Dot Cake Cookies
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These dot cake cookies are a soft and tender sugar cookie version of the viral dot cakes you’ve seen on social media. They’re incredibly thick and cakey sugar cookies topped with a thick layer of vanilla frosting and dipped in rainbow sprinkles.
A Note from Fiona
Why You’ll Love these Dot Cake Cookies!
If you love soft, cakey, melt-in-your mouth sugar cookies – then you’re going to love these dot cake cookies. I was inspired to make them after seeing dot cakes all over my social media feed. And let me just say, I think this cookie version is even more delicious. The cookies are so tender and fluffy, there’s a thick layer of creamy vanilla frosting, and the sprinkles make these cookies so adorable.
Not only are these cookies delicious, they also take less effort than portioning out individual dot cakes into jars and ramekins.
What are Dot Cakes?
If you’re unfamiliar with dot cakes – they’re essentially individual vanilla cakes served in a ramekin or jar. The cake is topped with vanilla frosting and then dipped in a rainbow nonpareil sprinkles – AKA 100s of 1000s sprinkles (you know the ones that are little round balls). The cakes have a flat top and the layer of sprinkles give a crunch when you take a bite.
Making Cakey Sugar Cookies
I wanted these sugar cookies to be soft, tender and cakey – reminiscent of Lofthouse cookies. For this recipe, there’s no need to roll out the dough or grab your cookie cutters, so it’s much faster and less messy than making cut out cookies.
For the dough, we’re using sour cream in addition to butter. The sour cream makes the cookies extra tender (don’t worry – you won’t taste the anything sour). Then the butter, vanilla extra and almond extract are key to the perfect sugar cookie flavor.
The cookie dough will need to chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour, or up to 48 hours. You’ll then spoon it into balls and bake in the preheated oven.
Recipe Tip
Measuring the flour properly is key to getting sugar cookies that are tender and thick, without being dry. Always whisk the flour first, then spoon into a dry measuring cup and level off the top. Using a kitchen scale to weigh the flour will provide the most accurate results – so I always recommend using a scale if you have one.
Frosting & Decorating
The frosting for these cookies is a thick and creamy vanilla buttercream. We’re actually replacing some of the butter with shortening to really give it the flavor of what you’d expect from Lofthouse cookies or the nostalgic bakery cakes you got as a child. It’s creamy, fluffy and ready in no time.
To get the flat frosting on top – just like dot cakes – I have a few tricks.
- First, using a pipping bag with a large round tip (or a freezer bag with the bottom corner cut off) to pipe a big dollop of frosting on each cookie.
- Flip the cookies over (so they’re frosting side down) on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper or parchment paper. Pop the cookie sheet in the freezer for 20 minutes.
- Take the cookies out of the freezer and peel them off the wax paper. You’ll end up with cookies with a perfectly flat top.
- Pour the sprinkles onto a plate. Then dip each cookie in the sprinkles.
Of course, if you want a few less steps you could frost each cookie using a flat edge knife and then dip in sprinkles. You won’t get the flat top – but they’ll be equally delicious.
More Sprinkle Recipes to Try
Dot Cake Cookies
Equipment
- Cookie Sheets
Ingredients
Sugar Cookies
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour (188 grams)
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ cup unsalted butter (112 grams), softened but not starting to melt
- ¾ cup granulated sugar (150 grams)
- ½ cup full-fat sour cream (120 ml), room temperature
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- ¼-½ teaspoon almond extract
Frosting
- ¾ cup unsalted butter (168 grams), softened
- ¼ cup vegetable shortening, or substitute with an additional ¼ cup butter
- 3-4 cups powdered sugar (33-440 grams), sifted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 3-4 tablespoons whipping cream (45-60 ml), or milk
- ½ cup nonpareil sprinkles, AKA 100s of 1000s – the little round ball sprinkles
Instructions
Sugar Cookies
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- In a separate large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until creamed (about 2-3 minutes).
- Beat the egg, sour cream, vanilla extract and almond extract into the butter mixture. Turn off the mixer and scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl a few times.
- With the mixer on a low speed, beat the dry ingredients into the butter mixture. Mix together until evenly combined and there are no lumps. The dough will be thick.
- Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 48 hours.
- When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350℉ (180℃). Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper or baking mats.
- Scoop the dough into balls with about 1½ tablespoons of dough each (I recommend using a cookie scoop). Place the dough balls about 2½ inches apart on the lined cookie sheets.
- Bake 1 sheet at a time in the middle of the preheated oven. They will bake for about 12-14 minutes. Once finished, the tops should look set and the shouldn't feel doughy if you lightly press your finger onto the top of the cookie.
- Cool the cookies on the cookie sheets.
Frosting
- In a large bowl, beat the butter until smooth. Then mix in the shortening.
- Add in 3 cups powdered sugar, along with the vanilla, and salt. Beat together, starting with the mixer on a low speed and gradually increasing to medium speed.
- Beat in the whipping cream 1 tablespoon at a time, alternating with a little extra powdered sugar if needed until you get the desired sweetness and thickness.
Decorating
- Ensure that the cookies are fully cooled first. Line cookie sheets with wax paper or parchment paper (it should be clean parchment – not the same parchment sheet you used for baking the cookies on). Transfer the frosting to a piping bag with a large round tip, or a freezer bag with the bottom corner cut off.
- Squeeze frosting on top of each cookie – to create a large, round dollop.
- Place each cookie upside down on the lined cookie tray – the frosting with flatten slightly. Then place the cookie trays in the freezer for about 20 minutes.
- Pour the sprinkles onto a plate. Remove the cookies from the freezer. Carefully peel each cookie off the parchment/wax paper. The tops should be flat. Then dip each cookie into the sprinkles, pressing down slightly so that the sprinkles stick.
- If you prefer, you can frost each cookie with a flat-edge knife and then dip into sprinkles.
