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Inspired by the viral dot cake trend, these dot cake cookies might just top the original! They combine perfectly moist and soft vanilla cookie bases with smooth buttercream and PLENTY of crunchy nonpareil sprinkles.
Viral Dot Cake, but in Cookie Form!
Chances are, you’ve probably heard of the viral dot cake trend by now and you’re likely either enamored or just totally unimpressed by it. Somehow I was a combination of both–it’s just vanilla cake with buttercream and sprinkles? Yet…I also LOVE those things, and that quantity of nonpareils per bite is very appealing to me.
I’m never quick to catch on to trends (remember how long it took me to make the Dubai chocolate cookies?), but a few people asked me whether I’d be jumping on this one, and honestly it was just too much fun and too easy to pass up. I knew I didn’t want to do a regular dot cake, though; there are plenty of those out there already. Instead, I opted for gourmet dot cake cookies, which I think is even more fun. Can’t wait to hear what you think of this one!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Texture lover’s dream: thick, soft, and cakey cookie bases (think Lofthouse cookies but more moist), smooth, creamy buttercream, and LOTS of crunchy sprinkles.
- Flattening the cookies after baking compresses them, making them extra tender and not too fluffy. I do this with my double chocolate chunk cookies too and love the end result!
- Simple frosting perfectly complements the cookies. Unlike the store-bought tubs, this homemade frosting somehow manages to not be too sweet (don’t get me wrong, these are sweet cookies, but I can easily polish off 2 or 3 in a sitting).
- TONS of sprinkles. Just like the original cake! A word of caution: you may end up finding them in the far corners of your kitchen a few years from now–nonpareils are famous for this 😉
Ingredients
- Cake flour. Cake flour is finer than traditional all-purpose. I chose it for this recipe because I was trying to emulate the finer, cakier (but not dry) and more tender crumb of a cake, rather than the traditional chewiness you get with, say, a chocolate chip cookie. I have plenty of recipes to help you use up what’s leftover after this recipe (like my yellow cake recipe or blueberry muffins cookies).
- Oil. Admittedly an unusual ingredient for a cookie recipe, but trust me! When I was developing my black bottom cookies, I found that adding a touch of oil in the dough made for especially moist and tender cookies. Since we are trying to emulate cake here, it works perfectly to help achieve that very tender but never dry crumb (and tip: if you prefer to refrigerate your cookies/if you’re someone who prefers refrigerated cake, these will stay softer even after refrigeration).
- Vanilla. Either pure or imitation vanilla will work. Imitation has a more artificial flavor (of course!), but that actually works pretty well here. If you want your dot cake cookies to taste more like a cake mix or bakery cake, use imitation vanilla.
- Butter. I prefer to use unsalted butter for the cookies themselves and salted butter for the frosting. If you only have unsalted butter on hand, simply add a pinch of salt to the frosting. If you only have salted, reduce the salt in the cookie dough to ¼ teaspoon.
- Nonpareils. A must-have for dot cakes AND these dot cake cookies! These are the super tiny, rainbow colored ball sprinkles you’ll often find on whipped shortbread cookies or Italian cookies. You should be able to find them in the baking aisle of your grocery store.
Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
Sam’s Tip
If your eggs are cold from the fridge, use my trick to quickly bring eggs to room temperature. Room temperature eggs will give you a more uniform dough, and as a result, better cookies.
How to Make Dot Cake Cookies
(Step-by-Step)
- Make the dough. Cream the butter and sugars until well combined, then stir in the eggs, oil, and vanilla. Whisk the dry ingredients in a separate bowl, then gradually stir them into the butter mixture (adding them all at once will make your dough dry and stiff!). Cover and let chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
- Bake & flatten. Roll the dough into smooth, 2 tablespoon-sized balls. Bake 9 minutes, then flatten immediately after baking; we do this to create a nice surface for frosting and enhance the texture as well. Let cool completely.
- Add the icing. Prepare the icing, then spread about 1 ½ tablespoons over each cookie (an offset spatula works nicely for this step!).
- Dip in sprinkles. Pour your sprinkles into a shallow dish, then dip your cookies (frosting side down) inside. You want the entire top of the cookie to be coated with sprinkles. Enjoy!
Sam’s Tip
Adding the flour mixture gradually allows the flour to absorb properly and keeps the dough manageable. You will have a hard time combining the dough if you just dump it all in at once.
Frequently Asked Questions
Dot cakes are a viral trend involving individual portions of vanilla cake (often served in ramekins or cups) covered in vanilla frosting and dipped in nonpareil sprinkles. The sprinkles create a hard surface you can crack your spoon into, creating a fun textural experience with the moist cake and creamy frosting. These cakes were first popularized by The Dotcakes bakery in New York.
If you chilled your dough for longer than 30 minutes, it may become difficult to scoop. If this happens to you, don’t panic! Simply let your dough sit on the counter until it is scoopable.
More Sprinkle Cookie Recipes
So, are you team original dot cake or team dot cake cookies? Let me know in the comments 👇
Enjoy!
Let’s bake together! Subscribe to my newsletter to be notified of all the newest recipes, and find my free recipe tutorials on YouTube 💜
Cookies
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In a large mixing bowl, use an electric mixer to beat together butter and sugars until light and fluffy.
1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter, ¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar, ¼ cup (50 g) light brown sugar
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Add oil, eggs, and vanilla and stir on medium-low speed until well combined.
2 Tablespoons (30 ml) neutral cooking oil, 2 large eggs, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract or imitation vanilla
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In a separate mixing bowl whisk together cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
3 ¾ cups (425 g) cake flour, 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder, ¾ teaspoon baking soda, ¾ teaspoon table salt
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Gradually (I do this in 4 parts) add dry ingredients to the wet, stirring thoroughly to combine all ingredients. Use a spatula to periodically scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to be sure all ingredients are well incorporated..
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Cover dough tightly with plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator for 30 minutes (and up to 3 days). Once dough is nearly finished chilling, preheat oven to 350F (175C) and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
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Once dough has chilled, scoop by 2 Tablespoon sized scoops (38g) and roll gently between your palms to form a smooth ball. Place on prepared baking sheet, spacing cookies at least 2-inches (5cm) apart.
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Bake in center rack of preheated oven for 9-10 minutes. Within 1 minute of removing from the oven, use a clean, flat surface to gently flatten the surface of the cookies (I use the bottom of a 1-cup measuring cup). Allow to cool while you prepare the frosting.
Frosting
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In a large mixing bowl, use an electric mixer to beat butter until smooth and creamy.
1 cup (226 g) salted butter
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Gradually add powdered sugar, stirring on low speed until thoroughly combined.
4 cups (500 g) powdered sugar
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Add vanilla extract, then stir in cream, 1 Tablespoon at a time, until frosting is a smooth and creamy.
2 teaspoons vanilla extract, ¼ cup (60 ml) heavy cream or milk
Assembly
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Spread 1 ½ Tablespoons of frosting evenly over each cookie. Pour nonpareils into a shallow dish. Dip the frosting side of the cookie into the nonpareils, coating all of the frosting. Enjoy!
¾ cup (145 g) nonpareils
Storing
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Serving: 1cookie | Calories: 364kcal | Carbohydrates: 48g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 57mg | Sodium: 196mg | Potassium: 36mg | Fiber: 0.5g | Sugar: 33g | Vitamin A: 529IU | Vitamin C: 0.01mg | Calcium: 32mg | Iron: 0.3mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.