Birthday Cake Pudding Cookies are packed with vanilla pudding mix, white chocolate chips, and plenty of rainbow sprinkles, all baked into a big batch of little birthday cakes in funfetti cookie form!
Super soft, moist and deliciously dense, cookie recipes made with pudding are easy to prepare and take only 10 minutes to cook – no birthday needed!
Birthday Cake Pudding Cookies
Our Birthday Cake Pudding Cookies recipe is my favorite way to combine the tender, chewy consistency and sweet, buttery batter of my Chocolate Pudding Cookies with the fun rainbow-studded colors of my Rainbow Sprinkle Cookies.
Cookies made with instant pudding elevate the most basic batch of baked goods into the thickest, moist desserts with vanilla cake-filled flavor.
Jello instant pudding cookies require minimal effort to get maximum taste and texture because the flavoring and thickening agents come from the pudding powder that is baked right into the batter.
A cookie recipe using pudding mix is my favorite shortcut hack; it’s a quick and convenient way to make melt-in-your-mouth cookies that stay soft and moist without preparing the actual pudding. The best alternative to birthday cake!
Why We Love Birthday Cake Pudding Cookie Recipes
- Quick and easy to make in minutes.
- Uses a handful of kitchen staple ingredients.
- These sweet treats stay soft for days without preparing the actual pudding.
- A colorful, fun, tasty twist to the classic chocolate chip cookie.
- Tastes like your favorite birthday cake in cookie form.
- Perfect for birthday parties, dessert platters, rainbow-themed celebrations, or when you need another option to a traditional birthday cake.
Birthday Cake Pudding Cookie Ingredients
- Flour
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Butter
- Brown sugar
- Granulated sugar
- Eggs
- Vanilla
- Instant vanilla pudding mix: I used Jello brand for this recipe but feel free to use your favorite.
- White chocolate chips
- Rainbow sprinkles
Substitutions and Additions
- Pick Your Pudding: You can make your birthday cookies with your favorite flavored box of pudding. Swap the vanilla pudding powder for cheesecake pudding, cookies ‘n cream pudding, or a white chocolate pudding mix.
- Choose Your Chip: Instead of white chocolate chips, you can substitute dark or milk chocolate chips if you prefer.
- Customize Your Pudding Cookies: This recipe can be a blank canvas for creating custom themed cookies. Use red and green sprinkles for Christmas; pink and red sprinkles for Valentine’s Day; pretty pastel colors for Easter or a baby shower.
How to Make Birthday Cake Pudding Cookies
- Make The Dry Mixture: Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt and set aside.
- Make The Pudding Mixture: Cream together the butter and sugars until smooth. Add the eggs and vanilla, mix until smooth, then add the pudding package.
- Create The Cookie Dough: Add the dry ingredients to the pudding mixture and blend until fully incorporated. Fold in the white chocolate chips and rainbow sprinkles.
- Bake The Cookie Batter Balls: Scoop and roll the batter into a round shape. Dip each cookie ball into sprinkles and place on cookie sheet, sprinkle side up. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 8-10 minutes.
- Serve: Serve immediately or when completely cooled. Enjoy!
Make Without Pudding Mix
You can omit the pudding mix, although the results won’t taste the same, and then, of course, these will not be pudding cookies! Fortunately, I have many other rainbow cookies recipes that do not call for pudding and plenty of birthday desserts in the form of no bake fudge, cookie dough, and Oreo balls.
Tips For Making The Best Birthday Cake Pudding Cookies
- Be sure you do not overcook these cookies. They will continue cooking slightly on the sheet. If they are overcooked, they will lose a lot of that moist flavor!
- These cookies are delicious right out of the oven at room temperature.
- Be sure not to use Cook and Serve pudding. Make sure you’re using instant pudding for this recipe.
- Don’t forget, you are not making the actual pudding, rather you are simply adding the powder to your cookie batter.
- You will likely cook 3 baking sheets of cookies.
How to Store Birthday Cake Pudding Cookies
- To Store: Store these cookies in an air-tight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
- To Freeze: You can freeze the baked cookies in a freezer safe-container for up to 3 months. You can also freeze the cookie dough in an airtight container for up to 5 months. Allow the cookie dough to thaw in the refrigerator overnight before scooping and baking.
More Easy Rainbow Recipes
Other Easy Cookie Recipes
Birthday Cake Pudding Cookies
Serves — 36
Birthday Cake Pudding Cookies are quick and easy to make with instant pudding. The perfect party treat that’s packed with colorful flecks, delicious flavor, and plenty of fun!
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Chill Time 3 minutes
Total Time 28 minutes
Ingredients
- 2¼ cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- pinch of salt
- 2 sticks butter softened
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3.4 ounces instant vanilla Jello pudding mix
- 1 cup white chocolate chips
- 1½ cups rainbow sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare a 11×17 baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix well and set aside.2¼ cups flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, pinch of salt
- In a separate mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugars until smooth using an electric hand or stand mixer.2 sticks butter, ½ cup brown sugar, ½ cup granulated sugar
- Add the eggs and vanilla and continue to mix until smooth.2 large eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla
- Add the pudding package and mix for another minute until fully combined.3.4 ounces instant vanilla Jello pudding mix
- Add dry ingredients to the pudding mixture and blend until all ingredients are fully incorporated.
- Using a rubber spatula, fold in the white chocolate chips and most of the rainbow sprinkles (reserve a handful to the side).1 cup white chocolate chips, 1½ cups rainbow sprinkles
- Using a 1-2 inch cookie scoop, scoop each cookie compactly and roll in the palms of your hands, creating an even and round shape.
- Dip each cookie into the remaining sprinkles and place on cookie sheet, sprinkle side up. Spacing cookies 2 inches apart. Repeat until the sheet is full.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes.
- When done, allow the cookie to cool on the baking sheet for about 1 minute before transferring to a cooling rack. Serve immediately or when completely cooled.
Jenn’s Notes
Storage:
- To Store: Store these cookies in an air-tight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
- To Freeze: You can freeze the baked cookies in a freezer safe-container for up to 3 months. You can also freeze the cookie dough in an airtight container for up to 5 months. Allow the cookie dough to thaw in the refrigerator overnight before scooping and baking.
- Be sure you do not overcook these cookies. They will continue cooking slightly on the sheet. If they are overcooked, they will lose a lot of that moist flavor!
- These cookies are delicious right out of the oven at room temperature.
- Be sure not to use Cook and Serve pudding. Make sure you’re using instant pudding for this recipe.
- Don’t forget, you are not making the actual pudding, rather you are simply adding the powder to your cookie batter.
- You will likely cook 3 baking sheets of cookies.
Nutrition Info
Calories: 120kcal | Carbohydrates: 23g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 0.01g | Cholesterol: 10mg | Sodium: 57mg | Potassium: 31mg | Fiber: 0.2g | Sugar: 17g | Vitamin A: 15IU | Vitamin C: 0.03mg | Calcium: 15mg | Iron: 0.4mg
