These funfetti donut cupcakes are perfect for any birthday bash! They have a moist, funfetti cupcake base and vanilla bean buttercream topped with mini funfetti donuts and lots of rainbow sprinkles! The most stunning centerpiece to any event worth celebrating!
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Why You'll Love These Cupcakes
- Perfect birthday cupcakes - Nothing says happy birthday like a ton of rainbow sprinkles!
- Better than box mix - You'll never want to buy boxed funfetti cake mix again!
- Fluffy vanilla buttercream - The vanilla bean buttercream is whipped to create a light, fluffy texture with a smooth, velvety taste!
- Super easy to make and decorate - These cupcakes are incredibly easy to make and are garnished with mini funfetti donuts!
You might also like these birthday cake macarons or these funfetti sugar cookies!
Ingredient Notes
You only need a few ingredients to make these funfetti donut cupcakes!
Cake Flour - I always use cake flour in my baked goods because it makes them super soft and tender, but all purpose flour also works great!
Vanilla Bean Paste - I love using vanilla bean paste for a more concentrated vanilla flavor. But you can also use regular vanilla extract instead!
Rainbow Sprinkles - You can't have funfetti donuts without rainbow sprinkles! Just use your favorite jimmies for these donuts.
The Mini Funfetti Donuts are made with all the same ingredients as the cupcakes and come together in about 15 minutes!
The complete list of ingredients and amounts is located in the recipe card below.
Step by Step Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a 12 cup pan with cupcake liners.
In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter and sugar until smooth. Add in the eggs and vanilla bean paste and whisk until fully incorporated.
In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
Mix half of the dry ingredients into the egg mixture, then add in the milk. Once incorporated, add in the remaining dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
Then gently fold in the rainbow sprinkles.
Pour about ¼ cup of batter into each cupcake liner (they should be about halfway full).
Bake at 350°F for 18-22 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.
Remove from pan and let cool on wire rack. Let the funfetti cupcakes cool completely before filling and frosting.
Use a cupcake corer to remove the center of each cupcake, then fill with extra rainbow sprinkles if desired!
Frost cooled funfetti cupcakes with the vanilla buttercream, then garnish with mini funfetti donuts and more rainbow sprinkles!
Tips for the Best Baked Goods
Use room temperature ingredients! Always make sure ingredients like butter, eggs, milk, yogurt, etc. are at room temperature before baking (unless the recipe indicates otherwise)! This ensures they'll incorporate into the batter more easily and leads to overall better texture. Remove all ingredients from the fridge 30 minutes to an hour before baking for best results.
Measure your flour correctly! It's most accurate to use a kitchen scale, but if you're measuring by volume you want to spoon and level! Fluff up the flour a bit with a spoon, and then spoon flour into the measuring cup. Once it's overflowing, use the back of a knife to level it off. Don't ever pack flour into the measuring cup or you'll end up with way too much! Improperly measured flour can lead to dry, dense baked goods. [Measure cocoa powder the same way!]
Use an oven thermometer! Just because your oven says it's 350, doesn't mean it is! If you oven hasn't been calibrated recently, it can be as much as 30 degrees off, which will negatively affect all baked goods from cakes to macarons! An oven thermometer is the easiest/cheapest way to ensure your oven is always at the proper temperature.
Make sure you baking powder is fresh! Baking powder is important for helping baked goods rise properly, but it has a relatively short shelf life once opened, so it's one of the few items I never buy in bulk! To test if your baking powder is still fresh, add a small amount to boiling water. If it bubbles it's still good to use, but if not it's time to toss it!
Cupcake Decorating Tips
Make sure you let the cupcakes cool completely before frosting!!
Use a cupcake corer to easily remove the center of your cupcakes before filling with rainbow sprinkles.
For these big beautiful frosting swirls on these funfetti donut cupcakes, I use the 1M tip from this decorating kit. The tips are much larger than standard sizes and so fun for decorating cupcakes!
After frosting, garnish with mini funfetti donuts and more rainbow sprinkles!
Recipe FAQ's
These cupcakes will last in the fridge for up to 3 days. However, they taste best when served at room temperature! I like to let them sit at room temperature for about an hour before serving. Wait to top with mini donuts until right before serving.
Tips for Success!
For best results I always recommend using weight measurements (especially when baking) because it's the most accurate. Kitchen scales are super affordable and also reduce the number of dishes you have to do! However, all my recipes also include US customary measurements for convince. Use this chart to convert measurements for common ingredients!
Substitutions: In all my recipes, I've included substitutions that I know will work, but I cannot guarantee results if you substitute ingredients that I have not recommended. [For example, granulated sugar and honey are indeed both sweeteners but they have very different properties so they can not always be swapped 1:1. Using honey in a cookie recipe that calls for granulated sugar will yield a giant mess.] In the recipe card you'll find links to the specific ingredients/brands that I use.
A note on salt: I almost exclusively use Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt because it's the best all-purpose salt for cooking and baking. If you're not using kosher salt, consult this handy guide for a conversion chart! When in doubt, if you're using table salt just reduce the amount by half for baked goods. When cooking, I prefer to under-salt because you can always add more! If you've over-salted, adding a little bit of acid (like lemon juice) can help.
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Recipe Card
Funfetti Donut Cupcakes
Special Equipment
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
- 1 ½ cups cake flour, substitute all purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup whole milk
- ½ cup rainbow sprinkles
Vanilla Buttercream
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
- 1-2 tablespoons heavy cream, as needed
Instructions
Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a 12 cup pan with cupcake liners.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter and sugar until smooth. Add in the eggs and vanilla bean paste and whisk until fully incorporated.
- In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Mix half of the dry ingredients into the egg mixture, then add in the milk. Once incorporated, add in the remaining dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
- Then gently fold in the rainbow sprinkles.
- Pour about ¼ cup of batter into each cupcake liner (they should be about halfway full).
- Bake at 350°F for 18-22 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.
- Remove from pan and let cool on wire rack. Let the funfetti cupcakes cool completely before filling and frosting.
- Use a cupcake corer to remove the center of each cupcake, then fill with extra rainbow sprinkles if desired!
Vanilla Buttercream
- In a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the room temperature butter and powdered sugar until smooth.
- Add in the vanilla bean paste and beat the frosting on high for 4-5 minutes until lightly and fluffy.
- If needed, add in cream 1 tablespoon at a time until desired consistency is reached.
- Frost cooled funfetti cupcakes with the vanilla buttercream, then garnish with mini funfetti donuts and more rainbow sprinkles!
Notes
Nutrition
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
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