweet Treats

Room temperature - These chocolate sprinkle cookies will stay fresh at room temperature (around 70°F) for about 3 days. Keep them in an airtight container.

Refrigerating - Instead of refrigerating them between servings, I'd recommend freezing. Bring them out in small quantities at a time if you plan to share them over the course of more than 3 days.

Freezing - They also freeze well for up to three months in an airtight container.

I add wax or parchment paper between the layers as I stack them. 

To enjoy, let them come to room temperature before serving. You may also gently warm them for a few seconds on low speed in the microwave.  

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