Vanilla Confetti Cupcakes: The Ultimate Birthday Party Recipe

Vanilla Confetti Cupcakes: The Ultimate Birthday Party Recipe

Making vanilla confetti cupcakes shouldn’t feel like a chemistry experiment.

You want fluffy, moist cupcakes bursting with rainbow sprinkles that actually taste like something beyond sugar and air.

I’ve spent years perfecting this recipe after countless dry, dense, or flavorless attempts.

This is the real deal—the kind of cupcake that makes kids squeal and adults go back for seconds.

---

KEY INFO

Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 18 minutes
Total time: 1 hour (including cooling)
Servings: 12 cupcakes
Difficulty level: Easy
Dietary tags: Vegetarian (easily adaptable to dairy-free and gluten-free)

---

EQUIPMENT NEEDED

• Stand mixer or hand mixer with paddle attachment
• 12-cup muffin tin
• Paper or silicone cupcake liners
• 2 large mixing bowls
• Whisk
• Rubber spatula
• Toothpick or cake tester
• Wire cooling rack
• Piping bag and tips (or just use a butter knife)

Simple alternatives: You can mix everything by hand with a wooden spoon and whisk—your arm will get a workout, but it works.

---

INGREDIENTS

For the Cupcakes:

• 1⅔ cups (200g) all-purpose flour
• 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
• ½ cup (113g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• ½ cup (120ml) whole milk, room temperature
• ½ cup (120g) sour cream, room temperature
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon almond extract (optional but brilliant)
• 1¼ teaspoons baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon fine salt
• ⅓ cup (60g) rainbow sprinkles (use jimmies, not nonpareils—trust me on this)

For the Vanilla Buttercream:

• 1 cup (226g) unsalted butter, softened
• 3-4 cups (360-480g) powdered sugar, sifted
• 3-4 tablespoons heavy cream or whole milk
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt
• Extra rainbow sprinkles for topping

---

METHOD

Step 1: Set Up Your Kitchen

Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).

Line your muffin tin with 12 cupcake liners.

Pull out all your ingredients now and let the butter, eggs, milk, and sour cream sit at room temperature if you haven’t already.

Cold ingredients = lumpy batter = sad cupcakes.

Step 2: Mix Your Dry Stuff

Grab a large bowl and whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Set this aside.

Don’t skip the whisking—you’re distributing the leavening agents so you don’t get weird pockets of baking powder.

Step 3: Cream the Butter and Sugar

This is where the magic happens.

Toss your softened butter and sugar into your mixer bowl.

Beat on medium speed for 2-3 minutes until it looks pale, fluffy, and almost doubled in volume.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl at least once.

This step incorporates air, which means lighter, fluffier cupcakes.

Step 4: Add Eggs and Extracts

Crack in your eggs one at a time, mixing on medium-low after each addition.

Scrape down the bowl between eggs.

Add the vanilla and almond extract (if using) and mix until combined.

The almond extract adds depth without making things taste like almond—it just makes the vanilla sing.

Step 5: Alternate Wet and Dry

Here’s the rhythm: dry, wet, dry, wet, dry.

Add about a third of your flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix on low just until the flour disappears.

Add half the sour cream and half the milk, mix until combined.

Another third of flour, mix.

The rest of the sour cream and milk, mix.

Final third of flour, mix until just combined.

You want to see no streaks of flour, but you don’t want to beat the hell out of it.

Overmixing = tough cupcakes.

Step 6: Fold in the Sprinkles

Switch to a rubber spatula.

Gently fold in your rainbow sprinkles until they’re evenly distributed throughout the batter.

Don’t stir aggressively or they’ll bleed color and you’ll end up with gray-ish batter.

Be gentle, like you’re tucking them into bed.

Step 7: Fill Those Liners

Divide your batter evenly among the 12 liners—about ⅔ to ¾ full.

An ice cream scoop works beautifully for this.

Don’t overfill or you’ll have muffin-top cupcakes that stick to the pan.

Step 8: Bake and Don’t Peek

Slide the pan into your preheated oven and set a timer for 15 minutes.

Do not open the oven door.

After 15 minutes, check for doneness with a toothpick inserted in the center.

It should come out with a few moist crumbs—not wet batter, not bone dry.

If needed, give them another 2-3 minutes and check again.

Total baking time should be 15-22 minutes depending on your oven.

Step 9: Cool Completely

Let the cupcakes cool in the pan for 10 minutes.

Then transfer them to a wire cooling rack and let them cool completely—at least 30 minutes.

Frosting warm cupcakes = melted frosting soup.

If you’re impatient like me, stick the whole rack in the fridge for 15 minutes.

Step 10: Make the Buttercream

While the cupcakes cool, make your frosting.

Beat the softened butter with a pinch of salt on medium speed for about 2 minutes until creamy and pale.

Turn the mixer to low and gradually add the powdered sugar, one cup at a time.

Scrape down the bowl between additions.

Add the vanilla extract and 3 tablespoons of cream.

Mix on low for 1 minute, then increase to medium and beat for 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy.

If your frosting looks dry or crumbly, add more cream 1 teaspoon at a time until it’s smooth and spreadable.

If it’s too loose, add more powdered sugar.

Step 11: Frost and Decorate

Once your cupcakes are completely cool, frost them generously.

I like to use a piping bag with a large star tip for those professional-looking swirls, but an offset spatula or butter knife works too.

Top each cupcake with a