Vegan Birthday Cake Cookies

Vegan birthday cake cookies are loaded with white chocolate chips, rainbow sprinkles, and a rich vanilla flavor! They are perfectly sweet, buttery, soft, and chewy. The easy recipe is made with one bowl, dairy-free, eggless, and gluten-free friendly. They’re reminiscent of birthday cake batter, making them a fun dessert for birthdays, parties, and celebrations!

Whether it’s a birthday party, special occasion, or just a regular afternoon, these vegan birthday cake cookies are a delicious excuse to celebrate! The funfetti cookie dough is loaded with cake batter flavor, rainbow sprinkles, and white chocolate chips.

These cookies contain crispy edges with a perfectly soft and chewy center. Thanks to both vanilla extract and almond extract, the sweet flavor tastes just like boxed birthday cake. They’re truly addictive and irresistible.

You’ll love how easy it is to make this birthday dessert! The cookies are made in 30 minutes with one bowl and pantry staples. Plus, the recipe is entirely dairy-free, egg-free, and can be made gluten-free.

Another awesome thing about this cookie recipe is how customizable it is. If you’re baking them around a particular holiday, you can swap the rainbow sprinkles for a more festive option. Also, you can substitute regular chocolate chips for the white chocolate chips. Feel free to add a swirl of vanilla buttercream on top for frosted cookies, too!

What are vegan birthday cookies made of?

• Flour: Use all-purpose flour, also known as plain flour. If you would like to make the cookies gluten-free, you can swap it with 1:1 gluten-free baking flour. The Bob’s Red Mill brand is best.
• Vegan butter: I highly recommend using dairy-free buttery sticks, such as the Earth Balance brand.
• Sugar: We’ll primarily use granulated sugar to sweeten the cookies, along with a touch of brown sugar. The brown sugar helps create a more moist, chewy texture.
• White chocolate chips: Use your favorite dairy-free white chocolate chips. If you like dark or milk chocolate better, you can use those instead.
• Sprinkles: Any sprinkles will do! I love using standard rainbow jimmies rather than nonpareils. Feel free to swap the color if you’re creating them for a particular holiday.
• Almond milk: Any unsweetened plain or vanilla almond milk works for this recipe. If you only have another variety of plant-based milk on hand, such as soy, oat, or coconut milk, that’s totally fine.
• Vanilla extract: This helps produce a rich vanilla flavor, similar to vanilla cake batter.
• Almond extract: This extract really brings the cake batter flavor to the next level! It has a super sweet taste and aroma, which mimics birthday cake.
• Baking soda and powder: These leavening agents help the cookies rise while baking.
• Salt: Salt balances the sweet ingredients and enhances the overall flavor.

How to make vegan birthday cake cookies

For the full ingredient measurements and step-by-step instructions, scroll down to view the recipe card at the bottom of the page.

First, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

Tips for making the best birthday cake cookies

Measure the flour correctly. Flour should never be scooped or packed into your measuring cup. Instead, gently spoon it into the cup and level off any excess. If you scoop or pack the flour, you will end up using too much! For the most accurate results, use a food scale to weigh the flour.

Add your favorite mix-ins. If you aren’t a white chocolate fan, you can add chocolate chips instead. Alternatively, go halfsies using 1/2 cup chocolate chips and 1/2 cup white chocolate chips.

Bake these birthday cookies on the middle rack. I recommend only baking cookies on the middle rack of your oven. The upper and lower racks tend to produce inconsistent results because they run a bit hotter or cooler than the intended oven temperature.

Remove the cookies while the center still appears underbaked. If you want crispy edges with a soft and chewy center, take the cookies out of the oven when the center is a little underbaked. It will continue to cook and firm up as it cools on the baking sheet, leading to a perfect texture!

Add frosting or make cookie sandwiches. These birthday cake cookies are made even BETTER with a thick swirl of vanilla frosting on top. Additionally, you can turn them into cookie sandwiches! Just grab two cookies and pipe a layer of frosting between them.

How to store vegan birthday cookies

How to store the cookies: Keep cookies stored in a tightly-sealed container at room temperature. Enjoy within 3-4 days. If you’d like to store the cookies longterm, you can keep them in the freezer for up to 3 months.

How to freeze the cookie dough: After scooping the cookie dough into balls, store them inside a ziplock bag. Press as much air out of the bag as possible before sealing. Freeze for up to 3 months. Let cookie dough come to room temperature before baking.

If you try these Vegan Birthday Cake Cookies, please let me know your thoughts by leaving a rating and comment below! Ready for more? Subscribe to my newsletter or follow along on Instagram and YouTube!

*This post was updated in January 2025. The original post was published in June 2020.*

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