Got a birthday party or celebration coming up? Need a mood booster in the form of a sweet treat? Then you have to try these muffins that are equal parts cute and delicious. While I'll always have a soft spot for a classic chocolate chip muffin, these funfetti muffins are a fun treat and guaranteed to brighten your day, party, birthday breakfast - whatever event! From the vibrant colors of the sprinkles to the blast of vanilla flavor, these cheery, fluffy muffins are great for a special occasion or everyday breakfast snack.
Jump to:
- What is Funfetti?
- 📋 Vanilla Funfetti Muffins Ingredients
- Pro Tip for High-Quality Baked Goods - Use a Scale!
- 📖 How to Make Easy Birthday Cake Muffins at Home
- Birthday Cake Muffin FAQ
- More Tips and Tricks for Moist and Fluffy Homemade Muffins
- More Sweet Recipes like these Sprinkle Muffins
- 🥳 More Celebratory Recipes
- Funfetti Muffins
If you liked these colorful party cake muffins, you may also want to try my matcha white chocolate cookies. The bright green is so cheery and pretty.
For more happy recipes featuring lots of sprinkles, try:
- Chocolate Sprinkle Cake - As the name suggests, it's a chocolate cake. With chocolate frosting. Covered in sprinkles. What could be better??
- 4-inch Mini Birthday Cake - A sweet and easy birthday cake, this mini dessert has sprinkles on the inside and out.
- Funfetti Oreo cookies - Sprinkles and Oreos? Another classic combo, packed with all the nostalgia.
- Chocolate sprinkle cookies - Party vibes 🤝 a chocolate cookie. Need I say more?
- Birthday Cake Cookies - This recipe has that classic birthday cake flavor, making it a fitting and fun celebratory treat.
And if you're looking for a more citrusy breakfast idea, check out these very cute mini lemon Bundt cakes. They're great for sharing with a crowd, and everyone gets to enjoy his or her own mini cake!
What is Funfetti?
If funfetti is new to you, you're in for a treat. Funfetti is a type of baked good containing sprinkles.
The term "funfetti" also can refer to the brand, Pillsbury, which first popularized funfetti by incorporating sprinkles into batters and frostings. You can read more about its colorful history in this piece by the New York Times.
Feel free to swap the sprinkle colors in and out for different occasions: rainbow for birthday, red and green for Christmas, or even use a pastel mix for spring. The colors give you so many ways to change up this recipe seasonally!
📋 Vanilla Funfetti Muffins Ingredients
This recipe makes a dozen standard size muffins. You'll find the full list of ingredients in the recipe card below, but I'm calling out some of the noteworthy ingredients:
- Unsalted butter, softened to room temperature - Room temperature butter mixes more evenly with ingredients. Give your butter time to reach room temperature before using it.
- Canola oil - Canola oil helps keep these muffins moist for days!
- Granulated sugar - To keep the insides a light color, we use granulated sugar instead of other options like brown sugar. Also, creaming together sugar and butter traps air. This helps the muffins rise and become tender and fluffy while baking.
- Room temperature egg whites - Funfetti or confetti cakes have a light, airy texture. I tweaked my blueberry chocolate chip muffin recipe to incorporate egg whites to make these birthday cake muffins. Egg whites are key in recreating that soft, nostalgic feel you find in a funfetti recipe for vanilla Funfetti or confetti cake.
- Room temperature buttermilk - Buttermilk tenderizes the gluten in the batter. This process yields a softer texture of the muffins.
- Clear imitation vanilla extract (pure vanilla extract works but is different) - Not only does clear imitation vanilla extract tend to be cheaper, it actually creates a more authentic Funfetti flavor. It also keeps your cake whiter (given that vanilla extract is brown) and retains more flavor when baked at higher temperatures. You can read more about it from Wilton's blog.
- Almond extract - Taking a note from Molly Yeh's funfetti cake recipe, use a hint of almond extract to bring in those sweet and classic Funfetti box cake vibes.
- Rainbow sprinkles - Whether you're making this recipe for birthday parties or a regular weekday, these muffins call for funfetti sprinkles! The pops of color are truly a joy as you bite into these fluffy treats.
Pro Tip for High-Quality Baked Goods - Use a Scale!
Weighing your ingredients and writing or following a recipe using a standard metric like grams is the most accurate way to create the best results when baking. The sizes of measuring cups vary. Using them for a recipe can result in noticeable issues and differing end results for baked goods.
I highly recommend investing $30 or less in a kitchen scale.
📖 How to Make Easy Birthday Cake Muffins at Home
About an hour before beginning this recipe for birthday muffins , bring your buttermilk, eggs, butter, and full-fat Greek yogurt (or sour cream) out of the refrigerator. Place them on your counter so they warm to room temperature.
Preheat your oven to 425°F. Generously grease and flour a standard muffin pan or line with cupcake liners. Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
In the bowl of a stand mixer or large mixing bowl, cream together your sugar, vanilla extract, almond extract, and softened butter on medium-high speed until well-incorporated, about 4 minutes.
Scrape down mixing bowl before adding oil, eggs, and egg whites. Mix together until combined, about 4 mins. Follow up by adding sour cream (or Greek yogurt) and buttermilk and mixing well.
Pour wet ingredients into bowl of dry ingredients. With a wooden or rubber spatula, fold together wet and dry ingredients until just combined. Avoid over-mixing, as it can yield a more dense muffin. The batter will be thick. Gently fold in the sprinkles.
Distribute muffin batter evenly into the pan, filling each muffin liner to the top.
Bake at 425°F for 5 minutes, then, keeping the muffins in the oven, lower the temperature to 375°F. Continue baking for 12-13 more minutes. You’ll know they’re done when the tops are a light golden brown. Test doneness with a toothpick in the center of a muffin, and if it’s clean, remove the pan from the oven.
Keep them in pan for about 10 minutes. Then let them come to room temperature on a cooling rack before storing in an airtight container or serving immediately if desired (but they’ll be even tastier the next day!).
Birthday Cake Muffin FAQ
Oil is key! It gives the muffins a more lightweight texture. It also helps them stay fresh longer. In this recipe, egg whites also contribute a light and airy texture to the end result.
While most sprinkles should work just fine, I recommend a high-quality brand like Wilton. They usually are in grocery stores and are reasonably priced.
For variety, sub in some white, dark, or milk chocolate chips for a portion of your sprinkles if your sweet tooth is craving chocolate!
Baking muffins at a higher temperature for a few minutes before then lowering the temperature helps the top of the muffins rise.
In this recipe, you'll distribute batter evenly into each muffin cup and fill it to the top. You'll bake these muffins at 425°F for 5 minutes, then, keeping the muffins in the oven, lower the temperature to 375°F. Continue baking for 12-13 more minutes.
These muffins will stay nice and fresh for 2-4 days if stored in a cool dry place at room temperature. You may also keep them in your freezer in a freezer-safe container (be sure it's tightly sealed to prevent freezer burn) for up to 3 months.
I love the simplicity of this recipe because the muffins are sweet, moist, and colorful without a glaze or buttercream.
However, you could add homemade vanilla frosting (double the amount from my small batch vanilla cupcake recipe!) or a store-bought version to top them off. You could also use the chocolate ganache from my fudgy chocolate cupcakes for a different take on these.
More Tips and Tricks for Moist and Fluffy Homemade Muffins
- Hold off on biting into these muffins immediately after baking. I know it's tempting! But when you cut into a freshly baked good, you’re releasing its steam. That steam is key in keeping your baked goods stay moist and delicious for longer.
- When possible, prepare these muffins an evening or day before you actually plan to eat them. Allowing the flavors time to meld together makes the taste ultimately a stronger one.
- And if you want a warm muffin the next day, simply reheat them for about 10 seconds in the microwave on medium power.
More Sweet Recipes like these Sprinkle Muffins
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Funfetti Muffins
Looking for birthday cake muffins or fun recipe for a regular weekday? These vanilla Funfetti muffins are a colorful, sweet breakfast treat!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 18 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 12 muffins 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 2 and ⅔ cups (340 g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 stick/8 tablespoon (113 g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 4 T (50 grams) canola oil
- ¾ cup (150 grams) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs and 2 egg whites, at room temperature
- ½ cup (130g) full-fat sour cream or greek yogurt, at room temperature
- ⅓ cup (80 grams) buttermilk, room temperature
- 2 ½ teaspoons imitation clear vanilla extract OR pure vanilla extract (see notes*)
- ¼ tsp almond extract
- 1 cup (160 grams) rainbow sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 425°F. Generously grease and flour a standard muffin pan or line with muffin liners. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together your sugar, vanilla extract, and butter on medium-high speed until well-incorporated, about 3 minutes.
- Scrape down bowl before then adding oil and eggs. Mix together until combined, about 2 mins. Follow up by adding sour cream (or Greek yogurt) and buttermilk and mixing well.
- Pour wet ingredients into bowl of dry ingredients. With a wooden or rubber spatula, fold together wet and dry ingredients until just combined. Avoid over-mixing, as it can yield a more dense muffin. The batter will be thick. Gently fold in the sprinkles.
- Distribute batter evenly into the pan, filling each muffin cup to the top.
- Bake at 425°F for 5 minutes, then, keeping the muffins in the oven, lower the temperature to 375°F. Continue baking for 12-15 more minutes. You’ll know they’re done when the tops are a light golden brown. Test doneness with a toothpick in the center of a muffin, and if it’s clean, remove the pan from the oven.
- Keep them in pan for about 10 minutes. Then let them come to room temperature on a cooling rack before storing in a container or serving immediately if desired (but they’ll be even tastier the next day!).
Notes
Typically, confetti and Funfetti cake recipes call for imitation vanilla instead of pure vanilla extract. The colors vary - imitation vanilla is clear while the true extract is brown. In terms of taste, the flavor in the imitation vanilla is simple and more pronounced. While real extract will taste different, if that's all that you have, use it. You'll still have colorful and delicious vanilla muffins.
Betty D
These are so cute. Love the colors. Not too sweet either. What do you think of a chocolate ganache drizzle on top? Or fudge in the middle to not ruin the fun colors?
Susan
Glad you like them! Chocolate would definitely make them different but would be doable as a drizzle. Check out my chocolate chip muffin recipe if you're looking for more chocolate in a muffin. 🙂
Mike M
Hello, first time baking muffins and they turned out great! I used regular sour cream but in your recipe it says you can substitute greek yogurt. Are they really 1 to 1 subs? Would you taste a difference? Thank you!!
Susan
Thanks for making this recipe! And yes, sour cream and greek yogurt are generally interchangeable ingredients. I can't taste much of a difference between the two in baked goods, as far the flavor and texture that they create.