Why they’re so good!
Whether it’s someone’s birthday or you just want a fun breakfast, a stack of these funfetti pancakes are the perfect way to start the day.
- Starts with an easy pancake batter.
- Loaded with rainbow sprinkles.
- A maple butter glaze tops them off.
- Make the pancake mix ahead and you can even gift it.
Who doesn’t love a light and fluffy pancake to start their day? Especially a day of celebrations. Soft, light, fluffy, perfectly sweet and so much fun, these funfetti pancakes (often called birthday cake pancakes) are served with a delicious maple butter glaze. I could just about drink this stuff, it’s so good. Birthday or any day, breakfast or brinner, it’s all up to you!
This recipe is adapted from my easy fluffy pancake recipe.
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Ingredients you’ll need
Detailed quantities and instructions in the recipe card below.
- Flour: Just a simple plain flour (all-purpose flour) is all you need to get started. You can use whole wheat flour but it will make the batter a little thicker so you may need to add a dash of milk. A ratio of 50:50 of each works nicely too.
- Baking powder: Make sure to use baking powder, not baking soda. Baking powder gives these pancakes a beautiful fluffy lift.
- Sugar: Not too much, but just enough granulated white sugar to make them a treat.
- Cinnamon: I always love a touch of cinnamon in pancakes, it adds a certain cosiness. You can leave it out if you don’t like it.
- Butter: Use salted butter for this one. It adds the perfect flavour without needing to add any salt to the mix.
- Milk: I like whole milk best but pretty much any will work. Oat milk has a great breakfasty, cereal flavour. Buttermilk will work too if you’re after the light tang that buttermilk pancakes have and a slightly thicker shape.
- Egg: I use large free-range eggs.
- Vanilla extract: Make sure to use pure vanilla extract, not essence, for the best flavour.
- Rainbow sprinkles: Of course, they can’t be funfetti without sprinkles. Use whichever ones you love – jimmies (like the ones here) or nonpareils (the little round ones), it’s all up to you. I will say, some brands hold their colour better than others.
- Maple syrup: The maple butter glaze starts with real maple syrup. For the best flavour use real and not imitation.
- Icing sugar: Also known as powdered sugar or confectioners sugar, icing sugar helps the glaze become a glaze.
These perfect birthday cake pancakes are lovely served just like this but take them to another level with a good dollop of whipped cream or a scoop of ice cream on top.
How to make homemade funfetti pancakes (step-by-step)
Detailed quantities and instructions in the recipe card below.
- Dry ingredients: Combine the dry ingredients in a medium bowl and whisk together to distribute.
- Wet ingredients: In another mixing bowl, combine the wet ingredients. Add the dry ingredients and whisk it all together. Let it sit for 10 minutes before adding the sprinkles.
- Cook the pancakes: Heat a non-stick skillet, frying pan or pancake griddle over medium heat for about 5 minutes, then add a dollop of butter (or you can use a little canola oil if you prefer). Melt it all over the pan, then add scoops of pancake batter to the pan. Let them cook until golden underneath and you start seeing bubbles on top, then flip and cook the other side for a minute or so until golden.
- The maple butter glaze: For the glaze combine the butter, maple syrup, sugar, vanilla and cinnamon and whisk to combine. Add a little milk if you’d like to thin it more and if it looks like it’s splitting, just warm it up in the microwave for a few seconds. Serve up the pancakes with a drizzle of the glaze over the top.
That’s it! These birthday cake pancakes are so easy to make and so fun. They’re even easier to devour. Top them with whipped cream and some raspberries, blueberries or strawberries to add some freshness.
Tips and tricks
- Weigh ingredients: Ingredients like flour, cocoa and sugar should always be weighed if the recipe gives a weight. This will ensure a perfect result. If you don’t have scales, spoon the ingredient into the cup measure and use the back of a knife to scrape it off.
- Don’t overmix: A few little lumps are actually fine in this. Not big lumps, but you also don’t want to overmix it or the pancakes will be tough. Also, you only want to stir once or twice when you add the sprinkles as they can start colouring the batter otherwise.
- Don’t spread too much: Try not to spread the batter out in the pan. Nudge it enough to make them round but if you spread them out too much they won’t become thick.
- If the glaze splits: Sometimes the glaze can look split but this is just due to the butter cooling. To get it smooth again, just pop it in the microwave for 5 seconds and give it a good stir. Feel free to add as much milk if you like a thinner consistency.
- If you have a large pancake griddle that fits over a couple of stovetop burners, you can cook up a batch funfetti pancakes even quicker.
Yield and storage
This recipe makes 8-10 pancakes. I normally get 8 or 9 using about ⅓ cup of batter per pancake or 9-10 using a ¼ cup of batter per pancake.
You can prepare and store the dry ingredients in large mason jars ready to go, then when ready to make the pancakes, just add the wet ingredients to the jar and give it a shake. Still add the sprinkles last and stir in gently.
Cooked pancakes can be frozen for another day. Store them in the freezer in a ziplock bag or airtight container for up to 3 months.
FAQ’s
Homemade funtetti pancake mix is full of real ingredients like flour, egg, milk, sugar, baking powder, butter, spices and of course sprinkles. Preservatives and colourings will be in most sprinkles but at least you know the base pancake mix is just real ingredients. You can choose the sprinkles that suit you and more and more preservative free or natural coloured ones are becoming available.
Milk adds a richness in flavour and also gives a more tender texture.
A higher than average ratio of baking powder to flour makes these funfetti pancakes super fluffy. If you want even more fluffiness in your pancakes, separate the egg and whip the egg white to soft peaks before folding it gently into the pancake batter just before adding the sprinkles.
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Ingredients
FUNFETTI PANCAKES
- 195 g plain flour (all purp flour) (5.3oz / 1 ½ cups)
- 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ cup white granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 57 g salted butter, melted (¼ cup / ½ stick)
- 1 cup milk (250ml)
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup rainbow sprinkles + 1 Tablespoon extra
MAPLE BUTTER GLAZE
- ¼ cup salted butter (57g / ½ stick)
- ¼ cup maple syrup (notes)
- 1 cup icing sugar (powdered sugar)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Whipped cream or ice cream, for topping
For best results, always weigh ingredients where a weight is provided
Equipment
- 2 medium or large mixing bowl
- Whisk
- Large ice cream scoop or ladle
- Non stick frying pan or pancake griddle
- Spatula
Instructions
- Sift together dry ingredients then whisk to mix thoroughly. At this point you can put your dry ingredients into a 1L / 1 quart jar with a large opening and store in the pantry until required.
- In a separate large bowl, whisk together the melted butter, milk, egg and vanilla.
- Tip the flour mixture in and whisk to combine. (If using a jar, just add the wet ingredients and give it a good shake). Allow to sit for 10 minutes.
- Sprinkle the ⅓ cup rainbow sprinkles all over the top and just fold in once or twice..
- Heat a light sprinkling of oil in a large non-stick pan over medium heat. Allow it to heat for about 5 minutes before putting in first pancake.
- Scoop ¼-⅓ cups of mixture into pan – an ice cream scoop works well or a ladle. Help them spread just slightly then sprinkle a little of the extra sprinkles over the top of each.
- When bubbles appear and the top look mostly dry, carefully flip the pancakes.
- Cook other side for another minute or so. Don’t overcook, or they’ll end up dry.
- If making a lot of pancakes in one batch, place them on a baking sheet in a warm oven or an oven on very low heat (you don’t want to dry them out).
- FOR THE MAPLE BUTTER GLAZE: In a microwave safe medium bowl or small saucepan on the stove, melt the butter until just 50% melted. Add the maple syrup and heat a little bit more until just melted.
- Add the icing sugar, vanilla and cinnamon and stir in until you have a sauce consistency. If it looks like it’s splitting, just warm in the microwave for 10 seconds and mix well.
- Serve pancakes with some glaze drizzled over and a little whipped cream. You can also serve these with vanilla ice cream or vanilla yoghurt.
- Please take a moment to leave a comment & rating. It's appreciated and so helpful.
Notes
- For best results you should always weigh ingredients like flour and sugar. Kitchen scales are relatively cheap but if you can’t weigh the ingredients, use the spoon and level method (don’t scoop).
- I use a large ice cream scoop to portion out my batter which makes it easy to portion and to drop them into the pan.
- Using a 1/4 cup volume ice cream scoop, you’ll get about 9-10 pancakes or using a ⅓ cup volume scoop will give you 8-9 pancakes.
- Store the dry ingredients, mixed in a mason jar, in the pantry for up to 3 months. Use a container at least 1 litre / 1 quart with a large opening. It needs an airtight lid. Use plastic if kids will be using the jar to shake the pancake mix up.
- Pancakes can be frozen. place a piece of baking paper between each, then place in a ziplock bag and an airtight container for up to 3 months.
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