Perfect for a special occasion, there’s no better way to celebrate than with these Funfetti Pancakes! These cake flavored pancakes are filled with sprinkles and then topped with more sprinkles and a delicious frosting.
Calling all breakfast lovers! After trying these Funfetti Pancakes, make sure to try out some of my other breakfast recipes like these Carrot Cake Pancakes, these Cheesecake Pancakes, or these Liege Waffles!
Funfetti Pancakes
If there is one thing we take seriously in our house, it is that a good birthday breakfast is a must. Sometimes the cake is store bought and dinner that night is out, but my kids always look forward to pancakes with sprinkles and whipped cream on their birthday morning. Eaten underneath streamers and balloons.
But what is even better on a birthday morning than pancakes with sprinkles on top? Pancakes that actually taste like birthday cake!
These Funfetti Pancakes are the perfect way to celebrate. The secret ingredient is using a cake mix for that cake flavor, but also using my favorite method for making pancakes so you get tender, fluffy pancakes. Top them off with a delicious icing and you’ll have the ultimate birthday breakfast.
How to Make Funfetti Pancakes
Let’s start by talking about how to make the pancakes. This recipe has a few more steps than just mixing up a mix, but believe me – the fluffy pancakes you end up with make it totally worth it!
- Combine the wet ingredients – the milk, the oil, and just the egg yolks. You’ll want to put the egg whites in a separate bowl. I like to use a liquid measuring cup to measure and mix – less dishes to do at the end! Just take a fork or a small whisk and beat everything together to make sure the yolks are broken up and mixed in.
- Next, beat the egg whites until you have stiff peaks. This is easiest with a mixer, although you can do it with a whisk by hand if you want to put in the muscle.
- Set those aside, and mix together the dry ingredients in a large bowl. This is the cake mix, flour, baking powder and salt.
- Pour the liquid into the bowl with the dry ingredients.
- Mix the wet and dry ingredients together. You don’t want to mix too much – just until all of the dry ingredients are moistened. There will still be lumps in your batter – this is normal!
- Take about 1/4 of the whipped egg whites and stir them into the batter. I like to add this smaller amount first and stir it through to lighten the batter before I fold the remaining whites in.
- Add the remaining egg whites and gently fold them into the batter. You want the whites to remain airy, so fold gently and only stir until there are no more white streaks remaining.
- Heat a griddle or skillet over medium-high heat. Spray with non-stick spray or add a little butter. I like to pour about 1/3 cup of batter per pancake, but you can use more or less, depending on how big or small you like your pancakes.
- Cook the pancakes until they are browned on one side, then flip and cook the second side.
How to Make the Birthday Cake Icing
Because these pancakes are special, they need a special icing to go on top! This only takes a few ingredients and a few minutes.
- Start by melting the butter. I just put it in the microwave, but you can always do this in a small pot on the stove as well.
- Add the powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons of cream and the vanilla to the melted butter. Whisk them together. You want the icing to be a pourable consistency, so start adding more cream, about 1/2 tablespoon at a time, until your desired consistency is reached.
- This icing will start to thicken up as it sits and the butter cools off, so if you don’t use it all right away, you may need to gently reheat it just a bit to make it so you can pour it or drizzle it.
Tips and Tricks
If you don’t have a funfetti cake mix, you can use a white cake mix, but it won’t have the sprinkles in it. You can add sprinkles to the batter, but most of the time, the colors from the sprinkles will bleed.
If you don’t want to separate the eggs, you can just add in the whole eggs. Your pancakes won’t be as light or fluffy, but they are still delicious!
Leftover pancakes can be refrigerated or frozen for later. If you want to freeze them, I suggest placing them in a single layer on a baking sheet, freezing them, then placing them in a freezer safe container or freezer bag.
I like to let the batter sit for a bit before cooking the pancakes. I generally won’t put the skillet on the heat until the batter has been sitting for 5-10 minutes. This allows the liquid to be fully absorbed and gives the baking powder time to activate.
Make sure to add some extra sprinkles to your Funfetti Pancakes when serving!
More Pancake Recipes
Red Velvet Pancakes with Cream Cheese Drizzle
Lemon Pancakes
The Best Pancake Recipe
Whole Wheat Blender Pancakes
Homemade Pancake Mix
Whole Wheat Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Pancakes
Corn Cake Pancakes
S’mores Pancakes
LOOKING FOR MORE FREE RECIPES?
Subscribe to my free recipe newsletter to get new family friendly recipes in your inbox each week! Find me sharing more family-friendly inspiration on Pinterest, Facebook, and Instagram.
Funfetti Pancakes
Ingredients
Pancakes:
- 1 1/2 cups 2% milk
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 2 eggs separated
- 1 1/2 cups funfetti cake mix
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Frosting:
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2-4 tablespoons heavy cream
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
- Sprinkles optional
Instructions
- In a bowl (or a large liquid measuring cup), whisk together the milk, vegetable oil and the egg yolks.
- Place the egg whites in another bowl and using a hand mixer (or whisking vigorously by hand) whisk until the whites can hold stiff peaks.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the cake mix, flour, baking powder and salt.
- Pour the liquid into the dry ingredients and stir together.
- Add about 1/4 of the egg whites to the batter and stir in until very few white streaks remain. This will lighten up the batter. Add the remaining egg whites and fold them gently into the batter.
- Heat a griddle or skillet over medium-high heat. Spray with nonstick cooking spray (or coat with butter).
- Pour about 1/3 cup of the batter onto the hot griddle and cook until the batter has bubbled and the bottom has browned. Flip the pancake and cook until the second side is browned and the pancake is cooked through. Repeat with the remaining batter.
- To make the frosting, place the butter in a medium microwave-safe bowl. Microwave until the butter is melted.
- Add the powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons of the cream and the vanilla to the butter. Whisk to combine. Add more cream as needed to make the frosting a pourable consistency.
- Serve the frosting over the pancakes with sprinkles, if desired.
Deborah says
So I can’t quite rate your recipe. I bought the Pillsbury Funfetti pancake mix, even though I knew that just using the original cake mix for creative baking is normally better–huuuuuuge mistake. Waste of two dollars on over-priced, bland flour essentially. Greatly missing that cake batter flavor.
Using your recipe as a base saved the Funfetti pancake mix–truly. Once I bought the white pancake mix I should have bought initially, I used 3/4 cup of that, 3/4 cup of regular flour, and 1 cup of the so-called Funfetti pancake batter (total amount matching your flour/cake mix ratio), and kept everything else in your recipe the same except for halving the baking powder, since the pancake mix already had some.
It was too late for me to try one the evening I made them, but when I came home from work the next day to try my first bite my roommate had already eaten FIVE of them. Very different from her response of only eating two of the straight Funfetti pancake mix pancakes.
Based on both her response and mine to these pancakes, I’m sure your original recipe is also delicious. Thanks for creating and sharing your recipe!
Carol says
Very cute! Happy birthday 🙂
Maris (In Good Taste) says
Fun! I’m totally bookmarking this for a future birthday!
Tasha says
Happy Belated Birthday. I know what I’ll be serving my son for breakfast on his next birthday! Great idea!
Becca @ Crumbs and Chaos says
YUM! What a lovely way to start the day! I think my kids will love these for their birthday breakfast. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU-hope you had a fabulous one!
Monet says
Happy birthday, sweet girl! This is a great way to start a celebration.
Kristy says
Happy birthday!!!! This is my grandma’s birthday too – such a great day! And mine is in a week. Yay for September birthdays! And yay for birthday cake pancakes! What a great idea. 🙂
Charissa says
This is SOOOO cute! I’d want these served to me in bed…wether or not is what my birthday, lol!
Joanne says
Happy birthday gorgeous! I hope you actually ate six batches of these this morning. You deserve it!