Recipe updated: August 5th, 2024
Not only do these amazing little cream cheese sprinkle cookies look terrific, but they also melt in your mouth with a chocolaty surprise inside, a couple of chocolate chips – just enough to say yum!
With the comforting warm flavor of cinnamon and a chocolate chip surprise, you get a sweet sensation in every bite that is surrounded by the crunchiness of colorful sprinkles on all sides of these delicious cookies!
Cream cheese cookies with lots of sprinkles are soft, chewy, and oh-so-good! These are one of my many favorite cookies besides ranger cookies, s’mores cookies with chocolate chips, and this fantastic cookie pizza loaded with mini chocolate chips, M&M’s, mini marshmallows, Kit Kats, and white chocolate chips.
🍪 Key Ingredients
- 2 and 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
- 1 cup light brown sugar – firmly packed
- 1 cup of granulated sugar
- 8-ounce brick of cream cheese – softened
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter – softened
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon of cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 3/4 teaspoon of table salt
- 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
- Chocolate chips – a couple inside each cookie
- Rainbow sprinkles – or your choice of sprinkles
👩🍳 How to Make Cream Cheese Sprinkle Cookies
These step-by-step instructions are accompanied by detailed photos for enhanced clarity and guidance.
Step 1. Preheat the Oven
For this easy cookie recipe, we will set the oven temperature to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, but not until step 15 when we are ready to put the cookies in the oven.
Step 2. Set Out the Cream Cheese
Put the 8-ounce brick of cream cheese on the cupboard and let it sit at room temperature until it has softened, or microwave it for about 5 to 10 seconds to soften it.
Step 3. Soften the Butter
In a small or medium bowl that is safe for the microwave, put 3/4 cup of unsalted butter in the microwave for 20 seconds, just until it starts to soften up a bit. Depending on the power of your microwave, it’s always a good idea to keep an eye on the butter while it is in the microwave.
Step 4. Prepare the Wet Ingredients
In a large bowl, add the softened butter together with 1 cup of light brown sugar, 1 cup of granulated sugar, and the softened 8 ounces of cream cheese.
Step 5. Blend the Butter, Sugar, and Cream Cheese
With a spatula, stir the butter together with the light brown sugar, granulated sugar, and cream cheese until well blended. Make sure to scrape the sides of the bowl.
Note: If you have an electric mixer or a bowl of a stand mixer, you can use that instead. Put the mixer on low speed to start, then gradually increase the speed to medium.
Step 6. Add the Eggs and Vanilla Extract
Add 1 large egg and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract together with the butter, cream cheese, and sugar mixture.
Step 7. Blend the Eggs, Vanilla, Butter, Cream Cheese, and Sugar
Stir the egg and vanilla extract together with the butter, cream cheese, and sugar mixture with a spatula or spoon until well blended.
Step 8. Prepare the Dry Ingredients
In a large mixing bowl, add 2 and 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour together with 1 tablespoon of cornstarch, 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder, 3/4 teaspoon of salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon. Mix the flour mixture until well blended.
Step 9. Add the Dry Ingredients to the Wet Ingredients
Slowly add the flour mixture together with the butter, cream cheese, and sugar mixture. Stir together until well blended into cookie dough.
Step 10. Refrigerate the Cookie Dough
The flour mixture and the butter, cream cheese, and sugar mixture make up the cookie dough. This cookie dough will be a bit sticky. Because of this, the cookie dough needs to be put in the refrigerator for a couple of hours to chill before baking. Chilling the cookie dough in the refrigerator makes it less sticky and helps to firm the dough for easier handling.
Above all, don’t panic and think it needs more flour added to it. This cookie is a soft melt-in-your-mouth cookie, hence, adding more flour will make the cookie dry, hard, and crumbly, so this two-hour chill time is an important step.
Tip: You can chill the cookie dough even longer than a couple of hours if you are busy with other life matters. For example, overnight, or even a couple of days if need be. Cover the cookie dough with some plastic wrap if it’s going to be in the refrigerator longer than a few hours.
Step 11. Scoop the Cookie Dough and Hide the Chocolate Chips
This is the fun part of making these cookies because we are going to hide a couple of chocolate chips inside the center of the cookie dough.
After the cookie dough has chilled for a couple of hours in the refrigerator, use a cookie scoop if you have one, and scoop out about 3/4 of a scoop of the cookie dough. If you don’t have a cookie scoop, you can use a spoon and roll the cookie dough in your hands to form a ball.
Tip: In case the cookie dough is still sticky after chilling it in the refrigerator, you can “very lightly” dust your hands with flour if you aren’t using a cookie scoop.
Push a couple of chocolate chips, one at a time, into the center of the cookie dough ball. You can hide more than two chocolate chips inside each cookie ball if you prefer to do so. The more chocolate, the better, right? But in this case, about four is the limit because there’s not enough room for more than four. We used regular-sized chocolate chips, but you can use mini chocolate chips if you prefer.
Step 12. Cover the Cookie Dough over the Chocolate Chips
After you have placed the chocolate chips in the cookie dough, hide the chocolate chips with a little bit of cookie dough on top. It’s okay to overfill the cookie scoop with cookie dough while hiding the chocolate chips. The cookie dough should be rounded out above the cookie scoop by just a little bit. Each scoop of cookie dough should be approximately the size of one inch balls, but don’t worry, the size doesn’t have to be exact.
Step 13. Roll the Ball of Cookie Dough in the Sprinkles
Put some sprinkles into a small bowl. Release the cookie dough from the cookie scoop and let the cookie dough fall out into the bowl of sprinkles. With your hands or a spoon, roll it around, getting sprinkles on all sides of the ball of cookie dough. Do this with the rest of the cookie balls – scoop out some cookie dough, hide the chocolate chips, and then roll the cookie ball in the bowl of sprinkles.
Note: There are so many different kinds of sprinkles to buy for cookies. From original sprinkles to fancy sprinkles for special occasions such as birthdays, weddings, and graduation, festive sprinkles for the 4th of July, and holiday sprinkles for holiday cookies. You can let your imagination go wild while decorating these cookies with different sprinkles. Even edible glitter and sprinkle stickers would be so cute on these cookies, so have some fun with that.
Step 14. Line the Cookie Sheet with Parchment Paper
Line a cookie sheet (aka baking sheet) with parchment paper, a cookie baking sheet, or a heat-resistant silicone baking mat. Better yet, if you have two cookie sheets, line them both with parchment paper, cookie baking sheets, or silicon baking mats. If you don’t have any parchment paper, baking sheets, or baking mats, spray the cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray.
Tip: While one batch of cookies is baking in the oven, you can fill another cookie sheet with cookie dough ahead of time and have it ready to go into the oven when the first batch is done. But if you only have one cookie sheet, do not put the next batch of cookie dough on the hot cookie sheet that just came out of the oven. Let the cookie sheet completely cool before adding the next batch of cookie dough. Why? Because the balls of cookie dough will start to spread out from the warmth of the cookie sheet before they are even put into the oven.
Step 15. Place the Balls of Cookie Dough on the Cookie Sheet and Bake
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Place the cookie dough balls onto the prepared baking sheets. Repeat with the rest of the cookie dough until the cookie sheet is filled. Place each cookie dough ball about 2 inches apart from one another. Put the remaining cookie dough back into the refrigerator in between each batch. Put the cookie sheet into the oven using heat-resistant oven mitts and bake the cookies at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 13 minutes.
Step 16. Take the Cream Cheese Sprinkle Cookies out of the Oven
After 13 minutes, take the cookies out of the oven using heat-resistant oven mitts. Let the baked cookies sit or “rest” on the cookie sheet for about 2 to 3 minutes to cool after baking. The cookies are hot and still soft at this time and can fall apart trying to remove them from the cookie sheet. After 2 to 3 minutes on the cookie sheet, transfer the cookies with a cookie spatula onto a wire rack, also known as a cooling rack.
Tip: Do not leave these cookies on the hot cookie sheet for too long, for example, for more than 2 to 3 minutes. The cookies will continue to bake, and we definitely do not want these cookies to continue to bake.
Step 17. Repeat with the Rest of the Cookie Dough
Repeat steps 11 through 16 with the remaining cookie dough. Recap:
- Take the cookie dough out of the refrigerator.
- Scoop out some cookie dough.
- Hide the chocolate chips.
- Cover more cookie dough over the chocolate chips.
- Roll balls of cookie dough in the sprinkles.
- Place the cookie dough balls with sprinkles on them on the cookie sheet.
- Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 13 minutes.
- Take the baked cookies out of the oven using the oven mitts.
- Leave the cookies on the cookie sheet for a couple of minutes.
- Transfer the cookies to the wire rack to completely cool.
- Remember to put the cookie dough back into the refrigerator in between batches.
🌟 Recipe Variations
Cream cheese sprinkle cookies can easily be customized to create different flavors and textures. Below are some suggestions for recipe variation ideas.
- Add some lemon zest and fresh lemon juice for a refreshing citrus twist.
- Mix in some almond extract and finely chopped almonds to create a nutty flavor.
- Add some pumpkin purée and warm spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves for a seasonal autumn treat.
- Make some peanut butter cream cheese cookies by combining some peanut butter with the cream cheese dough. For an added crunch also add some chopped peanuts.
- Add your favorite sprinkles for different occasions.
🙋 FAQs
It is so amazing what cream cheese does to cookies. Cream cheese not only gives cookies a unique flavor, but also makes cookies super moist, soft, and creamy.
A good rule of thumb to follow is if the cookie recipe you are making says to put the cookie dough in the refrigerator to chill, then do it. The cookie dough for this recipe is sticky, so it needs to be refrigerated. Putting the cookie dough in the refrigerator helps to firm the dough up for easier handling.
You can set the cookies on the countertop in an airtight container for about a week or so. After that, they will start to lose quality, taste, and texture from when they were first baked. If you like cold cookies, put them in the refrigerator. If you like soft cookies, put a piece of bread in the container with the cookies.
Yes, you can freeze cream cheese sprinkle cookies. Put them in an airtight container or a freezer bag. Freezer bags are nice because you can open the bag and take out only what you need when you need it.
🌈 Is Parchment Paper Necessary?
Yes, parchment paper is necessary if you want to bake better cookies. Invest in some parchment paper, a silicon baking mat, or cookie baking sheets for all of your cookie recipes. The parchment paper, baking mat, and baking sheets are put on top of the cookie sheet. In other words, they are sandwiched between the cookie sheet and the cookie dough.
Parchment paper is a Godsend for many reasons:
- Parchment paper helps distribute the heat more evenly.
- It also helps by not burning the bottom of the cookies when baked in the allotted time mentioned.
- Parchment paper helps cookies from spreading out more than they normally do, specifically for this cream cheese cookie recipe. Thinner or flatter cookies make for harder and crispier cookies.
- And parchment paper also keeps cookies from spreading into each other. Cookies that run into each other end up being one big giant cookie!
- Cookies do not stick to parchment paper, so that means easy removal of the cookies after they are baked in the oven.
- No need to spray the cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray.
- And last but not least, easy cookie sheet clean-up. Just pick up the parchment paper and toss it in the garbage can.
💭 Final Thoughts
If you want to make chewy cookies that are going to leave a lasting impression on the whole family, you have to try this cream cheese sprinkle cookie recipe. It’s also a simple recipe that the kids can help you make.
These fun cookies can be made for Valentine’s Day, 4th of July, baby showers, or shared at a cookie exchange gathering. You can also make Christmas sprinkle cookies during the holiday season. So fun!
🗂️ Printable Recipe Card
Cream Cheese Sprinkle Cookies Recipe
🫕 Equipment
- Parchment paper (or non-stick cooking spray)
- Cookie scoop (optional)
🧂 Ingredients
- 2½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup light brown sugar (firmly packed)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 8 oz cream cheese (softened)
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter (softened)
- 1 large egg
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3/4 tsp table salt
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- Chocolate chips
- Rainbow ball sprinkles
👩🍳 Instructions
- We will be preheating the oven in Step 13 to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Set out the cream cheese at room temperature to soften.
- Soften the butter in a bowl that is safe for the microwave for 20 seconds in the microwave.
- In a large bowl, add the butter to the light brown sugar, granulated sugar, and cream cheese. Mix well.
- Add the egg and the vanilla extract to the butter, sugars, and cream cheese mixture. Mix until well blended.
- In a different bowl, add the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, salt, and ground cinnamon. Mix well.
- Slowly add the flour mixture to the butter, cream cheese, and sugar mixture. Mix until well blended into cookie dough.
- Put the cookie dough in the refrigerator for about 2 hours to chill so it won't be so sticky.
- After chilling the cookie dough, take it out of the refrigerator and fill a cookie scoop about 3/4 full of cookie dough. Or you can use a spoon and then roll the cookie dough in your lightly floured hands to form a ball.
- Push a couple of chocolate chips, one at a time, all around the center of the cookie dough. Then cover the chocolate chips with some more cookie dough.
- Pour some sprinkles into a small bowl.
- Squeeze the cookie scoop handle and let the ball of cookie dough fall into the bowl of sprinkles. Roll it around in the sprinkles to cover all sides of the ball of cookie dough. Repeat these steps for the rest of the cookie dough.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, or spray the cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray.
- Place the balls of cookie dough with sprinkles on them on the cookie sheet about 2 inches apart.
- Repeat with more cookie dough until the cookie sheet is filled.
- Put the remaining cookie dough back into the refrigerator in between each batch.
- Use the heat-resistant oven mitts to put the cookies into the oven and bake the cookies at 350 degrees for 13 minutes.
- After 13 minutes, use the oven mitts to take the cookies out of the oven. Let the cookies sit on the cookie sheet for a couple of minutes to cool.
- Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack for another couple of minutes to completely cool.
- Repeat these steps for additional batches of cookies.
*️⃣ Recipe Notes
- Depending on the power level of your microwave, keep an eye on the butter while it is in the microwave.
- Do not add more flour to this cookie dough. Adding more flour will make the cookie harder.
- This cookie dough can be chilled longer than a couple of hours, even a couple of
days if need be. Cover the cookie dough with plastic wrap if it’s going to be in the refrigerator longer than a few hours. - If the cookie dough is still too sticky after chilling it, very lightly dust your hands with flour if you aren’t using a cookie scoop.
- If you have two cookie sheets, use them. While one batch is baking, the second batch will be ready to go into the oven when the first batch is done.
💖 More Cookie Recipes You Will Love
- Dark Chocolate Cookies – This cookie recipe is rich in chocolate flavor throughout the cookie, with chunks of dark chocolate chips on top.
- Easter Mini Cadbury Egg Cookies Recipe – Only yummy stuff goes into these delicious cookies!
- Chocolate Chip M&M Cookies – These amazing cookies are loaded with M&M’s and mini chocolate chips. So good!
- Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Cookies – These cookies are full of pumpkin flavor. The recipe includes basic ingredients plus pure pumpkin purée, ginger, pumpkin pie spice, vanilla extract, and nutmeg, and then the cookies are coated in a cinnamon sugar mixture before baking.
A wife, a mother to a son and a daughter, and a grandmother to three granddaughters. Flo loves sharing recipes passed down from her own mother, her mother-in-law, and her grandmother as well as new recipes created with her daughter, Tamara Ray.
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