From My Kitchen to Yours: The Secrets to Making Sprinkles Stick

The Golden Rule: Applying Sprinkles Before You Bake

The simplest and most reliable method, my dear friend, is to add your sprinkles before the cookies ever see the heat of the oven. The soft, unbaked dough is the perfect canvas, ready to embrace every little speck of color. As the cookies bake, the dough puffs up slightly around the sprinkles, locking them gently into place. This is how you get that beautiful, classic look where the sprinkles seem perfectly embedded in the cookie. There are a couple of lovely ways to do this.

Method 1: The Gentle Press

This is the most straightforward technique. After you have rolled out your dough and cut your shapes, place them on your baking sheet. Now, for the fun part. You can either sprinkle your decorations directly onto the cookies and then use the palm of your hand or a flat-bottomed glass to press down ever so gently, just enough to nestle them into the dough. Or, my personal favorite for an even coating, pour your sprinkles onto a shallow plate. Take each unbaked cookie and press it face-down into the sprinkles. When you lift it, it will have a perfect, sparkling coat. This works wonderfully for nonpareils, sanding sugar, and other small, round sprinkles.

Method 2: The Baker’s Secret Weapon — A Simple Wash

For a little extra staying power and a lovely, subtle sheen on your finished cookies, a simple wash is the secret. Before you add the sprinkles, you’ll brush a very thin layer of liquid onto the surface of your dough. This creates a slightly sticky surface that acts as the perfect glue. You have a few options here:

The Egg Wash: This is the classic choice. Simply whisk one egg with a tablespoon of water or milk. Use a soft pastry brush to apply a very, very thin layer over the surface of each cookie. If you apply too much, the cookie can get a bit too brown, so a light touch is key. Immediately after brushing, shower your cookies with sprinkles. The egg wash will hold them fast and give your cookies a beautiful, faintly glossy finish.
The Egg White Wash: For a less golden finish, you can use just an egg white, lightly beaten with a little water. It provides excellent adhesion without adding much color.
Milk or Cream: If you prefer to avoid eggs, a simple brush of milk or heavy cream works beautifully too! It provides just enough moisture to create that necessary tackiness for the sprinkles to cling to. It’s a softer, more subtle approach that is equally effective.

The ‘I Forgot the Sprinkles!’ Rescue: Sticking Them On After Baking

We’ve all been there. The kitchen smells divine, the cookies are golden and perfect on the cooling rack, and then you realize—you forgot the sprinkles! Please do not worry, your beautiful cookies are far from ruined. There are several ways to add that sparkle after the fact, even without a thick layer of frosting.

The Immediate Action Method

This method relies on timing. As soon as you pull your cookies from the oven, while they are still very hot and soft, you can sprinkle your decorations over them. The residual heat will slightly melt the surface of the cookie and the bottom of the sprinkles, helping them to adhere as the cookies cool. This works best with sugar cookies that are still a bit soft in the center. Give them a very gentle pat to encourage them to stick. This won’t provide the strongest bond, but it is a wonderful and quick fix in a pinch.

The ‘No Frosting’ Glue: A Simple Glaze or Syrup

If your cookies have already cooled, you just need to create a thin, sticky layer for the sprinkles to hold onto. This doesn’t have to be a full-on frosting. Think of it as a delicate, transparent glue.

A Simple Sugar Glaze: This is my go-to. In a small bowl, mix a few tablespoons of powdered sugar with a tiny bit of milk, water, or lemon juice—just a teaspoon at a time—until you have a thin, paintable paste. It should be thin enough to brush on without being runny. Use a pastry brush to apply a whisper-thin layer over your cooled cookies, and then immediately add your sprinkles. The glaze will dry clear and hard, locking the sprinkles in place.
A Touch of Syrup: For a different flavor note, you can lightly warm some light corn syrup, honey, or even a beautiful Israeli date syrup (Silan). Brush a very thin, almost invisible layer onto the cookies. This method adds a lovely subtle sweetness and works wonderfully. The deep, caramel notes of date syrup with a sprinkle of sparkling sugar are a particularly delicious combination that always reminds me of home.

The Classic Embrace: Using Frosting and Icing

Of course, the most traditional way to adorn a sugar cookie is with a beautiful layer of frosting or icing. This provides the most secure and decorative base for any kind of sprinkle. If you are going this route, the timing is important. You want to add your sprinkles when the frosting is still wet and soft, but not so wet that the colors bleed. For buttercream, you can sprinkle immediately after frosting. For royal icing, which dries hard, you’ll want to work in small batches. Frost a few cookies, add your sprinkles, and then move on to the next few. This ensures the surface is perfectly tacky when the sprinkles are applied, resulting in a professional and beautiful finish that will travel well and last for days.