Funfetti Pancakes
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Make your day extra special by starting it with funfetti pancakes! Soft & pillowy vanilla-almond scented pancakes with rainbow sprinkles!
Today's recipe makes a perfect start to a special day: Funfetti Pancakes!
This recipe is made from scratch rather than using a cake mix, but I promise you it's so easy! And saves time having to go to the store to buy a box mix.
The ingredients are simple, wholesome, and they make the end result taste absolutely fantastic.
In addition to a ton of colorful rainbow sprinkles, there's also a sweet vanilla-almond perfume and a rich, buttery flavor. Just like your favorite birthday cake, but in pancake form!
And they cook up gloriously fluffy and light. These funfetti cake pancakes are seriously perfect, in every way!
So if someone you love is having a special day, you'll definitely want to mark the occasion with an equally special breakfast recipe. I think these funfetti mini pancakes are perfect, but if you're looking for other ideas, be sure to have a look at my chocolate babka, my lemon poppy seed muffins, or my cheese Danish with the most adorable raspberry hearts.
Table of Contents
- What are funfetti pancakes?
- Why this is the best funfetti pancake recipe
- What do funfetti cake pancakes taste like?
- Ingredients
- Special equipment
- How to make funfetti pancakes
- How to serve funfetti pancakes
- Expert tips
- Frequently asked questions
- A few more of our best breakfast recipes
What are funfetti pancakes?
This recipe was inspired by the 80's classic funfetti cake.
It was a vanilla cake that was dotted all throughout with festive rainbow sprinkles, and everyone went crazy for it!
These have all the same hallmarks, but in pancake form! So you can has funfetti for breakfast!
Why this is the best funfetti pancake recipe
- Tastes amazing: Buttery, light, and pillowy-soft, with lots of warm vanilla and a hint of sweet almond.
- Few ingredients: Just a handful of pantry staples!
- Easy to make: They come together in around half an hour.
- Special: A really fun way to celebrate a special day!
What do funfetti cake pancakes taste like?
These pancakes cook up light and soft, with a very vanilla-almond forward taste.
There's also a rich, buttery back note that allows all the lovely flavors to linger on your palate.
Ingredients
Flour: All-purpose flour gives structure to the pancakes, but if you need to, a gluten-free flour blend should also work well. Or, you could use whole wheat flour. You may just need a bit less if you go that route.
Sugar: A little bit of granulated sugar sweetens the pancakes but also keeps them moist and helps them to brown. Swap in any kind of sweetener you prefer. As long as it can sub 1:1 it should work just fine.
Leavening: A combination of baking powder and baking soda helps these pancakes to rise sky-high and light as a cloud!
Salt: I like kosher salt best because it's cheap, easy to find, and doesn't have any bitter-tasting additives such as iodine. This ingredient will balance and intensify all the yummy flavors of funfetti.
Jimmies: Rainbow jimmies (aka: sprinkles) are the key ingredient here.
Buttermilk: Adds moisture to the pancakes and has a slight acidity that works together with the leavening to help the pancakes rise. If you don't have it, check out this substitution: How to Make Homemade Buttermilk.
Butter: Melted unsalted butter prevents sticking to the pan and also gives the most incredible flavor!
Eggs: Large chicken eggs (or a 1:1 plant-based substitute) lend richness and structure. It's best if they're at room temperature, but I don't find this to be critical.
Flavorings: A combination of vanilla and almond extracts give this dish a real bakery cake flavor.
Special equipment
- Measuring cups and spoons: Follow my guide on how to measure ingredients.
- Bowl: You'll need a large mixing bowl in which to make the batter.
- Whisk: For mixing everything together.
- Skillet: The bigger your skillet, the more pancakes you can make at once.
- Scoop: A ¼-cup trigger scoop ensures all your pancakes are consistently sized.
- Spatula: For flipping.
How to make funfetti pancakes
This easy recipe comes together in 3 simple steps.
Step 1: Combine dry ingredients
Start by whisking the flour, sugar, leavening, salt, and sprinkles together in a large bowl.
Step 2: Whisk in liquid ingredients
Make a well in the center of the mixture, and pour in the buttermilk, melted butter, eggs, vanilla, and almond extract.
Working from the center outwards, mix these liquid ingredients together, gradually bringing the flour mixture in.
Step 3: Cook
As soon as the batter is barely combined, start preheating your skillet over low heat.
Grease it lightly with butter and scoop the batter onto the hot pan. After a minute or two, gently flip the pancakes so they can cook on the other side.
You'll know they're done when they've puffed way up and they feel springy in the center.
How to serve funfetti pancakes
For what you see here, I just gave my funfetti pancakes a little dusting of powdered sugar and a few extra sprinkles.
But you have lots of options!
A drizzle of syrup or honey would also be fantastic. As would a handful of fresh fruit! Or a dollop of whipped cream!
And you'll want something savory to go along with. A few strips of crispy bacon or a couple links of breakfast sausage would round everything out beautifully.
Expert tips
Don't overmix: If you overmix your batter, it could activate the natural glutens in the flour and your pancakes could come out chewy. This is nice if you're talking yeast bread recipes, but not for pancakes. So whisk it together in as few strokes as possible for soft, tender pancakes. It's totally fine if the batter looks lumpy or has a few streaks of flour in it.
Preheat the pan: I like to give the pan a solid 5 minutes to preheat, to avoid those dreaded weird first few pancakes of the batch. Greasing it with butter adds a nice crispy quality and rich brown butter flavor.
Use up all the batter right away: Sadly pancake batter does not last long. The leavening starts working as soon as the liquids hit it, and it's spent within the hour. So cook up all the batter right away, and you can save any extra pancakes you may have according to the instructions below.
Frequently asked questions
This is a classic case of a too-hot pan!
It can be a little bit of a fiddle to get the pan to the perfect temperature. I find setting the burner to "low" but giving it plenty of time to preheat solves the issue!
This problem is probably due to not preheating the pan long enough.
Or it could be that your stove is just not quite as powerful and you need to bump up the heat slightly.
If your pan is the right temperature, your pancakes should be golden on the bottom after around 2 or 3 minutes. You can then flip them, and after another 2 or 3 minutes they should be golden on the other side as well as fully cooked all the way to the center.
You absolutely can! These keep beautifully in a 170-degree F oven on a wire rack, for around an hour or so.
Or, slip them into a zip-top bag and refrigerate them for up to a week.
They can also be frozen! Funfetti pancakes will last in the freezer for around 2 months.
Thaw in the fridge and reheat in the toaster, for a fun, easy, and quick busy-morning breakfast!
This recipe makes around 20 4-inch diameter funfetti pancakes.
I've figured on a serving size of 1 pancake, for the sake of providing accurate nutritional info. So that reflects a serving of 1 pancake, or 1/20th of the entire batch. Multiply it out accordingly, and know that it's for the pancakes only. No toppings are included.
A few more of our best breakfast recipes
- Blueberry Buckle
- Double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
- English Muffins
- Easy Cruffin Recipe
As an amazon associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Funfetti Pancakes
Ingredients
- 2 ⅓ cups (291.67 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons (24 g) granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons (8 g) baking powder
- ½ teaspoon (2 g) baking soda
- ½ teaspoon (3 g) kosher salt
- ½ cup (80 g) rainbow jimmies
- ¼ cup (56.75 g) unsalted butter, melted
- 2 cups (480 g) buttermilk*
- 2 (88 g) eggs, large
- 1 teaspoon (4 g) vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon (1 g) almond extract
Instructions
- Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and rainbow jimmies together in a large mixing bowl.
- Make a well in the center, and pour in the buttermilk, melted butter, eggs, vanilla, and almond extract.
- Starting in the center and working outwards, whisk the liquid ingredients together, picking up the flour mixture as you go, until just barely incorporated.
- Place a large skillet over low heat and preheat it for 5 full minutes.
- Butter the skillet lightly, then scoop ¼-cup of the batter at a time onto the hot surface.
- Cook until set and golden on the bottom (around 2 to 5 minutes), then flip gently and cook the other side.
