This is the best Funfetti Cupcake recipe I’ve ever made! The vanilla cupcakes are soft and moist, filled with colorful sprinkles, and topped with a delicious vanilla buttercream frosting.

I used these easy funfetti cupcakes for my daughter’s birthday party, along with my Soft sugar cookies with buttercream frosting, and my Unicorn bars. They’re the perfect birthday cupcake for any gender and age birthday celebration.

Which type of sprinkles should you use?

The best kind of sprinkles for these cupcakes are jimmies. Jimmies are the sprinkles that have a rod shape and come either in many colors or chocolate; the reason for this is because they bleed minimally compared to sprinkles like Nonpareils (the tiny balls with lots of colors), which bleed quite a bit into the cupcake batter. You might end up with a weird color of cupcakes instead of white sprinkle cupcakes.

You can add both the jimmies or Nonpareils to decorate the cupcake, on top of the buttercream.

Use room temperature ingredients

Using room temperature butter, eggs, sour cream and milk is an absolute must for having delicious cupcakes! Your ingredients will mix more evenly and will have your cupcakes with a perfect texture, consistency and rising.

As for the buttercream, having room temperature butter will avoid having a lumpy buttercream. Instead, you’ll end with a creamy, lump-free frosting.

Leave the ingredients out of the fridge for 1 hour prior to using -this could vary depending on the room temperature you’re working in.

Ingredients you’ll need for these Confetti Cupcakes

Simple ingredients, found in every big grocery store, are needed to make these homemade cupcakes:

All-purpose flour. This will bind all of your ingredients together
Baking powder. Gives the light and fluffy texture
Salt. Enhances flavors
Granulated sugar. Will sweeten the cupcakes
Unsalted Butter. At room temperature
Eggs. Whole eggs and at room temperature so they mix more evenly with the rest of the ingredients. They also help give more volume to the cupcakes
Egg whites. Also at room temperature; these will keep the cupcakes light and airy.
Vanilla extract. Good quality, pure vanilla extract for better results.
Sour cream. Room temperature. It will make the cupcakes softer and richer
Whole milk. Full fat and at room temperature
Rainbow jimmies. Do not substitute for nonpareils or any type of sprinkle that could bleed out and ruin your cupcakes
Powdered sugar. Sifted, to avoid any lumps in your frosting
Heavy whipping cream. To moisten the frosting and give it a creamier texture

Take a look at the recipe card below for specific amounts.

How to make the best Funfetti cupcakes

Start by pre-heating the oven to 400 F and lining 2 cupcake tins with cupcake liners. Mix the dry ingredients in a medium bowl and set aside.

Mix the dry ingredients in a medium bowl and set aside.

On medium speed in a separate bowl and with the paddle attachment, mix butter and white sugar for around 3 minutes, until the butter’s color turns into a lighter shade. Add eggs, egg whites, and vanilla extract.

Add sour cream and mix.

With the stand mixer running at low speed, add the flour mixture and milk to the wet ingredients, alternating them, starting and finishing with the flour and mixing until just incorporated. It is important that you don’t over-mix the batter at this point. Fold in the jimmies with a spatula.

Fill the cupcake liners 2/3 full and bake cupcakes for 5 minutes, then lower the oven temperature to 350 F and bake for an additional 9-10 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove the cupcakes from the cupcake tins and let cool completely over a wire rack before frosting.

In the meantime, start making the buttercream. Over a large bowl, cream butter until light and fluffy. Gradually, add the sifted powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and salt and start mixing in low, then turn the speed up to medium-high. Add heavy cream, one Tablespoon at a time; stop when reaching the desired consistency.

Using a piping bag and a 1M tip, pipe a high swirl of vanilla buttercream into the completely cooled cupcakes and add some extra sprinkles on top.

What is the secret to moist cupcakes?

There are a few tips and tricks for making moist cupcakes, like using room-temperature ingredients, not over-mixing the dough, or measuring the ingredients correctly. But if you followed the recipe and did everything you needed to, the extra on these cupcakes for a moist and perfect texture is the addition of sour cream.

Sour cream is a fatty dairy product that helps achieve a perfectly moist and rich cupcake. The fat in it makes it richer and creamier, it adds moisture without thinning the batter. It also helps cut through the sweetness of the cupcakes for a perfect flavor.

Tips to bake the perfect Cupcakes

I’ve learned these tips over the years and they have helped me bake the best cupcakes every time.

You might’ve read in the step-by-step instructions to start baking the cupcakes for 5 minutes at 400 F, then lower the temperature to 350 F and bake for an additional 9-10 minutes. This will help keep the cupcakes from sinking in the middle and having a better rise
Changes in temperature could mess up your cupcakes, so do not open the oven door until the cupcakes are almost ready.
Ever had cupcake liners peeling off of your cupcakes? moisture does that! to prevent it, remove the cupcakes from the tins as soon as possible; I like flipping my cupcake pan over the counter as soon as the cupcakes are out of the oven, then placing them over a wire rack to cool completely
Storing warm cupcakes will also lead to moisture, which will lead to cupcake liners peeling away. Store the completely cooled cupcakes in an airtight container.
Use an ice cream scoop to fill the cupcake liners. This will help measure the same amount of batter every time and have similar-sized cupcakes.
Wait until the cupcakes are completely cooled before frosting them

How to store any leftover cupcakes

Frosted cupcakes can be stored in an airtight container with a lid, at room temperature for 3-4 days. Make sure the container is high enough for the cupcakes to fit without squishing the buttercream.

Can I freeze frosted cupcakes?

I find that freezing the cupcakes is a better way to store them than refrigerating them. The fridge will dry them out, while the freezer will help them retain all of their moisture.

Cupcakes and buttercream freeze pretty well, you’ll just need an airtight container with a lid deep enough to fit the whole cupcake. You want to freeze them in a single layer and avoid placing one cupcake on top of the other.

You need to make sure that the cupcakes are well covered, or they could absorb any bad odors from the freezer. If you feel that your container doesn’t close tight enough, you can use a layer of plastic wrap between the lid and the container. This will also help keep freezer burn away from your cupcakes. They can be frozen for up to 3 months

Jimmies freeze well, but not every topping does, so if you’ve never tried with a specific sprinkle, better to add it after the cupcakes are thawed.

To thaw your cupcakes just take them out of the freezer, remove the plastic wrap (if you used any), and place the lid on top without closing it completely -you can even leave a tiny gap. This will allow any moisture out, and avoid paper liners from peeling away.

Here’s a video of the best funfetti cupcake recipe so you can see up-close texture and consistency.

Follow this link if you’re looking for more Cupcakes, Muffins, and Donut recipes, or click the links below for more sprinkle and birthday-inspired recipes:

Best Funfetti Cupcake Recipe