Sprinkle Cookies are a family favorite! It starts with a homemade orange zest soft cookie that is then topped with a sweet homemade glaze and sprinkles. You’ll want to make a double batch – these will go fast.

Sprinkle Cookies - with orange zest, homemade glaze and sprinkles.

Cookies are my favorite thing to bake as there are SO many varieties that you can make. They’re great for all sorts of occasions and one of the easiest desserts to make.

Sprinkle cookies are no exception to the above. They have a unique, but not overpowering orange zest flavor, a homemade glaze and then are topped with sprinkles.

You can choose different colored sprinkles based on your occasion too. For a birthday, choose the theme colors; for Christmas, choose red and green sprinkles and so on! These cookies will become a recipe you’ll make over and over.

Orange Zest Sprinkle Cookies with Homemade Icing!

What Ingredients Do You Need to make Sprinkle Cookies?

Butter, softened
Granulated sugar
Fresh orange zest
Vanilla extract
Eggs
All-purpose flour
Baking powder
Salt

Ingredients needed for Orange Zest Sprinkle Cookies

How Do You Make the Best Cookies?

Cookies are one of my all time recipes to make as a dessert. However, there are some tricks and tips that you should know to make the best cookie recipe ever. While these tips are specific to these cookies, these are GREAT tips for any cookie.

Soften Butter – Take your butter out of the refrigerator and let it soften on the counter. Don’t rush this by using the microwave, you will want this butter to soften naturally for the best buttery cookies.
Measure Accurately- Measure out your ingredients carefully and accurately. Use measuring cups specifically for dry ingredients and wet ingredients to ensure you get the most accurate measurements. Too much or too little of an ingredient can break the recipe.
Do not over bake- Set a timer and bake your cookies accurately. Don’t rush the process, and let them cool on the cookie sheet for a bit before moving to a cooling rack. The cookies will continue to bake on the cookie sheet when you remove them from the oven too!

Are the Sprinkle Cookies Freezer Friendly?

Yes, these cookies are freezer friendly. You can prep a double batch and freeze the dough. Here are some tips.

Roll the dough into balls before freezing. This will save time when you’re ready to prepare the cookies!
When you’re ready to bake, remove the dough balls from the freezer, set them on a parchment-lined baking sheet and cover with a paper towel to allow them to thaw for about 1 hour or so.
Now you can bake them at 350° for about 15 minutes on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. The tops may look a little more brown but they will still be amazing.
For this recipe, you’ll want to make the icing as you need it, though! So, while the cookies are baking, whip together the icing and top these cookies with fresh icing and sprinkles.

More Cookie Recipes

30 Cookies

Sprinkle Cookies

Name: Sprinkle Cookies
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 30
Ingredients: 6 tablespoons butter, softened; 2/3 cup granulated sugar; 1 tablespoon fresh orange zest; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 2 eggs; 2 cups all-purpose flour; 1 teaspoon baking powder; ¼ teaspoon salt

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

Sprinkle Cookies are a family favorite! It starts with a homemade orange zest soft cookie that is then topped with a sweet homemade glaze and sprinkles. You'll want to make a double batch - these will go fast.

Ingredients

6 tablespoons butter, softened
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon fresh orange zest
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt

Instructions

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy.
Add the orange zest, vanilla extract, and one of the eggs; mix until combined. Add the second egg and mix well.
In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture and beat with an electric mixer until combined.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel and refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.
Roll the chilled dough into 30 1-inch balls and place on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper leaving at least 1 inch of space between each cookie. Place the cookie sheets in the refrigerator to chill the dough balls for 30-60 minutes before baking.
While the dough balls chill, preheat the oven to 350F degrees.
Bake the cookies for 10 minutes at 350F until set and lightly browned on the bottom. Transfer the cookies to a wire cooling rack to cool completely to room temperature before frosting.

Notes

These cookies are not overpoweringly orange flavored. The zest adds just the right hint of orange flavor.
Lemon zest could be used in place of the orange.
The orange zest can be left out if you prefer just the vanilla extract flavoring.
The finished cookies will be fluffy and soft.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 73Total Fat: 3gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 19mgSodium: 57mgCarbohydrates: 11gFiber: 0gSugar: 5gProtein: 1g

This N That with Olivia, occasionally offers nutritional information for recipes contained on this site. This information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. Although thisnthatwitholivia.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.

Homemade Frosting for Sprinkle Cookies

As stated above, the homemade frosting is delicious and easy to make. If you do make these cookies for the freezer, you’ll want to making the icing fresh!

What do you need to make Homemade Frosting?

Powdered sugar
Vanilla extract
Heavy whipping cream or Milk
Orange zest
Sprinkles

Tips for the Best Frosting

Cream or Milk – Either will work fine for frosting, just make sure you have the accurate amounts so that you can be prepared to mix in. Mix it in slowly too checking the consistency before adding more.
Thin but not too thin – you’ll want the frosting of “drizzle” consistency but not too watery.
Ingredient balance – if you notice the frosting is too runny, add a little more powdered sugar.

Frosting for 30 cookies

Cookie Frosting

This homemade frosting is a delciious add to the sprinkle cookies! Its super easy to make and a sweet addition.

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4-5 tablespoons heavy whipping cream or 3 tablespoons milk
• 1 tablespoon orange zest
• Sprinkles

Instructions

Pour the powdered sugar and vanilla extract into a small mixing bowl.
Add the cream or milk 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring well between each addition, until the frosting reaches the right consistency. You want the frosting to be just thin enough to drizzle, but not so thin that it runs right off the cookies.
If the frosting becomes too thin, add more powdered sugar. Stir in the orange zest.
When the cookies are completely cooled, frost the top of each cookie with a teaspoon of frosting, then add the sprinkles.

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Wednesday 29th of December 2021

[…] Orange Zest Sprinkle Cookies with Homemade Icing! […]

Dorothy Boucher

Friday 26th of November 2021

I love your cookie recipe here and its great that it doesn't have a million things needed for a simple enjoyable cookie. Saved your recipe. @tisonlyme143

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Kelly Kimmell

Saturday 27th of February 2021

Looks easy to make and really delicious. Will have to try them.

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