Jump to Recipe·Print Recipe·Leave a review

This post may contain affiliate links, which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Whether you call them birthday cake, confetti, or funfetti pancakes, this fluffy, sprinkle-studded breakfast recipe is irresistible!

Overhead view of 2 plates of birthday cake with a fork holding a portion that has been cut to eat.

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.

Drizzling maple syrup onto a stack of funfetti pancakes with sprinkles.

🥣 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.

Whisking together dry ingredients for funfetti pancakes in a bowl. — Whisk dry ingredients together.

Whisking together the wet ingredients for funfetti pancakes. — Whisk wet ingredients together in a separate bowl.

Pouring the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients for birthday cake pancakes. — Pour wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients.

✅ 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.

Mixing together pancake batter in a bowl. — Gently stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients.

Adding rainbow sprinkles to a bowl of pancake batter. — Add sprinkles to the pancake batter.

Stirring rainbow sprinkles into a bowl of pancake batter. — Gently fold in the sprinkles to combine.

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.

Portioning out funfetti pancake batter into a nonstick skillet. — Use a measuring cup to portion your pancakes (I use ¼ cup).

Flipping funfetti pancakes in a skillet. — Once the bubbles have popped, it's time to flip!

Two birthday cake pancakes in a skillet. — The second side usually cooks more quickly than the first.

🥣 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.

Pouring flour into a measuring cup. — Pour flour from the scoop into the measuring cup.

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.

Leveling off a measuring cup full of flour. — Use a flat edge to sweep across and level off the measuring cup.

Plates of birthday cake pancakes with sprinkles served with maple syrup and butter.

💡 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.

Close-up of a forkful of birthday cake confetti pancakes.

🔪 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

Stack of funfetti pancakes on a plate with a slice taken out of them.

🥡 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.

Close-up of drizzling maple syrup onto a stack of birthday cake pancakes.

Still hungry? You may also like...

Pouring syrup onto a stack of buttermilk pancakes — Our Favorite Buttermilk Pancakes

Brie Waffle Bites on a platter with maple syrup. — Brie Waffle Bites

A platter with 3 waffles topped with pulled pork, poached eggs, hollandaise sauce, and chives. — BBQ Pulled Pork Eggs Benedict

Overhead view of assorted breakfast items displayed on a board. — Epic Brunch Board on a Budget

Doing some online shopping? Check out my Amazon shop page for recommendations!