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Delicious Homemade Funfetti Cupcakes are so easy to make and perfect for just about any occasion. Dress these cuties up for any holiday or celebration just by changing the color of the sprinkles!
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With school back in session, I find myself thinking of treats I can bring in for the teachers to enjoy.
As someone who spent years in the classroom, I know that teaching can feel like a pretty thankless job, so I like to surprise the staff with treats every so often to thank them.
Sometimes it’s a batch of classic rice krispie treats, sometimes it’s a pan of sugar cookie bars. And sometimes it’s a batch of these homemade funfetti cupcakes.
Complete with sprinkles in their school colors, of course!
WHAT ARE FUNFETTI CUPCAKES?
If you’ve never had funfetti cake before, you might be wondering what exactly “funfetti” is.
“Funfetti” just refers to a white cake with multi-colored sprinkles baked in. You might have grown up calling it “confetti cake.” Or some people just consider it to be birthday cake.
But “funfetti” sounds so much more…well, fun!
Unlike recipes like cherry cheesecake cupcakes that use a yellow cake base, funfetti cupcakes are made with white cake so that the colorful sprinkles really pop!
I’ve shared a couple of other funfetti recipes before with my funfetti cookies and funfetti sugar cookie bars. Others have even gotten in on the funfetti craze with recipes such as funfetti cheesecake and funfetti waffles.
MAKING FUNFETTI CUPCAKES FROM SCRATCH
If you read MBA on a regular basis, you know I’m not one to diss a boxed mix. My Doctored Cake Mix is one of my favorite kitchen magic tricks for a reason.
But I have to say, homemade funfetti cupcakes are so much better. And they’re almost as easy!
Besides, I know the sprinkles alone will make your kids want to help with these cupcakes. And what better way to start teaching basic math skills than by getting them to help you measure ingredients?
What sprinkles should you use?
There’s an entire half cup of sprinkles in this recipe. That’s a lot of sprinkles! But trust me, you want these cute little cupcakes to be full of color!
I find that jimmies-style sprinkles work best in this recipe.
I love using rainbow jimmies for a fun, classic “birthday cake” version of this recipe. But you can use any color sprinkles that you like!
Try red and pink for Valentine’s Day, orange and black for Halloween, shades of green for St. Patrick’s Day, your school colors for school spirit week…you are only limited by your imagination!
How to make these cupcakes
To get the perfect light and fluffy texture in these cupcakes and to make sure the sprinkles stay evenly distributed throughout the cake, we’ll use a slightly different method than we do for banana cupcakes or guinness cupcakes.
Get your ingredients ready by sifting together the flour, baking powder, and salt in one bowl. In another bowl or measuring cup, mix together the milk and vanilla extract. Set both of these aside.
Using a stand mixer or hand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar for about 3 minutes, until light and fluffy.
Alternate adding the flour and milk mixtures, beginning and ending with the flour. To do this, add ⅓ of the flour mixture, then half of the milk, another ⅓ of the flour, the rest of the milk, and finally the rest of the flour. Make sure everything gets incorporated after each addition.
Because white cakes don’t use egg yolks, only egg whites, this next step is where the recipe is different than some others you may have made.
Add the egg whites to a bowl and beat with a hand mixer on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form.
Now we’ll add the whipped egg whites to the batter.
Use a spatula to gently stir ¼ of the whipped egg whites into the batter until no streaks of egg whites remain. This will help to lighten up the batter before we add the rest of the egg whites.
Now gently fold in the rest of the egg whites, one half at a time. Do this by cutting the spatula down the middle to the bottom of the bowl, then sweeping it around, up and over. Turn the bowl 90 degrees and repeat until no streaks of egg whites remain.
Use your spatula to gently fold in the sprinkles. Remember to do this gently so you don’t deflate the nice, light batter you just made!
Use a large cookie scoop or ¼-cup measuring cup to distribute the batter between 24 lined muffin wells. Each one should be about ⅔ full. This will produce a cupcake with a nice flat top, perfect for frosting.
Bake the cupcakes for 18-24 minutes. Make sure to cool the funfetti cupcakes completely before frosting and decorating.
FROSTING AND DECORATING
I personally like to top my homemade funfetti cupcakes with my homemade buttercream frosting.
I think that the white frosting really highlights the colorful sprinkles! Plus, you can top the frosting with more of the colorful jimmies or decorate them with your favorite fancy sprinkle mix.
But don’t feel like you have to use buttercream frosting if you are looking for something different!
Homemade chocolate frosting is a nice touch for chocolate lovers. You could even use cream cheese frosting if that’s your preference!
STORAGE TIPS
If you’ve topped the funfetti cupcakes with buttercream or chocolate frosting, you can store them at room temperature, as long as it’s not too hot in your house.
If you want to be extra safe, though, you can store them in the refrigerator and bring them back to room temperature before serving.
I like to store my cupcakes in a cupcake carrier to keep them covered without ruining the frosting.
Freezing options
Since this recipe makes 24 cupcakes, you may want to freeze half of the batch if you aren’t feeding a big crowd.
Place the cooled, unfrosted cupcakes in a zip-top freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw on the counter overnight.
You can either whip up a batch of frosting when you’re ready to decorate the thawed cupcakes or freeze the frosting alongside the cupcakes.
Freeze frosting in an airtight container. Thaw in the fridge overnight; bring to room temperature and whip with an electric mixer for a minute before frosting.
Whether you’re making these funfetti cupcakes for a special occasion or just to brighten your day, this is one recipe that kids and adults alike will love!
Homemade Funfetti Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ cups cake flour I used Swan’s Down brand
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 ¼ cups whole milk room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 12 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- 4 large egg whites room temperature
- ½ cup sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F with a rack in the center. Line two standard cupcake pans with paper liners.
- In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
- In a measuring cup, combine the milk and vanilla.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter and sugar at medium speed for 3 minutes, or until the butter and sugar are very light and fluffy. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture, beating on low speed. Beat in half of the milk mixture, then beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients until well incorporated. Add the rest of the milk, beating until the batter is fully incorporated and smooth, then add the last of the dry ingredients, beating until the ingredients are thoroughly combined.
- Add the egg whites to a medium bowl and beat with a hand mixer on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form.
- Gently stir ¼ of the whipped egg whites into the cupcake batter with a rubber spatula until no streaks of egg whites remain. This will help lighten up the batter. Gently fold in the remaining whipped egg whites, one half at a time, by cutting the spatula down the middle to the bottom of the bowl, then sweeping it around, up and over. Turn the bowl 90 degrees and repeat until no streaks of egg whites remain.
- Gently fold the sprinkles into the batter. Using a large scoop or ¼-cup measure to distribute the batter between the 24 muffin wells, filling each well 2/3 full.
- Bake for 18-24 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the centers comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack completely before topping with buttercream frosting and decorating.
Video
Notes
- Learn how to measure flour correctly to set you up for success from the start.
- Learn how to bring butter and eggs to room temperature.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
If I wanted to make this in cake form (six inch cake but unsure of how many layers yet), would I need to change anything in the recipe? Also, all the recipes of yours that I’ve made are absolutely incredible! Thank you so much!
I’m so glad you have enjoyed my recipes, Mary! I haven’t baked these as a cake, but the batter should work just fine. You’ll just need to figure out the bake time for 6-inch layers. If you give it at try, I’d love to hear how it turns out for you. Happy baking!
Jamie
Can you use regular all purpose flour instead of cake flour?
Hello! I haven’t attempted this recipe with this substitution, so I am not sure of the result. If you happen to give it a try, I’d love to know how they turned out. Thanks so much for stopping by.
-Jamie
I would make this but in cake form for my friends birth that is coming up and I think I will
@Kylie, did you try this?
Nevermind :) I read through some comments and gather some info. Thanks so much! It’s cooling now…. can’t wait for the hubby to try it!
I avoid dairy products as much as possible and wonder if you can suggest the best non-dairy milk for baking.
Hello! I don’t do a lot of dairy-free baking, so I can’t say for certain which is best. Hopefully someone else here in the comments can provide some recommendations!
Jamie
I have made these cupcakes and your vanilla bean cupcakes several times and they are always so divine! I’m curious about something though. I don’t understand the “science” behind baking, I just make sure to follow the recipes exactly. Most recipes say to mix very gently after you add the flour so the cake doesn’t end up tough, yet your recipe says to beat it well even after the flour is added…and they’re still the perfect texture. Can you please explain it to me? Just curious :)
Hi, Elizabeth! I think the magic to a cake recipe is having a balance of ingredients. While I don’t advocate mixing a cake to death, mixing until incorporated and the batter is smooth leads to a fantastic looking and tasting cake. I’m so glad you enjoy them! Thank you for your kind words.
I have tried many funfetti cupcakes, some good some bad; but these are THE BEST EVER!!! So light & fluffy. Thank you for this awesome recipe, looking forward to trying more of your recipes.
Thank you, Cheron! I’m so glad you liked them!
These looks so cute and delicious! I was wondering, can I use whole eggs instead of egg whites only? Thanks!!
Christina-
I have not tried this substitution, but it will definitely change the texture of the cake if you include the egg yolks.
-Jamie
Can you make these as mini cupcakes?
Ann-
You sure can, you’ll just need to adjust the baking time. I’d start checking them after about 8 minutes. My guess is they’ll bake up in 10-15 minutes. I hope this helps.
-Jamie