Make homemade Funfetti Cupcakes at home with ease – no boxed mix required! They’re perfectly light and fluffy and loaded with plenty of bright sprinkles! Top them off with the creamiest vanilla buttercream frosting for dessert perfection.
Who said Funfetti Cupcakes were just for birthday celebrations? These cupcakes are sure to brighten up even the most dreary of days. And, they’re simple enough to make for any occasion. Get your kids involved by having them help frost the cupcakes – and, of course, by having them help decorate with sprinkles – they are, after all, the most important part!
Just look at that light, fluffy texture!! And it’s so easy to achieve – I’ll show you exactly how I make these!
How to Make the Best Funfetti Cupcakes:
No mix required here – just a cast of basic ingredients! First, cream butter and sugar together. Next, add egg whites and vanilla, then greek yogurt (or sour cream). With each addition, make sure to mix until the ingredients are just combined – over mixing can lead to dense cupcakes, and we want these to be light and fluffy in texture! The photo on the left below shows what the batter will look like after all these things are added – before we add any of the dry ingredients. The photo on the right shows what the batter will look like after adding the dry ingredients!
Last, add the milk and then stir in the sprinkles! The batter tastes so amazing – but try to resist eating it all! The finished cupcakes are worth it.
Spray a muffin tin with nonstick spray and then place muffin papers in. Using both is helpful in this recipe because the sprinkles in the batter tend to stick to the exposed part of the muffin tin when the cupcake rises up in the oven. Be sure to only fill the cups 2/3 of the way full, so the cupcakes don’t run out over the tops of the muffin papers when baking. They’re done when a toothpick inserted comes out clean or with crumbs on it – not wet batter, about 20 minutes.
Let the cupcakes cool and then gently remove them from the pan. While they finish cooling completely, make the frosting! My secret to the best frosting ever is to always use a little bit of cream cheese with the butter. I personally can’t handle traditional buttercream frosting – it’s so sweet it hurts my teeth! Adding a bit of cream cheese helps cut through the sweetness and makes the frosting extraaaa creamy.
When you’re ready to frost the cupcakes, you can use a piping bag and frost them, or you can just frost them with a butterknife or offset spatula. Totally up to you – work with whatever you already have on hand! If you have a piping bag, snip the tip off, insert your piping tip, and then put the piping bag in a drinking glass, folding the top over the outside of the glass. Now, you can easily add frosting to the bag using a spoon or spatula – without making a huge mess!
Remove the piping bag from the glass and twist where the frosting stops, so that frosting doesn’t make its way up and out the top of the bag while you’re working with it. Start on the outside edge of the cupcake, and pipe in whatever direction feels natural (I actually usually go counter-clockwise), while working your way inwards and upwards. Please note that it’s taken me lots of practice to get my piping “skills” to where they’re at. I chuckle at calling them skills because I still had to scrape frosting back off quite a few of these because I thought it was too messy. Let’s just say sprinkles cover a multitude of sins, LOL.
Besides, no one cares how these look. But, they’re sure to LOVE how they taste!!????
Like I said, you do NOT need to go buy any special tools to make these. However, here’s what I used if you’re curious.
Tools for Frosting Cupcakes:
- Offset Spatula – A great option if you don’t want to pipe frosting on!
- Piping Bag – An essential, if you’re choosing to pipe your frosting on.
- Piping Tips – The 2D piping tip and the 1M piping tip by Wilton are both great options – and are incredibly similar. I used 2D for these cupcakes, but the 1M is a good option as well.
- Sprinkles – I used these rainbow jimmies from Wilton and mixed them together. The gold stars you see on the cupcakes are from a tub of rainbow sprinkles that I bought a while back at Walmart. This tub of pre-mixed rainbow jimmies would be another good option – and they’re free of artificial dyes!
These cupcakes would make a great baking project for this weekend – get the kids involved with the frosting and the sprinkles! I hope these cupcakes help brighten your day! Be well – and keep on baking ❤️.
Did you make this recipe? Snap a photo and leave a comment!
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The Best Homemade Funfetti Cupcakes
Ingredients
For the Funfetti Cupcakes
- 1 and 3/4 cup cake flour see note for substitution
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- pinch salt
- 9 TBSP salted buter, softened
- 1 cup granulated or cane sugar
- 3 egg whites
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup + 3 TBSP full fat sour cream or greek yogurt
- 1/2 cup milk
- 3/4 cup rainbow sprinkles + more for decorating
For the Frosting
- 2 sticks salted butter, softened 16 TBSP or 1 cup
- 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 1 TBSP milk
- 4 tsp vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Prep: Spray a muffin/cupcake pan with nonstick spray and line with paper liners or reusable silicone liners. (Using nonstick spray is helpful here because the sprinkles like to stick to the exposed parts of the muffin pan when the cupcakes rise while baking). Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Make the Cupcakes: In a medium bowl, whisk together dry ingredients. In a large mixing bowl, cream the softened butter with mixer until creamy, 2-3 minutes. Add the sugar and cream again until well combined, light and fluffy - about 2 minutes. Add the egg whites and vanilla and mix until JUST combined. Over mixing can lead to dense, non-fluffy cupcakes. Add sour cream or greek yogurt and mix until just combined. The batter may have some lumps - that's normal. Add the dry ingredients, and mix until just combined. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl well with a spatula. Add the milk and mix until just combined. Stir in the 3/4 cup of sprinkles.
- Bake: Fill muffin papers 2/3 of the way full with batter. Bake for 18-21 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean or with fluffy crumbs, not wet batter. Let cupcakes cool completely before frosting. (I let them cool in the pan until they won't burn my hands, then I remove them and let them sit on the counter to finish cooling.)
- Make the Frosting: Cream softened butter and softened cream cheese together in a large mixing bowl. Sift in half of the powdered sugar, mix well, then add the milk. Add remaining powdered sugar and vanilla and a small pinch of salt. If you're waiting to frost the cupcakes for a bit, cover the frosting and chill it in the fridge. Let it sit back out for a few minutes before using so it's not hard as a rock.
- Frost the Cupcakes: Frost the cooled cupcakes using a butter knife or offset spatula. You can also use a piping bag and this piping tip to get the same look that I did. Top with sprinkles!
- Serve + Store: Enjoy cupcakes immediately once frosted! Store in airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week.
- Make Ahead Tips: Cupcakes can be made a day ahead and kept in an airtight container at room temp. Frosting can be made a day ahead and kept in an airtight container in the fridge. Let it set out about 15 minutes to soften up a bit before using.
Notes
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