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There cannot be a better way to kick off a birthday morning than Homemade Funfetti Pancakes! These are from-scratch fluffy pancakes filled with rainbow sprinkles and drizzled with vanilla frosting! A stack of these with a candle on top (and some extra sprinkles, of course!) will light up any birthday breakfast with joy!

Funfetti Pancakes

Breakfast is my favorite meal and classic pancakes are at the top of my list of favorite breakfast foods! Our go-to recipe is this buttermilk pancake recipe, but we also like to make fancy pancakes sometimes – like these Confetti Pancakes or these Strawberry Cheesecake Pancakes.

These fluffy Funfetti Pancakes are inspired by IHOP Birthday Pancakes. They taste like a birthday cake for your special day and they look like fun on a plate with all the sprinkles the vanilla icing and especially a candle on top! These copycat IHOP Cupcake Pancakes are the perfect breakfast for birthday celebrations!

Love these cute pancakes? You may also love this Pancake Birthday Cake I did a few years ago or this fun Funnel Cake (scroll down on that post to see it with birthday sprinkles)!

Video

Homemade Funfetti Pancakes (Birthday Pancakes) on a white plate with vanilla frosting for "syrup"

Why You’ll Love These Birthday Cake Pancakes

Fluffy, tender pancakes filled with colorful sprinkles
Easy to make with pantry staples
They taste like a birthday cake with the vanilla and almond extract.
Topped with easy vanilla frosting and extra sprinkles!
Not only for birthdays – you could make these for any ordinary day or special occasion! Eat them as the perfect way to celebrate the weekend (hello Saturday morning!), the first day of school, Mother’s Day, or Father’s Day!

a stack of funfetti Pancakes (Birthday Pancakes) with a wedge cut out

Tools Needed

Electric Griddle
Hand Mixer
Large Mixing Bowl

Ingredients for Funfetti Pancakes

These delicious confetti pancakes are made with very simple ingredients! Homemade pancake batter is easier than you think and you won’t believe how delicious they are – so much better than boxed pancake mix!

funfetti pancakes ingredients on a white surface in individual bowls

Butter – I almost always use salted butter, but unsalted butter would be fine too.

Sugar

Eggs

Vanilla Extract – you could skip the almond below and use all vanilla extract

Almond Extract – almond extract gives these pancakes that extra special birthday cake flavor but if you don’t like it, you can skip it and double the vanilla extract

Flour – All-purpose flour is what’s needed for this recipe

Baking Powder

Salt

Milk – we always use whole milk, but 2% milk would work just as well in this recipe

Rainbow Sprinkles – sprinkles are what really make these birthday pancakes special. I’d recommend these confetti sprinkles and/or rainbow jimmies.

White Icing – store-bought canned icing makes this recipe really easy to put together but you could certainly make a homemade icing or use this easy cream cheese glaze instead. Or skip the icing altogether and go with traditional syrup

Cooking Spray – use nonstick spray on your griddle if it’s not a nonstick surface

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Ingredient Substitutions

Syrup: if you’re more of a traditionalist, you could skip the vanilla icing “syrup” and use traditional maple syrup or pancake syrup on top of these pancakes!

How to Make Funfetti Pancakes

Start by adding your melted butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla to a large bowl.
Mix the wet ingredients until well combined.
Sift together your flour, baking powder, and salt.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix.
Start adding the milk one cup at a time until you achieve your desired thickness. A little thinner than cake batter.
Add in your sprinkles and fold into your batter.
Heat up your griddle to medium heat and grease well (unless it’s already a nonstick surface).
Pour about ¼ cup of batter onto your griddle.
Let your pancake cook until the top becomes bubbly and the edges cooked, then flip.
Cook until golden brown on both sides and remove from the griddle.
Place your icing in the microwave for 30 seconds until melted. Drizzle over your pancakes and top with sprinkles.
Serve warm and enjoy. Prepare to want these every morning!

wet ingredients whisked in clear glass bowl

dry ingredients sifted into clear glass bowl

dry ingredients sifted into clear glass bowl with wet ingredients

whisked together wet and dry ingredients

sprinkles added to funfetti pancake batter

sprinkles mixed into to funfetti pancake batter

funfetti pancake batter on a hot griddle

stack of funfetti cupcakes on a white plate

stack of funfetti pancakes with white icing poured over top

Pro Tips

These sprinkle pancakes are already so much fun but if you want to go a little bit more “WOW!”, you could add whipped cream to the top of your pancakes or dust them with some powdered sugar!

a wedge of stacked funfetti pancakes on a fork

Storage Directions

Refrigerator: Store any leftover pancakes in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 4 days.

Freezer: If you like to make big batches, you can double or triple this recipe then save them for later in the freezer. The best way to do this is to freeze them in a single layer on a baking sheet. Then once they’re frozen, place them in a freezer bag.

Reheating: It’s hard to believe any of these will be leftover for the next day, but if they are, you can reheat refrigerated or frozen pancakes in the microwave in 15-second intervals until they reach the desired temperature. You can also drop frozen pancakes in the toaster to reheat them like a frozen waffle.

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