Cream softened butter with both sugars until the mixture looks pale and fluffy, about three minutes using an electric mixer. I let Lily handle this step because she loves watching the color transform from golden to almost white, and it teaches her that mixing time matters.

Beat in eggs one at a time, then add vanilla bean paste and lemon zest until combined. Scrape the bowl's sides with a spatula after each addition—I learned this mistake the hard way when I found pockets of unmixed egg yolk in my first batch of 4th of july shortbread cookies family recipe.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl before folding into the wet ingredients with milk. Add the sprinkles last so they don't bleed color into the dough, which happens because the red dye releases moisture when mixed too early.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and drop dough by rounded tablespoon onto the sheet, spacing cookies two inches apart. Press each cookie gently with the bottom of a glass to flatten them to roughly half-inch thickness—this ensures even baking because uniform thickness prevents burnt edges and underbaked centers.

Bake at 325°F for 28-30 minutes until the edges just barely turn golden but the centers still look slightly pale. Honestly, I set a timer for 28 minutes first because overbaking is where 4th july easy cookies fail, turning them from tender to crunchy in about one minute.

Cool cookies on the baking sheet for five minutes before transferring to a wire rack. They'll firm up as they cool, and moving them too early means they'll break because the butter structure needs time to set.