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What’s a birthday without a celebratory birthday treat? However, if you’re not fond of the classic birthday cake, you may be on the hunt for another sweet alternative. I totally get it. Sometimes, I crave cookies, sometimes cupcakes, and other times, a grand birthday breakfast.
With your birthday coming soon, it’s time to start planning what birthday treat you want to make. Below are 15 popular treats to make for your special day. Keep reading to find the one you love most — oh, and have a happy, happy birthday!
More Birthday Ideas to Try:
1. Ultimate Birthday Cake Cookies
If you love the classic birthday cake flavor, these birthday cake cookies are your next best choice. They are made with a vanilla cookie dough that’s stuffed with crushed Oreos, rainbow sprinkles, and white chocolate chips. They are the perfect birthday celebration cookie.
2. Gooey Cookies & Cream Rice Krispies Treats
I’m a huge fan of homemade Rice Krispies treats; however, when I’m feeling extra festive, I love making these cookies and cream Rice Krispies treats. They are super gooey with the perfect ratio of marshmallow. Plus, the addition of the crushed Oreo pieces creates the classic cookies and cream flavor.
3. Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake
There’s just something about a cookie cake that seems right for a birthday treat. This one is thick, gooey, and so delicious. The brown butter gives it a rich, caramel flavor, which you don’t get in a traditional cookie cake. Top it with a frosting design and sprinkles, or pair a slice with your favorite ice cream and enjoy.
4. Layered Birthday Cake Cookie Bars
Growing up, we were obsessed with Blue Bell’s Birthday Cake Ice Cream cups. We wanted to create a dessert bar that had all those similar flavors to create the ultimate birthday treat. These bars are made of a layer of Oreo cookie crust, confetti cookie, and a sweet vanilla icing topped with sprinkles.
5. Cookie Dough Cupcakes
Maybe you don’t like birthday cake, but what about a fun cupcake flavor for a birthday treat? These cookie-dough cupcakes went viral on TikTok last year, and for good reason. Each cupcake is made with a vanilla chocolate chip cookie cake and a thick swirl of cookie dough cream cheese frosting on top.
6. Cosmic Brownies
If you’re a kid of the 90s and early 2000s, you probably grew up eating Little Debbie Cosmic Brownies. We created a homemade version that tastes even better than the name brand. Plus, they are so simple to make. Add the infamous cosmic brownie sprinkles on top and a few candles to make it a complete birthday celebration.
7. Fruity Pebble Cookies with Milk Glaze
Fruity Pebbles are by far my favorite cereal to date. If you love them too, then these fruity pebble cookies are the perfect birthday treat. They are delicious and colorful for a celebration. A fruity pebble-infused cookie dough topped with a sweet milk glaze — you can’t get much better than that.
8. The BEST Chocolate Chip Cookies
Sometimes on your birthday, you just want something simple — like a classic chocolate chip cookie. After years of trying to create the perfect cookie recipe, we finally found it in this one. These cookies are chewy on the edges, doughy on the inside, and full of melty chocolate chips.
Pro tip: make a chocolate chip cookie dough, stick a few candles on top, and sing “Happy Birthday”.
9. Confetti Coffee Cake with Cream Cheese Filling
In our opinion, coffee cake is not a traditional birthday cake. It’s more of a fancier dessert bread. If you’re looking for a fun birthday breakfast treat, this confetti coffee cake is perfect for a birthday brunch. A funfetti coffee cake batter filled with a layer of cream cheese and topped with funfetti crumble. YUM!
10. Oatmeal M&M Cookie Cream Pies
This birthday dessert is for all the cookie sandwich-lovers out there. Made with chewy oatmeal cookies sprinkled with a generous amount of mini M&Ms that are sandwiched on either side of a creamy marshmallow filling. Serve this at a birthday party, and everyone will enjoy it.
11. Classic Fudgy Brownies
Classic and chocolatey, these fudgy brownies are everything you want in a dessert. Complete with the crackle top, slightly gooey inside, and the perfect amount of crispness on the edges. If you’re making these for your birthday, add some sprinkles on top before baking or top with some icing and candles.
12. Fluffernutter S’mores Bars
Any fluffernutter fans out there? If you’ve never heard of it, the fluffernutter flavor consists of marshmallow fluff and peanut butter. However, we combined the iconic peanut butter and marshmallow flavor with s’mores to create the ultimate dessert bar.
13. Tiramisu Buttermilk Pancakes
Celebrate birthday breakfast with these decadent tiramisu pancakes. Soft buttermilk pancakes infused with espresso powder, sprinkled with miniature chocolate chips, and topped with whipped mascarpone topping. Stack the pancakes into a tower shape and complete the celebratory meal with a candle on top.
14. New York Style Banana Pudding
Our New York Style Banana Pudding is by far one of our most popular desserts. This dessert also went viral on TikTok, and so many new readers are loving it as well. This recipe is so popular because it’s not your traditional banana pudding.
It’s made of whipped, creamy banana pudding with swirls of whipped cream, fresh bananas, Nilla wafers, and cake crumbles. Serve the banana pudding in ice cream cups for the perfect single-serve birthday treat.
15. Raspberry Cheesecake Bars
Lastly, but certainly not ranked the least on our list, are these raspberry cheesecake bars. On most birthdays, we make these cheesecake bars as our choice of birthday dessert. Made with a thick, buttery, Chess Cookie crust tipped with a creamy cheesecake layer, swirled with raspberry coulis.
Pro tip: You can opt not to include the raspberry and make these plain cheesecake bars. Alternatively, you can swap the raspberry coulis for any flavor you prefer — like chocolate sauce, caramel, apple preserves, lemon, or any other flavor.
