Healthy Birthday Cake Cookies
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These Healthy Birthday Cake Cookies are made with almond flour, cashew butter and of course plenty of rainbow sprinkles. They’re lightly sweetened, and even better when topped with a dollop of buttercream frosting.
You know by now that I’m obsessed with my birthday cake brownies, so of course I had to create birthday cake cookies!
These cookies are based off of the brownie (err…blondie) recipe, but they’re not quite the same. They use cashew butter as a case, along with almond flour and sugar to create a soft and chewy cookie recipe that I just know you’re going to love.
Recipe features
- A delicious gluten free cookie recipe that tastes pretty darn similar to birthday cake
- Thick, soft and fluffy, plus topped with frosting and easy to make from scratch
- Loaded with sprinkles and an option to add your favorite frosting
- Similar texture to my healthy pumpkin cookies, which if you haven’t already tried, you must!
Ingredients
- Egg – I haven’t tested this recipe with a flax egg to make these vegan, but you’re more than welcome to!
- Maple syrup – Pairs really well with the cashew butter — can sub honey if you prefer.
- Vanilla extract + almond extract – Using both elevates the flavor!
- Cashew butter – The most “cake batter” nut butter of them all! I love it so much. If you want these to taste similar to birthday cake, don’t substitute it for anything else. Otherwise, any nut butter will work.
- Gluten free flours – A flour mixture of almond flour and coconut flour yields the softest cookie
- Sugar – You can use ANY kind of sugar in these cookies! Seriously… cane sugar, coconut sugar, or even light brown sugar should all work just fine (I used cane sugar!)
Instructions
Step 1: Whisk ingredients. In a large mixing bowl, stir the egg, maple syrup, vanilla, almond extract, and cashew butter together. In a separate bowl, stir the almond flour, sugar, coconut flour, and baking soda together.
Step 2: Make the batter. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet, then fold until everything is incorporated and the batter is smooth, 30-45 seconds. Last, stir in the sprinkles.
Step 3: Roll into cookies. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper, then use your hands to roll the cookie dough into balls, placing them at least two inches apart on the baking sheet. Use the palm of your hand to press the balls down and flatten them into cookies.
Step 4: Bake. Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake the cookies at 350° for 10 minutes. Use a spatula to transfer them onto a cooling rack. Wait until the cookies have come to room temperature before adding any icing.
Step 5: Add the frosting (optional). Whip up a simple buttercream, or use store-bought icing (I won’t tell!). Use a knife to add a dollop of frosting on top of each cookie, then add a pinch of sprinkles.
Tips and tricks
- If you’re using homemade buttercream, you don’t need a lot of it — approximately 1/3 cup — so save the rest and make my thumbprint cookies or my favorite vegan vanilla cake. Or simply make a smaller amount.
- Want a traditional birthday cake cookie recipe instead of a healthy one? Make my coconut cookies but omit the coconut and use sprinkles instead!
What do birthday cake cookies taste like?
I’d say the flavors are similar to a sugar cookie, but since these cookies are healthier, they taste a little like cashew butter mixed with sugar. ….basically, really delicious.
Can these be made keto?
I believe so! Simply omit the maple syrup, and for the sugar use monkfruit! You’ll also want to make sure to use keto-friendly sprinkles and icing.
Storage
- Room temperature: Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
- Freezer: Allow the cookies to come to room temperature, then gently wrap them individually in plastic wrap or place each one in a small plastic bag. Place them in a large freezer-safe bag and store them for up to 3 months in the freezer.
If you made this recipe, be sure to leave a comment and star rating below. Thanks!
Healthy Birthday Cake Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup cashew butter
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp almond extract
- 2/3 cup almond flour, packed
- 1/3 cup sugar, cane sugar or coconut sugar
- 3 tbsp coconut flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 cup sprinkles, or more
- 1/3 cup buttercream icing , optional; homemade or store bought; see below for homemade recipe
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, cashew butter, maple syrup, vanilla, and almond extract together.
- In a separate bowl, stir the almond flour, sugar, coconut flour, and baking soda together. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet, then use a rubber spatula to stir everything together until batter is smooth, 30-45 seconds. Last, stir in the sprinkles.
- Use your hands to roll the cookie dough into balls, placing them 2 inches apart on the baking sheet. Then, use the palm of your hand to press down and flatten the balls into cookies.
- Bake the cookies for 10 minutes. Carefully transfer them to a cooling rack and wait for the cookies to cool before adding the icing.
- For the buttercream (this step is optional): Use this buttercream icing recipe, but cut in in half. You only need 1/3 cup of icing for these cookies. Alternatively, you can use store bought icing (I won't tell!). Add more sprinkles on top and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Amazing. Used almond butter. College son loved them! Will try again with cashew butter and compare.
You can’t go wrong either way — I’m so glad you and your son liked the cookies!
How can you call this healthy? Packed with sugar then if you add the icing or store bought? How is that vegan? Do you know the true meaning of these things? You should not make claims, when you cannot advise your readers properly.
1. I never called these vegan 2. My definition of healthy and yours are different and that’s ok.. The fact is that there’s less sugar in these than most of my other cookie recipes (especially if you omit the icing), and they’re made with almond flour and coconut flour, which ARE healthier than all purpose flour. If these aren’t up to your standards, feel fee to find a different recipe!
I cannot wait to try this recipe on my next grocery haul!