These funfetti pancakes are light & fluffy with a classic diner style flavor and tons of rainbow sprinkles, making them the perfect birthday breakfast!
These funfetti pancakes are based off of my ultra fluffy buttermilk pancakes and transformed into the ultimate birthday pancakes! With my secret method & secret ingredient, you can make the fluffiest and most flavorful diner style pancakes right at home. Top with vanilla ice cream, Grade A maple syrup, and even more rainbow sprinkles for the most amazing birthday breakfast!
For more birthday recipes, try Small Vanilla Cake, Birthday Cake Macarons, and Birthday Cake Sugar Cookies.
Jump to Recipe
Ingredient Notes
- All-Purpose Flour: You'll need about two cups of all-purpose flour.
- Malted Milk Powder: This adds that signature malt flavor that makes diner pancakes so good!
- Granulated Sugar: Add just a touch of sugar to help sweeten them, but not in an overwhelming way that would make them taste like cake.
- Leaveners: You'll need both baking powder and baking soda to give these pancakes the perfect rise.
- Buttermilk: Buttermilk is perfect for adding flavor and cutting the sweetness of this recipe.
- Unsalted Butter: Add a few tablespoons of melted butter to give these pancakes a rich, buttery flavor.
- Egg Yolk: You'll need one egg yolk to add to the wet ingredients.
- Vanilla: Add vanilla paste or extract for optimum flavor!
- Egg Whites: You'll need two egg whites to whip into soft peaks and fold in the batter at the end.
- Sprinkles: I recommend using only jimmies sprinkles, as the other types of sprinkles tend to bleed into the batter.
See recipe card for full information on ingredients and individual quantities.
Step by Step Instructions
Here are step by step photos and instructions on how to make this funfetti pancake recipe! For the full ingredient list and method, see the recipe card at the end of this post.
STEP 1: Mix dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, malted milk powder, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
STEP 2: Add the wet ingredients. In a separate large bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, melted butter, egg yolk, and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and whisk until just combined.
STEP 3: Rest and whip. Allow the batter to rest for 15 minutes uncovered at room temperature. Meanwhile, add the egg whites to a small bowl and use an electric mixer to beat until soft peaks form.
STEP 4: Fold. After the batter has rested for 15 minutes, gently fold the whipped egg whites in until half way combined.
STEP 5: Add sprinkles. Then, add the sprinkles and continue folding until everything is evenly distributed.
Expert Baking Tips
- Buttermilk is an important ingredient in this recipe for flavor and texture, however you can substitute with whole milk if you need to.
- If you do not want to whip the egg whites, you can simply add a whole egg to the buttermilk mixture and omit the second egg white. After you let the batter rest for 15 minutes, you can make the pancakes.
- You can omit the malted milk powder if you do not have any on hand, though the pancakes will not have as much flavor.
Recipe FAQs
The key to making these pancakes ultra light & fluffy is by separating the egg, adding an additional egg white, and then whipping the egg whites to soft peaks before folding them into the batter at the end. By whipping the egg whites, the pancakes are able to rise much more than if they just had chemical leaveners. Whipped egg whites also add a velvety, melt-in-your-mouth texture to these pancakes!
One note on separating eggs: be sure that the egg yolk does not break, as any amount of yolk will impede egg whites from whipping. The best way to separate an egg is to break a COLD egg into a small shallow bowl, then use your hand to grab the egg yolk. Move the yolk back and forth between your hands to get all of the egg white in the bowl.
The secret ingredient to making diner style pancakes is by sweetening them with malted milk powder, rather than just sugar. Adding enough sugar to sweeten pancakes makes them taste... well, like cake. But by adding malted milk powder and a very small amount sugar, these pancakes are only subtly sweet with an ultra soft texture. Malted milk powder is generally added to baked goods to add flavor and give them a melt-in-your-mouth soft texture.
It's your birthday! Top your funfetti pancakes with whatever your heart desires. A generous scoop of vanilla (or maybe birthday cake!) ice cream, lots of maple syrup, and of course more sprinkles!
Baking in Grams
All of the recipes on this blog are carefully developed with gram measurements so you can easily recreate them in your own kitchen with success. Volume measurements are extremely inaccurate and leave room for significant errors. Not all measuring cups are made equally, so your one cup of flour will be different from my one cup of flour. By providing precise measurements in grams (aside from minor ingredients, which are given in tsp/tbsp), you can make these recipes accurately and with less cleanup! All you need is this kitchen scale.
If this still isn't enough to convince you, I have provided volume measurements in the recipe card. If you are interested in understanding the conversions, this is the best conversion chart.
But trust me, once you try baking in grams you'll never turn back!
Happy baking! x
Other birthday recipes you'll love:
If you tried this recipe, I'd love to know how it turned out for you! Leave a star rating & review below and post a picture (or video!) on Instagram and tag me so I can see your bakes! Not ready to make this recipe yet? Click the heart button on the right of your screen to save it for later 🙂
📖 Recipe
Funfetti Pancakes
Equipment
Ingredients
- 240 g (2 cups) all-purpose flour
- 30 g (¼ cup) malted milk powder
- 20 g (1 ½ tablespoon) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 450 g (2 cups) buttermilk, room temp
- 30 g (2 tablespoon) unsalted butter, melted
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 teaspoon vanilla paste or extract
- 2 egg whites
- 46 g (¼ cup) rainbow jimmies sprinkles
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, malted milk powder, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In a separate large bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, melted butter, egg yolk, and vanilla.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet and whisk until just combined. Allow the batter to rest for 15 minutes uncovered at room temperature.
- Meanwhile, add the egg whites to a small bowl and use an electric mixer to beat until soft peaks form.
- After the batter has rested for 15 minutes, gently fold the whipped egg whites in until half way combined.
- Then, add the sprinkles and continue folding until everything is evenly distributed.
- Heat a skillet over low-medium heat and lightly grease with butter.
- Use a ¼ cup measuring cup (or small cup) to scoop the batter and pour onto the hot skillet.
- Cook until bubbles form all over the top and the bottom is light brown, then flip over and cook for another minute or so until the bottom is light brown. Repeat with the remaining batter, greasing the skillet in between each pancake.
- Serve immediately with vanilla ice cream, Grade A maple syrup, and more sprinkles!
Notes
- Buttermilk is an important ingredient in this recipe for flavor and texture, however you can substitute with whole milk if you need to.
- If you do not want to whip the egg whites, you can simply add a whole egg to the buttermilk mixture and omit the second egg white. After you let the batter rest for 15 minutes, you can make the pancakes.
- You can omit the malted milk powder if you do not have any on hand, though the pancakes will not have as much flavor.
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