The best Funfetti Cupcakes are made from scratch! These fluffy, moist and easy to make vanilla cupcakes are studded with rainbow sprinkles for a fun treat. They are perfect for birthdays and so many other celebrations.
Homemade Funfetti Cupcakes are a favorite way to celebrate important events, including birthdays. I mean, who doesn’t instantly feel happier with sprinkled cupcakes in their hand? They’re an instant mood lifter!
I love these festive little cupcakes since they can be made from scratch using simple ingredients you likely already have on hand. While you can make cupcakes from a box mix, nothing beats homemade cupcakes with ingredients you can pronounce and feel good about.
This cake recipe produces soft, fluffy confetti cupcakes that are perfectly moist and flavorful. I use Greek yogurt in the base of the cupcake for added moisture and it is something I do in so much of my baking because it works so well! These Chocolate Greek Yogurt Cupcakes, Pumpkin Cupcakes, and Carrot Cake Cupcakes are just some examples of moist, tender cupcakes made with Greek yogurt.
The base of these funfetti cupcakes is a simple vanilla cupcakes recipe I use often with the addition of rainbow sprinkles. The colorful sprinkles can be rainbow nonpareils or rainbow jimmies. If you are making these for a specific holiday, you can switch up those sprinkles for Halloween or Christmas colored sprinkles too, for example.
The cupcakes are pretty easy to make too which is always something I look for in a recipe! So, no need for shortcuts here. Ditch the boxed mix and make delicious homemade cupcakes that will be an instant party hit!
Ingredients for Funfetti Cupcakes
To make these cupcakes, you will need the following ingredients:
- Butter: room temperature unsalted butter. I prefer using unsalted butter so that I can control the flavor of the cupcakes. In a pinch, you can use salted butter (provided it isn’t overly salted) but if you do, you should omit the added salt in this recipe.
- Sugar: regular granulated sugar. For the frosting you will use powdered sugar (aka icing sugar or confectioner’s sugar).
- Eggs: a whole egg and an egg white are used for the recipe.
- Milk: You can use any type of milk including whole milk, 2% or 1%, for example.
- Greek yogurt: adds moisture to the cupcake. You can replace this with sour cream but I personally always use yogurt as a healthier option.
- Vanilla extract: adds the vanilla flavor to the cupcakes.
- Flour: all purpose flour.
- Baking powder and baking soda
- Salt: a little bit of salt helps enhance the flavor in the cupcakes.
- Rainbow sprinkles: nonpareils or jimmies.
**Note: Ingredient quantities and full instructions are in the recipe card at the end of this post.**
How to Make Funfetti Cupcakes
- Prep the cupcake tin. Preheat oven to 350F and line a 12 cup cupcake tin with cupcake liners.
- Cream the butter and sugar. In the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a large mixing bowl using a hand mixer) cream together the butter and sugar until it is nice and fluffy.
- Add the wet ingredients. Add the egg, egg white, milk, Greek yogurt, and vanilla extract and blend until well incorporated.
- Mix the dry ingredients. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- Combine the wet and dry ingredients. Slowly add it to the wet mixture until everything is incorporated. Using a spatula, gently fold in the sprinkles (careful not to over mix as the sprinkles will stain the batter as the colour seeps out).
- Spoon and bake. Spoon the cupcake batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about 3/4 full. Bake for approximately 17 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Remove from the cupcake pan and transfer to a cooling rack. Cool completely before icing.
Favorite frostings for these cupcakes
I love to top them with a classic vanilla buttercream frosting, cream cheese frosting (you can find my recipe on my Carrot Cake Cupcakes post), or even Whipped Chocolate Ganache Frosting for a fun, chocolatey twist. If you do need a shortcut, using prepared store-bought frosting can be handy in a pinch. That said, as with this cake recipe, you truly can’t beat homemade.
To make the vanilla buttercream frosting I used for my cupcakes:
- Make the frosting. In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter until fluffy for several minutes. Add half of the powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Slowly add the remaining powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and milk, beating until the frosting is smooth and creamy. [Note: If the frosting is too thick, you can add more milk until it reaches the desired consistency. If its too thin, you can add more powdered sugar.]
- Frost the cupcakes. Transfer the vanilla frosting to a piping bag or simply spread the frosting onto your cupcakes with an offset spatula and frost the cupcakes. Add extra sprinkles on top.
Can you turn this into a funfetti cake?
Yes, this cupcake can be converted into a full size cake. It makes a great birthday cake!
To make a cake out of this recipe, you could make a single 9 inch round cake. The confetti cake will require more time to bake. Be sure to check with a toothpick to ensure it has baked in the center.
Storing cupcakes
Cupcakes can be made ahead of time and stored in the fridge in an airtight container.
Can you freeze the cupcakes?
Yes, these cupcakes can be frozen. Once they are baked, allow the cupcakes to cool completely. Then individually wrap each unfrosted cupcake in plastic wrap and place them in a freezer safe container or freezer bag.
If you wish to freeze frosted cupcakes, you can place the cupcakes in a freezer safe container with enough height allowance to prevent the frosting from getting squished. Another way to try to prevent ruining the look of the frosting is to arrange the cupcakes on a baking sheet and freeze them like that first before transferring them to a freezer safe container.
These easy funfetti cupcakes are a favorite of mine and always add some fun to parties. Homemade cupcakes are always better than anything you can get out of a box cake mix, if you ask me. You also gotta love those sprinkles with bright colors! They make me instantly happier!
I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do. Happy baking!
-Cathy
You may also like these other popular cakes and cupcakes:
Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
Chocolate Greek Yogurt Cupcakes
Strawberry Lemon Cupcakes
Carrot Cake Cupcakes
Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
Triple Berry Cake with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
Funfetti Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter softened
- 3/4 cups sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 egg white from a large egg
- 1/3 cup milk
- 1/4 cup Greek yogurt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups flour (all purpose or cake flour)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup rainbow sprinkles
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
- 3/4 cup butter softened
- 3 cups powdered sugar aka confectioner's sugar or icing sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3-4 tablespoons milk
- rainbow sprinkles to decorate
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F and line a 12 cup cupcake tin with cupcake liners.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a large mixing bowl using a hand mixer) cream together the butter and sugar until it is nice and fluffy.
- Add the egg, egg white, milk, Greek yogurt, and vanilla extract and blend until well incorporated.
- In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- Slowly add it to the wet mixture until everything is incorporated. Using a spatula, gently fold in the sprinkles (careful not to over mix as the sprinkles will stain the batter as the colour seeps out).
- Spoon batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about 3/4 full. Bake for approximately 17 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Remove from pan and transfer to a cooling rack. Cool completely before icing.
- Use the vanilla buttercream frosting recipe below or your favorite frosting to top them and be sure to add more sprinkles on top!
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter until fluffy for several minutes. Add half of the powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Slowly add the remaining powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and milk, beating until the frosting is smooth and creamy. [Note: If the frosting is too thick, you can add more milk until it reaches the desired consistency. If its too thin, you can add more powdered sugar.]
- Transfer the frosting to a piping bag or simply spread the frosting onto your cupcakes with an offset spatula and frost the cupcakes. Add sprinkles.
Notes
Note: Metric ingredient measurements are provided as a courtesy using a third-party calculator and are rounded to the nearest unit. The recipes provided on this site have not been tested with metric measurements and their accuracy cannot be verified.
Nutrition
The nutritional information provided is based on third-party calculations and is an estimate only. Accurate nutritional facts will vary based on the particular brands used, portion sizes, measurement accuracy and more.
