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Whether you call them birthday cake, confetti, or funfetti pancakes, this fluffy, sprinkle-studded breakfast recipe is irresistible!
Are you team pancakes or team French toast? I love them both, but there's just something about traditional fluffy buttermilk pancakes that's so much fun to play around with.
I've made lots of variations of pancakes over the years (like these gingerbread pancakes!), and I love testing out the new recipes with students in my virtual cooking classes before publishing them here on Big Flavors.
These sprinkle-studded beauties have been a big hit with both kids and kids at heart. They have the essence of a fluffy vanilla cake and a dose of color from rainbow sprinkles.
If you're looking for a shortcut to making confetti pancakes from scratch, my friend Susie has a great recipe for cake mix pancakes, and she loves using Funfetti cake mix in them!
Jump To:
- 🧡 Why we love this recipe
- 📝 Ingredients
- 🥣 Ingredient spotlight: baking powder
- ✅ How to make this recipe
- 📌 Tips for measuring flour
- 💡 What to serve with
- 🔪 Equipment
- 🥡 Additional tips and recommendations
- 📖 Recipe
🧡 Why we love this recipe
- They're quick and easy to make.
- It's a homemade version of some confetti pancakes that my son loved from a local diner when he was a toddler, and they remind me of the funfetti cupcakes and cakes my mom and I used to make from the box mixes when I was a kid.
- Pancakes are always a crowd-pleasing breakfast, brunch, or breakfast for dinner (my family's fave!).
- They have extra vanilla flavor to make them taste more like birthday cake than normal pancakes.
- Colorful foods are always a hit!
- Because rainbow sprinkles just make everything better. 🌈
📝 Ingredients
Here's everything you need to make these birthday cake pancakes (see recipe card below for ingredient amounts and full directions):
- All-purpose flour (measured using the "scoop and sweep" method below)
- Granulated sugar
- Baking powder (see notes below)
- Fine-grain salt
- Unsalted butter
- Buttermilk (shaken before measuring)
- Eggs
- Vanilla extract
- Rainbow sprinkles (or your favorite single color or combination)
- Your favorite pancake accompaniments like butter, maple syrup, powdered sugar, and whipped cream.
🥣 Ingredient Spotlight: Baking Powder
Baking powder increases the volume of baked goods, creating a nice rise and light, fluffy texture.
In most cases, recipes that call for baking powder refer to double-acting baking powder, though there are some instances when single-acting baking powder is used.
Please note that many brands of baking powder contain aluminum, which can cause a metallic or bitter taste, especially when used in larger quantities.
I recommend using brands that are specifically marked aluminum-free. Some of my favorites are Rumford and Bob's Red Mill.
✅ How to make this recipe
These birthday cake confetti pancakes come together really easily:
- Preheat a griddle (or nonstick skillet) over medium heat (or 375°F).
- Whisk together the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
- Melt butter in a small, microwave-safe bowl. (You can also do this in a small saucepan on the stovetop if desired.)
- Whisk together the wet ingredients in a medium bowl.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir to combine, being careful not to overmix. Fold in the sprinkles.
- Cook the batter onto a preheated, buttered griddle until golden brown on both sides.
- Serve pancakes with extra sprinkles and other toppings as desired.
See recipe card below for full instructions.
One of my favorite things about making pancakes is that they tell you when they're ready to be flipped.
You'll notice that small bubbles will form on the surface of your pancakes as they cook. Once those bubbles pop, that's your indicator that it's time to flip.
They should be nice and golden brown. If for some reason they aren't, no worries! You can always flip them back over to continue cooking.
An added benefit of using a measuring cup (or another standardized scoop to portion out your batter) is that they all cook at the same rate.
Of course, skillets and griddles could have hot spots, so certain positions may brown more quickly than others. Patience and a bit of experimentation are key!
I find that the pancakes take less time to cook on the second side than the first and that the second doesn't get quite as brown when it's done.
🥣 Tips for measuring flour
When measuring flour, especially for baked goods, pancakes, and waffles, I recommend using the "scoop and sweep" method to ensure proper measurements.
Use a spoon to scoop flour from your container into the measuring cups, being sure to overfill them a bit. Then, sweep across the top to level it off before adding to your recipe.
You can sweep with the back of a knife, the handle of a spoon or spatula, or even your finger (hey, clean hands are great kitchen tools!).
Try to avoid plunging the measuring cup into your container of flour and compressing it against the side of the container when measuring. This will pack more flour into each cup and could negatively impact the final texture of your baked goods.
💡 What to serve with birthday cake pancakes
These pancakes are great all by themselves, but you can for sure dress them up with some fun toppings and/or sides.
We like these pancakes served with some extra sprinkles, butter, and maple syrup. A dusting of powdered sugar would be nice. Whipped cream would be a fun addition, too.
If you're feeling bold you could serve them with some lemon curd or your favorite jam or preserves. I personally wouldn't want to add anything that would overwhelm the vanilla cake flavor here.
As far as sides go, these are fantastic with homemade breakfast sausage patties or oven-baked bacon.
I'm always a fan of fresh fruit with any meal, so a bowl of fruit or some berries would be lovely here.
🔪 Equipment
You don't need a ton of special equipment to make these birthday cake pancakes. I usually cook ours on our Griddler, which we've had for a million years and it still gets a lot of use (especially for breakfast foods!).
- Griddle or large nonstick skillet
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Medium bowl
- Large bowl
- Small microwave-safe bowl and microwave OR a small saucepan and stovetop
- Whisk
- Flexible spatula or spoon
- Spatula or turner for flipping pancakes
- Sheet pan and wire rack (optional) if keeping pancakes warm in the oven
🥡 Additional tips and recommendations
If you'd like to serve your pancakes all at once, you may want to keep them warm while you finish cooking the rest. If you have a super large griddle, you won't need this tip, but most of us will likely have to work in batches.
When you start cooking, place a baking sheet in your oven and set it to "keep warm" or whatever the lowest temperature setting is. If you have a wire baking rack, be sure to put that on the sheet pan, too, as this will allow the heat to go fully around your pancakes.
As your pancakes finish cooking, transfer them from the griddle or skillet onto the tray in the warm oven. Keep them there while you cook, so they stay nice and warm until you're ready to serve.
Leftover pancakes can be stored in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for several days. You can reheat them in the microwave, on the stovetop, in an air fryer, or in a toaster/toaster oven.
Pancakes freeze really well! My recommendation is to freeze them in a single layer first, then you can stack them and place them into an airtight container. Freezing them separately first will help keep them from sticking together once frozen.
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📖 Recipe
Birthday Cake Confetti Pancakes with Sprinkles
- Prep Time: 10 Minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: About 16-18 Pancakes 1x
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Description
Whether you call them birthday cake, confetti, or funfetti pancakes, this fluffy, sprinkle-studded breakfast recipe is irresistible!
Ingredients
For Pancakes:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon fine-grain salt
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus extra for the griddle
- 2 cups buttermilk (shaken before measuring)
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup rainbow sprinkles, plus more for garnish (if desired)
Serving Suggestions:
- Maple syrup
- Butter
- Powdered sugar
- Whipped cream
Instructions
- Preheat griddle over medium heat (or 375°F).
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
- Melt butter in a small, microwave-safe bowl. (You can also do this in a small saucepan on the stovetop if desired.)
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, melted butter, eggs, and vanilla extract.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Stir together until no dry pockets of flour remain. The batter will be lumpy but that's OK - you don’t want to overmix! Gently fold in the sprinkles.
- Melt a tablespoon of butter onto the hot griddle, spreading it around with a spatula. Use a ¼-cup measure to scoop out equal portions of batter onto the preheated griddle, being sure to leave a few inches of space around each pancake.
- Cook until bubbles appear across the entire surface and then pop, then flip to cook the second side until golden brown. Repeat with remaining batter.
- Serve, sprinkling pancakes with extra sprinkles if desired. Enjoy with your favorite pancake toppings, such as butter, maple syrup, powdered sugar, or whipped cream.
Notes
See my post above for tips on measuring flour and an important note about baking powder. I also have info for storing, reheating, and freezing your pancakes, and more!
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