Funfetti Pancakes from Scratch
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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!
Best Kitchen Tools for Funfetti Pancakes
Funfetti Pancakes from Scratch
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 16 Pancakes 1x
Description
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
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
- In a large mixing bowl, add the flour, baking powder, granulated sugar, and salt. Mix briefly until blended.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, vanilla, and melted butter.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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!
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Breakfast, Brunch, Party
- Method: Stovetop
- 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!
Love these! My two daughters feel extra special when we make them for breakfast. Or dessert!!! Wondering if you’ve ever tried to replace the milk with buttermilk? I just love using buttermilk in everything baked! Thanks!
These were very good. I am 12, and not a very good cook, but they came out amazing. I used different sprinkles, and spray butter for cooking. They were very fluffy! THX for the great recipe.
Bravo Melody! It’s awesome to hear that at 12 years old you’re already whipping up recipes in the kitchen! In a few short years you’ll be an expert cook. The more you become familiar with how various ingredients work together, you’ll become more and more confident. And then the creativity kicks in. Keep up the great work!
Good recipe but it’s huge! I wanted to make birthday pancakes for my 2 year old and ended up with 14 pancakes. More than enough to thoroughly feed a family of 4. A scaled down option would be nice.
These were really nice, made them for my husband’s birthday in the morning and they were just fluffy and amazing
Joy, thank you so much for coming back to leave a comment and recipe rating. Happy belated birthday to your husband! I hope he had a wonderful day.
These are great! Turned out perfectly tasty and fluffy, and I am a pancake-challenged individual lol. I used canola oil to replace the butter (I was just in a hurry), so i added a bit of butter extract with the vanilla. Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Happy Sunday Carol! Thank you so much for taking the time to come back and let me know that you enjoyed this fun pancake recipe! Many sweet wishes are sent your way for a wonderful week.
Very nice taste! Nice color!
Thank you Taylor! This easy recipe for funfetti pancakes is a joy to make and fun to eat. Perfect for all of life’s little and big celebrations. Enjoy! :-)
I love scratch pancakes! There is nothing better than old fashion homemade pancakes!
These are beautiful. I’d be so happy to have these for my birthday breakfast, let alone my kids. All your tips for achieving the best pancakes are invaluable and coming across this post is perfectly time since Pancake Day is next week here in the UK.
These were such a fun treat for my son’s birthday! They were so festive and everyone raved about them!
OMG I loveeeeee this! those pancakes look awesome! I’m definitely gonna make those I Love pancakes but dont make them very often. That reciepe is a good reason to start, im sure my hips wont thanks me :)
These were so fun and delicious. I made them this weekend for my nephew’s birthday. They were a hit!
I need to make these for my guys. I know my son would be thrilled if I did.
This looks so festive and yummy at the same time. Very timely since we will be celebrating our son’s third birthday this weekend. Thanks for sharing!
These are so fun! I had the nieces and nephews for an overnight stay, they LOVED these pancakes! I loved how easy they are!
Such a great and informative post. Loved the recipe like always. ty :)
Oh these pancakes are so festive! You put a love on preparing it :)
Saving your recipe!
Such a fun breakfast idea! They look so yummy!
The most colorful pancakes I have ever seen. Its tasty as it looks, great for any party!
Once you cut open the pancakes, it looked even more scrumptious. Drizzling the “sauce” just added that extra YUM factor.
This looks absolutely amazing! I cant wait to makes this. It’s almost to beautiful to eat. I LOVE this blog.
Now that is what I’d call an all-star breakfast! It looks epic and delicious all at the same time!
Your pictures make me want to dive into those pancakes like right now. The recipe looks easy so I am definitely trying it (because I am such a bad cook). i am sure my daughter is going to love it too.
I love pancakes and these look so delicious. I would love to try to make them and eat it all. Thanks for sharing.
These pancakes looks so fun! Perfect for a sleepover party
My birthday is coming up next week and I am going to make a HUGE stack of these for myself. These are perfect for a birthday breakfast celebration!
We had pancakes for dinner last night. We always have sprinkles, but I never think to put them in the pancakes. I’m going to try it next time.
Funfetti is so fun! I know that these would be a complete hit in our home. I’m thinking these would be perfect for a special breakfast for Valentine’s Day!
These pancakes look too pretty to eat!!
My daughter always requests pancakes for her birthday every year, so these would be perfect! I bet she would love to wake up to these!
The fluffy funfetti pancakes from scratch looks so fun to eat! I really hope to make one this weekend!
Wow ,my son would love this for breakfast every single day so I guess I will be using this to make him have something for breakfast. They look so yummy.
Omg these look so fun!! I might get my hubby to make these for me for my bday lol!
Lauren
This looks fun to prepare for the whole gang! Now, it’s time for a Funfetti pancake party!
Yes! I am a big kid and love anything with sprinkles! I am going to be making this very soon! I love pancakes to begin with. Add sprinkles, and I’m totally giddy.
These people look super pretty!
Aren’t these so fun! They’d make a great surprise breakfast for someone’s birthday! They look amazing!
February is a huge birthday month for us…these pancakes would make the perfect breakfast treat for my littles!
That looks delicious! I am definitely going to bookmark this! Thanks for sharing
These pancakes look absolutely amazing! Such a fun idea, and would make a wonderful surprise for someone’s birthday.
These look SO good! I know my sisters will love these – we’ll have to make them the next time they’re over!
Ok. I am officially obsessed with your blog! Also, if I were a food item, this is what I would be. Thanks for the great tips too!
How cute are these? I’m definitely going to make these over the weekend. My 2 year old will LOVE them!
Very colorful! Makes me wanna have a birthday today lol
Perfect timing! My daughter’s birthday is tomorrow and my sons is sunday. I always make them pancakes. This looks delicious!
These look so yummy! We love to make funfetti pancakes for birthday breakfasts. I’ll have to give this recipe a try next time!
Funfetti is my FAVORITE!! I have got to give these a try!
This is just the recipe I’ve been looking for! The children I babysit/tutor in English LOVE funfetti anything – these are going to blow their minds :D