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Wedding Cookies are soft buttery cookies melt-in-your-mouth cookies and the version I’m sharing has a rainbow sprinkles upgrade! This is an easy cookie recipe without nuts that is perfect for any occasion including weddings, birthdays, holidays, and potlucks. I’ve been making these cookies for my whole life – they’re always a hit!
This cookie might have an identity crisis going on – are they Italian Wedding Cookies or Mexican Wedding Cakes? Are they Russian tea cakes? Snowball cookies? Is it a cake batter cookie? Or funfetti? They have so many different names!
It’s ALL of those things! Depending on where you’re from you might call them any one of those things and I know them as Wedding Cookies. The base of this recipe is from my mom and it’s one of our favorites. I’ve used it to make chocolate chip snowball cookies and stuffed snowball cookies and now I’ve turned them into sprinkle cookies that taste like cake batter (without cake mix, I might add).
If you’ve never tried them, all you need to know is that these sweet, buttery cookies are so easy to make and so delicious. Like, melt-in-your-mouth good!
Ingredients Needed
- Butter: This is the backbone of these cookies – no substitutions. I use unsalted butter but you can also use salted butter.
- Powdered Sugar: Using confectioners’ sugar makes them delicate and perfectly sweet.
- Flour: All purpose flour is what I use. Be sure to measure your flour correctly!
- Extract: For normal regular flavored wedding cookies, you’ll want pure vanilla extract. To make these cake batter flavor, you can also add cake batter extract – or use any flavor you want (almond extract or lemon extract are both fantastic choices). You could even add some cinnamon for a spiced cookie.
- Sprinkles: These are wedding cookies without nuts – I add rainbow jimmies instead. But you can use really anything – chopped pecans or walnuts, mini chocolate chips, toffee bits – anything!
How to make Wedding Cookies
- Cream the butter and powdered sugar until smooth in a large bowl. It’s easiest to do this with a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, but a hand mixer can be used too.
- Mix in the extract, salt, and flour. It will take awhile to become mixed into a thick cookie dough. Just keep mixing!
- Stir in sprinkles or other additions and scoop cookie dough balls onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper using a cookie scoop. You can make any size cookie you want (1 tablespoon, 2 tablespoon, or even tiny ones using a 1/2 tablespoon scoop).
- Bake and then when cooled to the touch, roll baked cookies in powdered sugar.
Expert Tips
- Just keep mixing – these will take time to incorporate into a cookie dough. It will take longer with a hand mixer than with a stand mixer.
- Use your creativity with the color of sprinkles – these are great for holidays with themed colors or even birthdays or graduations!
- Don’t over bake – they’re done when they lose the glossy sheen and are light golden around the edges.
Storing & Freezing
Store these cookies in an airtight container on the counter for several days. You can also freeze room temperature cookies for several months which makes them a great make ahead holiday cookie for those cookie platters and cookie exchanges. Once they thaw, you may need to re-roll them in powdered sugar.
A Few Recipe Notes (Reader FAQs)
I don’t recommend it! There’s no substitute for real butter and your cookies will be so much better if you use it.
There’s probably too much flour in the dough. It’s really important to measure the flour using the spoon and level method. If you use the measuring cup to scoop the flour out of the container (or pack the flour to tightly in the cup) you will have too much flour, which will change the texture of the cookies.
KEEP MIXING! This dough will stay crumbly until it’s not – and it will come together as a cookie dough. It will go fast with a stand mixer but take a few minutes with a hand mixer.
Traditionally they do have nuts, but I omit them so I don’t have to worry about nut allergies when I make them for events and parties. So, this is my twist on the classic cookie that swaps the nuts for sprinkles! If you want to try a version with nuts browse all of my snowball cookie recipes for more ideas.
Other Wedding Cookies to try
Wedding Cookies Recipe
Recipe Video
Ingredients
- 1 cup (226g) unsalted butter , softened (use real butter, no substitutions)
- ½ cup (57g) powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla (SEE NOTES)
- 2 ¼ cups (279g) all-purpose flour be careful not to over measure
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup rainbow sprinkles jimmies work best
- Additional powdered sugar for rolling
Instructions
- Preaheat oven to 375°. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Mix butter, ½ cup powdered sugar, and extract with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add flour and salt and mix until the dough comes together. Stir in the sprinkles. If dough is too soft, chill it until you can work it easily with your hands.
- Scoop 1 or 2 tablespoon balls of dough and place on prepared cookie sheet.
- Bake cookies for 7-10 minutes (1 tablespoon balls) or 10-14 minutes (2 tablespoon balls) until bottoms are just slightly brown. Remove from oven and cool 5 minutes. Fill a small bowl with powdered sugar and roll each cookie in the sugar until coated. Place on a rack to cool. (Once cookies are cooled, you may want to re-roll them in more powdered sugar.)
Recipe Notes
- Extract: For cake batter flavor, add 1/2 teaspoon cake batter extract. Or choose any flavor extract to change up the flavor of the cookies. You could use 1/4 teaspoon of almond or lemon extract or even peppermint extract.
- Sprinkles: Use any colors; I recommend jimmies so they don’t melt into the cookies.
- Other add-ins: You can omit the sprinkles and use 1 cup chopped nuts or mini chocolate chips or toffee bits or anything at all.
- Just keep mixing – the dough will come together. I recommend using a stand mixer but a hand mixer works, it just takes longer.
Recipe Nutrition
Funfetti plus Mexican Wedding Cookies – SO good! And this recipe is so easy to make and has no nuts. These Funfetti Snowballs with sprinkles have a cake batter flavor that you’re going to love.
Those are such fun looking cookies! I love snowball cookies (or wedding cookies, I didn’t know they had so many names!). And seriously, how IS it May already?!
These look just amazing!! Love Russian Tea Cakes (that’s what I call them) they are so rich and delicious. You can never go wrong with adding sprinkles. Happy Mother’s Day 🙂
Butter extract? What is that? I’ve read that you can’t really call it “butter extract”, since there isn’t any actual butter in it. It should be called “imitation butter flavor”. 🙁 Why is it needed? Why not just increase the amount of real butter? Or use a real extract like almond? Thanks.
It is imitation butter extract/flavor. I prefer the McCormick brand – it tastes less artificial than other brands. It just pumps up the butter flavor making it taste a little more like cake. But you can use almond extract if you like, or any extract! Increasing the butter would throw off all the other ingredients, so I wouldn’t do that.
I love sprinkles, too Dorothy. Who are these people who don’t love sprinkles??? I don’t get it. Also? I don’t care what you call these…I call them delicious! Happy Mother’s Day!!
I love big cookies as well, more cookie is always good! I love this type of cookie, I call them wedding cookies the whole year round. And the cake batter funfetti flavour makes them even better!
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