Homemade Funfetti Cupcakes (from scratch!)
Believe it or not, I had no idea what funfetti was until about seven years ago. Once I started to read food blogs, I discovered this phenomenon, which is basically a boxed white or yellow cake with flecks of rainbow colors baked right in. Not surprisingly, these cakes, cupcakes and cookies are extremely popular with kids and a lot of people have fond memories of enjoying them at childhood birthday parties. I probably missed this whole trend for a variety of reasons: (1) my mom always ordered our birthday cakes from the same bakery, year after year; (2) I was never a fan of cakes, so once I was old enough to realize there were options outside of traditional birthday cakes, I started requesting ice cream cakes and cheesecakes for my birthday; (3) I don’t remember my mom ever baking a cake from a box mix. Like, ever. Maybe she did and I just don’t remember it, but I don’t think they were really on her radar, either.
I can see why the funfetti concept is so popular – who doesn’t love bright colors and sprinkles?! It’s so festive and fun and totally appropriate for any birthday party (kids or adults, I say). I’ve never had the box mix version, but was all-in on creating a homemade version. Sprinkle fun!
Truth is, funfetti are totally easy to make right at home, all you need is a basic vanilla cupcake recipe and some rainbow sprinkles. I’ve been trying out some different vanilla cupcake recipes and really love this one that I stumbled upon over at Cookies and Cups. Shelly adapted it from the Back in the Day Bakery cookbook, and I think they’re fabulous. They have a really distinct butter flavor (score!) and are nice and moist. The only thing that could make them better? Sprinkles!
Save This Recipe
Enter your email address, and we'll send it straight to your inbox!
Once the cupcakes were baked and cooled, I topped them with my favorite vanilla buttercream frosting and more sprinkles, of course.
Whether you’re celebrating a birthday, or just another special kind of day, I can’t think of anything more fun and cheerful than these. I also love that they kind of look like ice cream cones with sprinkles on top :)
One year ago: Vanilla Cream-Filled Doughnuts
Two years ago: Peanut Butter and Jelly Cupcakes and Broccoli Cheese Soup
Three years ago: Traditional Mardi Gras King Cake
Four years ago: Asiago Bagels
Five years ago: Baked Oatmeal
Six years ago: Royal Crown’s Tortano
Funfetti Cupcakes (from scratch!)
Ingredients
For the Cupcakes:
- 1¾ cups (218.75 g) cake flour
- 1¼ cups (156.25 g) all-purpose flour
- 1¾ cups (350 g) granulated sugar
- 2½ teaspoons (2.5 teaspoons) baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup (227 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into ½-inch cubes
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup (244 ml) whole milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ cup (80 g) rainbow sprinkles
For the Vanilla Buttercream Frosting:
- 2 cups (454 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 5 cups (600 g) powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
- Rainbow sprinkles, for decorating
Instructions
- Make the Cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a cupcake pan with paper liners; set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the flours, sugar, baking powder and salt, and mix together on low speed for 1 minute. With the mixer on low, add the butter, a few cubes at a time, continuing until all the butter has been added and the mixture resembles coarse sand.
- Keeping the mixer on low speed, add the eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl between additions. Slowly pour in the milk and vanilla and mix until combined. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes, until batter is smooth, scraping the sides of bowl as needed. Using a rubber spatula, gently stir in the sprinkles.
- Fill the liners two-thirds full (about ¼ cup of batter) and bake for 15-20 minutes, until the centers are set and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.
- Make the Frosting: Using the wire whisk attachment of your stand mixer, whip the butter on medium-high speed for 5 minutes, stopping to scrape the bowl once or twice. Reduce the speed to low and gradually add the powdered sugar. Once all of the powdered sugar is incorporated, increase the speed to medium-high and add the vanilla, mixing until incorporated. Whip at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes, scraping the bowl as needed.
- Frost the cupcakes as desired (I used the Ateco #808 decorating tip) and garnish with additional sprinkles. Frosted cupcakes can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @thebrowneyedbaker on Instagram so I can see it!
Cupcake was good but this recipe didn’t make 24
Hey dear ,
I would like to thank you for this recipe ,I was searching for top 10 cup cakes and suddenly I visited your website.well it’s good .I read all the detail procedure of cupcake.my request is please upload videos ,that can be more easy to understand and trying these recipes at home also.
Love from India..
Once again thank you.
Made terrible, dry cookie-like cupcakes.
How much cotton candy extract would you recommend I add to the frosting? And in place of vanilla?
The cupcakes turned out very tasty and fluffy
Yumm…these looks like real fun-baking. Surely going to bake this weekend.😋
Yumm, the looks like ral fun baking. Going to bake this weekend.😋
I was wondering, do I need to use kosher salt or is sea salt okay? Also, my icing came out way too sugary and runny, but I used the right measurement, so I’m a bit confused. Otherwise, the recipe was great!
Hi uh..wondering do i have to use cake flour and is there another substitute for it? also can i use almond flour instead of all purpose flour i only have almond flour.
Hi Lisa, Cake flour really helps to give these a light and tender crumb. All-purpose flour will make give them a slightly heavier/denser texture. I cannot speak to baking with almond flour, because I’ve never done so.
Hi! I’ve made this many times as cupcakes and it’s always great. Can I use this recipe for a cake and what do I do?
Yes, you can! You can use this for a 9×13-inch cake or 8″ or 9″ layer cake. Bake times will be a bit longer. Enjoy!
Hello,
I made cupcakes twice and love texture. if I am making a cake, should I split dough for 2 parts or bake everything as one layer and cut after?
I swear this was different recipe with yogurt and and almond extract? Did it change? Where’s the old one if so?
Nope, I never had a cupcake recipe with yogurt and almond extract, must have been a different site!
You might be thinking of Sally’s Baking Addiction funfetti but while that’s a good recipe too, this one is easier.
The cupcakes were not moist at all! I wouldn’t try this again at all! The cake taste like cornbread and once they cooled down they were rock hard! Ughhhh disappointing
Hi love the recipe it’s delicious awesome and was fun to make
Hello. I am making these for my son’s birthday but a few of his friends have allergies to corn starch and corn syrup. This recipe looks safe. I just wanted to double check. Thank you.
Just be careful with the powdered sugar. Almost all powdered sugar sold in grocery stores have added cornstarch. You can buy powdered sugar in Trader Joe’s without cornstarch. I need to do this when I bake for a friend. I have learned to always check the labels.
These cupcakes are easy to make, delicious and so pretty!
Thanks so much for this recipe it was very good. The cupcakes had a pound cake type consistency and taste which I’m thinking was because of the way the butter was put in. Do you know of a way to make this more like a cupcake and springy cake type texture? Or did I do something wrong?
We made the fun fetty cupcakes and they were delicious this website helped us make them
HI! Recipe looks great…do you know what the cook time would be on these for 2-8 or 9 inch rounds for cakes? Would this recipe be enough for two rounds? Thank you in advance!
Hi Amanda! This would be enough for two rounds. Bake time I’m estimating would be around 23-28 minutes for 9-inch and 26-31 minutes for the 8-inch. Enjoy!
disappointing. Pretty sure I followed recipe as written. cooked for time allocated, and removed from oven: still wet. Added 5 more minutes. Still wet. Added 3 more minutes and removed, because it HAD to be cooked by now, right? Nope. As they cooled, the finished product significantly depressed. Eventually, the wetness underneath rose to the surface. I have wet, soggy cupcakes. Will not be repeating.
The yield for me was closer to three dozen. I added a little almond extract and a little extra sprinkles. Did not have any texture issues, as these are as fluffy and delicious as you want them to be!
tasted like Play Doh. Hard as rocks. The batter was thiccccc and resembled pizza dough. Still ate them all tho lmaoooooo
Ok I made these last night with many interruptions from my kids. I followed the recipe exactly and they turned out great! I haven’t frosted them yet but had to taste one. This recipe made perfect light and moist cupcakes. I baked 12 with lots of batter left over to bake more. Will definitely be adding this to my go to recipes. Thank you!
Hi there – I made these and had the same problem that others had – with them staying flat – even after baking them for longer than the recommended time and following the ingredient directions exactly. Also, I found that this recipe would have easily made 30 regular cupcakes. The batter was very thick. I actually ended up over-filling some of mine a bit and still made several more than suggested. They are delicious, though! And so cute! I know everyone is going to love them tomorrow. Next time I will keep in mind some of the issues I encountered. I’m sure they will be perfect. Thanks!
the cupcakes came out very thick and dense not as fluffy and thin like a typical box cake would any reason for this? it was almost like a pound cake consistency super thick
My little sister asked for lemon funfetti cupcakes, would I be able to just add lemon extract to the recipe to make that work? Was thinking of cutting the vanilla amount in half, and half of it would be lemon extract. Never tried converting a vanilla recipe to lemon.
Hi Christina, Yes, that would totally work! Happy birthday to your sister!
I’ve always liked the flavor of funfetti cake, but never the texture of cakes made from a mix (sponge cake is really a good name for them). These have a moist, more dense texture, which I loved. Thank you!