For all the birthday cake flavored things that exist in this world, it’s rare that you actually make them for a birthday. Because… birthdays usually have actual birthday cake! So, while Milk Bar has endlessly proved that you don’t need to have a birthday to make something birthday cake flavored, when my brother needed a treat to take to his friend’s birthday across the country, I sprung at the chance to make something birthday flavored.
I was never someone who was in to Funfetti as a kid – sprinkles held no allure, and vanilla was inferior to chocolate. What was there to be jazzed about? So I consider it quite amazing that Milk Bar has built an empire off of vanilla birthday cake flavoring, and even more amazing that I am right on board with it. The way that Milk Bar does Birthday Cake, I take back anything I ever thought about Funfetti as a kid.
This is the closest return to the original Best Ever Frosted Sugar Cookie recipe that I am constantly iterating on. It’s got the same clear vanilla extract base, but I mixed in Milk Bar birthday crumb and white chocolate chunks. Just to up the birthday ante even more. And to add some extra texture, so they’d still be good unfrosted.
Something about that clear vanilla extract just does some magic… Even as the central and only flavor of the cookies, it works! It’s got some layers of complexity despite being a basic flavor on its surface, and some how tastes special or celebratory. Which, of course, I discovered for the first time when Molly and I made the Milk Bar birthday cake in 2013, and then again when Molly made the Best Ever Frosted Sugar Cookies. But it never gets old, when it’s given the spotlight.
These are delicious both plain and with frosting. It just depends what your style is! These also were flown across the country for my brother’s friend’s birthday, and I wasn’t sure how well the frosting would hold up going through the travel. So I wanted to cover my bases with how they’d hold up.
As weird as it is that “Birthday” has become a flavor, I think it’s a better name than “Funfetti,” and it’s nice that we can enjoy it regardless of birthdays in our lives. Frankly, I could use a little more birthday flavor in my life!
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Milk Bar‘s birthday crumb, and Best Ever Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
For the birthday crumb:
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 ½ tablespoons light brown sugar
- ¾ cup cake flour (or, 3/4 cup flour + 1/2 tbsp cornstarch)
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons rainbow sprinkles
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon clear vanilla extract
For the cookies:
- 1 stick unsalted butter, room temp
- 3/4 cups sugar
- 1 tbsp glucose
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp clear vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cups flour
- 1/3 cups milk powder
- 1 tsp cream of tartar
- 3/4 tsp kosher salt
- 1 4oz white chocolate bar, chopped
- 1/2 cup rainbow sprinkles
For the Vanilla Frosting (Optional):
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 3 to 4 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
- 1⁄8 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
Instructions
First, make the birthday crumb:
- Heat the oven to 300F
- In a medium bowl, combine the sugars, flour, baking powder, salt, and sprinkles, mixing until combined. Add the oil and vanilla and mix again to distribute. The wet ingredients will act as glue to help the dry ingredients form small clusters; continue mixing until this happens.
- Spread evenly on an ungreased baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes at 300F
- Let the rainbow crumbs cool completely before using in the recipe.
Then, make the cookies:
- Combine the butter, sugar and glucose in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and cream together on medium-high for 2-3 minutes. Scrape down the sides, add in the eggs and vanilla and beat for 7-8 minutes.
- Reduce mixer speed to low and add in the flour, milk powder, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt. Mix just until the dough comes together – no longer than 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add in the birthday crumb, chopped white chocolate, and sprinkles. Fold everything together, but don’t overmix.
- Using a 2 3/4 oz. ice cream scoop (1/3 cup measure) portion out the dough onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet – you should get 15-20 large balls of dough. Pat the tops of the cookie balls flat – wrap the sheet pan tightly in plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour or up to 1 week. Do not bake the cookies from room temp – they will not bake properly!
- Heat the oven to 350°F. Arrange the chilled dough at least 4 inches apart on the baking sheet and bake for 18 minutes – the cookies will puff, crackle and spread. The cookies should look lightly browned on the edges (golden brown on the bottom) – the centers will show just the beginning signs of color. If they haven’t reached that color yet, leave them in a for an extra minute or two. Cool the cookies completely on the sheet pans before frosting.
Make the frosting:
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until soft, about 1 minute.
- Add 2 cups of the confectioners’ sugar, the salt, and vanilla. Beat on low speed until the sugar is well incorporated.
- Add another 2 cups sugar and the cream. Add remaining 2 cups of sugar as needed to thicken the frosting. Beat on medium speed until the frosting is smooth and fluffy, about 4 minutes.
- Frost cookies generously. Fill a bowl with sprinkles. Place cookies frosting side down into bowl of sprinkles and press firmly to coat.