My oldest doesn’t like chocolate. I don’t get it – I mean how can anyone not like these chocolate chip pudding cookies? Or striped delight. Or just chocolate period. That means that when the holidays roll around we tend to enjoy a lot of cut out sugar cookies, cranberry orange muffins, and cherry cheesecake cookies. Well and I make these hot chocolate cupcakes for myself… These sugar cookies bites are a new family favorite. They start with my favorite cream cheese sugar cookies but instead of doing frosting and decorations, you bake with sprinkles and skip the frosting. Or if you really like icing, you can add some of this sugar cookie icing then sprinkles! They’re kind of addicting if I’m being honest. And my toddler’s new favorite cookie!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
They’re adorable – even I was amazed at how cute a baking sheet full of these sugar cookie bites was! They’re yummy and super cute!They’re easy to make – instead of cutting out large cookies, you cut out tiny ones and sprinkle them for baking. No need to make frosting, frost the cookies, and decorate. They’re soft – the cream cheese in these keeps them soft and fluffy, just like good sugar cookies should be. They’re versatile – change up the sprinkle colors and these work great for any holiday or occasion. Add some pink and blue sprinkles for a gender reveal, orange and black sprinkles for Halloween, so many possibilities!
Ingredients
Ingredient Notes
Butter – unsalted butter that’s been left out for about an hour before you start baking so it gets soft. As long as it’s not melted, it’s not too soft. Cream cheese – make sure the cream cheese is softened so it whips together nicely with the butter. I recommend taking the butter and cream cheese out and letting them come to room temp about an hour before baking.
You’ll also want either a miniature square cookie cutter or a regular square cookie cutter and a pizza cutter to cut the sugar cookie dough into small bite-sized pieces. Something like this set has both a regular square and a mini square.
Instructions
Using a hand or stand mixer, whip the butter and cream cheese until smooth and creamy. Next add sugar, salt, egg, and vanilla and mix well, then slowly add the flour and baking powder and mix until fully incorporated. Divide the dough in half and wrap each half in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour. Once the dough is chilled, preheat your oven to 375°F and line baking sheets with parchment paper. Sprinkle your working surface and dough with a little flour and then roll out to 1/4″ thick. Using a square cookie cutter, cut cookies into squares. Gather up any excess dough and roll it back out until you’ve cut all of the dough into squares. Use a pizza cutter to cut each square into fourths – making four little sugar cookie bites. Sprinkle each bite with holiday sprinkles, trying to cover most of the surface area with sprinkles. You may want to press down lightly on the sprinkles to get them to adhere to the dough. Carefully transfer to a baking sheet with the sprinkles on top. Bake cookies for 8-9 minutes or until the bottom starts to get slightly brown. Do not over bake! Let cookies cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet then transfer to cooling rack. Let cool completely then enjoy! These make great fillers for a Christmas cookie plate, a holiday dessert board, or honestly just as little snacks. And kids love how little and cute they are – they’re bite-sized!
Expert Tips
Work with half of the dough at a time so that the dough stays chilled and doesn’t get too soft. If dough gets too soft while cutting out cookies, put the cookies in the refrigerator for 5-10 minutes before baking. Get a mini square cookie cutter if you can. It makes making these sugar cookie bites even easier! You just need to cut them out and place them on the baking sheet rather than cutting out the large square and cutting into four. Lightly press the sprinkles into the dough after you sprinkle them on. This will help them adhere better to the dough for baking. Don’t overbake the cookies. They may still feel soft when the timer is up, but they’ll come together on the baking sheet. Store in an airtight bag and enjoy or freeze for up to five days for the best tasting cookies. Make sure any sprinkles end up on your parchment paper, not directly on the baking sheet. If they end up directly on the baking sheet, you’ll end up with burnt sugar that not only smells bad but is a pain to get off.
More Christmas Treats
If you’re looking for holiday treats to fill up your Christmas cookie plate, you’re going to love these!
White chocolate cranberry cookies – a white chocolate cranberry cookie mixed with a white chocolate macadamia nut cookie and oh so good! Gingerbread cupcakes – a sophisticated flavor that adults will absolutely love! Sugar cookie white chocolate fudge – an easy fudge that tastes just like sugar cookies! Oreo truffles – add a few holiday sprinkles to these classic treats for one yummy bite! Christmas tree brownies – boxed brownies get a festive upgrade with this delicious recipe!
