Funfetti Pancakes from Scratch

When it comes to the best birthday breakfast ideas, funfetti pancakes from scratch are the perfect beginning to a special day! These festive and colorful funfetti pancakes are super quick and easy to make from standard ingredients you most likely already have in your pantry. Stacked up a mile high and served on a small cake stand, these gorgeous funfetti pancakes can easily double as a breakfast birthday cake. So get out the sprinkles and surprise someone you love with this fun, celebratory birthday breakfast!

Ingredients for Funfetti Pancakes from Scratch

These are all the ingredients you’ll need to make a yummy batch of fluffy funfetti pancakes from scratch: all-purpose flour, baking powder, granulated sugar, sea salt, large eggs, milk, pure Mexican vanilla extract, slightly-cooled melted butter, and rainbow sprinkles (jimmies). It’s important to use soft cylinder sprinkles (jimmies) rather than the tiny hard round sprinkles (nonpareils). Not only do the little hard balls bleed very easily, they’re also not very pleasant or enjoyable to eat when incorporated into pancakes from scratch. Optional toppings for funfetti pancakes: homemade vanilla glaze, whipped cream, plus more funfetti sprinkles!

How to Make Vanilla Glaze for Your Funfetti Pancakes

Only three ingredients are needed to make a super scrumptious vanilla glaze to drizzle on top of your lovely stack of funfetti birthday cake pancakes: powdered sugar (confectioners sugar), milk, and pure Mexican vanilla extract. Add all ingredients to a mixing bowl. Whisk until the vanilla glaze is creamy, thick and smooth with no lumps.

About This Recipe for Pancakes from Scratch

If you ask my family they’ll all agree – with or without funfetti sprinkles this pancake batter makes the most scrumptious pancakes you’ve ever tasted! I have a sneaky feeling that once you’ve tried this simple pancake recipe you’ll never go back to using a boxed pancake mix again. So let’s get going on making these yummy pancakes from scratch.

How to Make Pancakes from Scratch

In a large mixing bowl add the flour, baking powder, granulated sugar, and salt. Mix briefly until combined. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, vanilla, and melted butter. Pour the egg mixture on top of the flour mixture. Whisk gently and briefly – just until all the ingredients are incorporated. Take care not to over mix the batter or your pancakes from scratch will end up dense instead of beautifully light and fluffy. Your pancake batter will be thick with small lumps, which is perfectly fine. With a silicone spatula, gently and slowly fold the rainbow sprinkles into the batter. Don’t use a stirring motion or the sprinkles might bleed into the batter and leave dark messy streaks!

Essential Cooking Tips for Making Fluffy Pancakes

It’s easy to achieve perfectly fluffy pancakes from scratch! Here are 5 essential tips for making fluffy pancakes:

HOW TO MAKE PANCAKES FROM SCRATCH – TIP #1

Including key ingredients in your pancake batter will result in moist, fluffy pancakes. Baking powder and/or baking soda in pancake batter creates essential bubbles which help make pancakes fluffy and light. Too little will result in a pale flat pancake. Too much will give the pancakes a metallic taste. Eggs are needed to provide your pancakes with structure so they can lift and rise. Melted butter provides necessary moisture and richness and prevents pancakes from developing a crispy dried-out texture.

HOW TO MAKE FLUFFY PANCAKES – TIP #2

The second essential tip for fluffy pancakes is to mix the batter lightly – just until the the ingredients come together. Gluten develops when the wet and dry ingredients mix, and if the gluten over develops it will result in rubbery dense pancakes.

HOW TO MAKE FLUFFY PANCAKES FROM SCRATCH – TIP #3

The third tip for achieving fluffy pancakes is allowing the pancake batter to rest for about 5 minutes before pouring it on the griddle. If you observe the batter you’ll see what I mean. If you skip this resting step, notice the difference in loft between the first set of pancakes and the ones that follow.

HOW TO MAKE HOMEMADE PANCAKES – TIP #4

The fourth tip for light fluffy pancakes is not overheating the griddle. It should be hot, but not overly hot! Grease your griddle with lots of butter. On your stovetop, heat your griddle over medium heat. Once the butter is melted and hot, pour pancake batter onto the prepared griddle using a 1/4 measuring cup. Pancakes cook very quickly, so don’t leave your griddle unattended! As soon as the edges of the pancakes begin to look cooked AND you see bubbles begin to rise up to the surface (a few of the bubbles will just begin to pop), quickly flip over your pancakes on the griddle. I use a flat spatula with a very thin but firm surface. If the bottom of the pancakes are overly brown and bubbles have not yet risen, lower the heat. If the pancakes are pale but bubbles have already risen, turn up the heat just a little bit. Cook your pancakes another two minutes or so until they’re done. Remove the griddle from heat. Butter up the griddle again, pour on more pancake batter, then place the griddle over the heat again and repeat the cooking process.

HOW TO MAKE PANCAKES – TIP #5

The last tip for fluffy moist pancakes is the type of griddle you use. A cast iron griddle works best!

How to Serve Birthday Cake Pancakes

Arrange your gorgeous birthday cake pancakes on either a small cake stand or a shallow plate. Drizzle a small amount of vanilla glaze over the top of the pancakes, allowing the glaze to waterfall over the side of the pancake stack and drip downward. Sprinkle additional funfetti on top of the glaze. If desired, crown the birthday pancakes with a little bit of whipped cream and multi-colored birthday candles.

These beautiful pancakes from scratch are also fabulous for life’s other celebrations: anniversaries, the first day of school, starting a new job, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and Sunday brunch. I like to make them on a whim, because every day there’s always a reason to celebrate!

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Funfetti Pancakes from Scratch

Author Denay | Confetti and Bliss

Yield 16 Pancakes

Ingredients

FUNFETTI PANCAKE BATTER

• 2 + 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 +1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups milk 
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 5 tablespoons melted butter, slightly cooled (plus more butter for greasing the griddle)
• 2/3 cup rainbow sprinkles (jimmies)

VANILLA GLAZE

• 3 cups powdered sugar (confectioners sugar)
• 4+ tablespoons milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Instructions

VANILLA GLAZE

Add the powdered sugar, milk and vanilla to a mixing bowl. Whisk, whisk, whisk until the glaze is smooth without lumps. For a thinner glaze, add a little more milk and whisk again.

FUNFETTI PANCAKE BATTER

1. In a large mixing bowl, add the flour, baking powder, granulated sugar, and salt. Mix briefly until blended.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, vanilla, and melted butter.
3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. For fluffy pancakes, briefly mix until blended taking care not to over mix the batter. The pancake batter will be thick with some small lumps, which is perfectly fine. 
4. With a silicone spatula, slowly, gently, carefully fold the rainbow sprinkles into the pancake batter until just incorporated. Do not stir as this may cause the colorful sprinkles to bleed into the batter.
5. Generously butter a pancake griddle. Place it on your stovetop over medium heat. Once the butter is melted and hot, ladle pancake batter onto your griddle using a 1/4 measuring cup. Allow the pancakes to cook undisturbed for approximately one minute. When the sides of the pancakes begin to look cooked AND you see small bubbles rising to the surface, quickly flip the pancakes over. Allow the pancakes to continue cooking until done (about 2 minutes). Remove the griddle from heat and butter it up again. Pour the batter onto the griddle, and then place the griddle over medium-low heat and repeat the cooking process.
6. Optional: Serve a stack of funfetti pancakes on a cake stand. Drizzle the pancakes with vanilla glaze, allowing the glaze to trickle down the sides of the stack of pancakes. Sprinkle more confetti on top. If desired, add a little whipped cream to the top of the pancakes. Get ready to surprise your special someone with a birthday breakfast!

Courses Breakfast, Brunch, Party

Cuisine American

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FUNFETTI PANCAKES FROM SCRATCH > YOUR THOUGHTS

Do you enjoy making pancakes from scratch? Have you ever enjoyed a stack of funfetti pancakes? Do you have birthday breakfast ideas to share? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below!