The inspiration for this mini funfetti cookie cake was my sweet nephew Peter’s 6th birthday! See, when I married Josh I suddenly became an aunt for the first time, and not just to a few kids, but to 8 kids! And it’s been a few years so now the total is up to 10. The point is that I had to quickly figure out how to be the cool aunt for a ton of new nieces and nephews all at once. Some people might be intimidated, but I’ve been having a blast trying.
When we heard that my brother- and sister-in-law were considering bringing the kids to Atlanta to take Peter to his very first Braves game for his 6th birthday, I could barely contain my excitement. Taking a kid to his first professional baseball game is like magic. We had THE BEST time watching him soak up all the excitement and energy of the game. At the end of the night the Braves couldn’t pull off a win, but Peter was so in love with the experience of the game that he didn’t even notice. Honestly, I wish I could be that cool when we lose!
So on top of that awesome first Braves game experience, I also had an excuse to make this adorable mini funfetti cookie cake! I knew that my nephew wouldn’t be picky about his birthday dessert, since he’s like most kids and will devour anything with sugar, but I wanted to make something kid friendly and simple. This recipe seemed like a good way to accomplish both! Even though the ingredient list and directions seem a little long, this recipe came together super quickly and turned out just as I had hoped.
How to make homemade funfetti style treats
I have always been a fan of funfetti treats. I have more than a few great memories surrounding these colorful, baked goodies. Like the time we made funfetti pancakes in college. Yeah, that happened. And it was amazing. But my funfetti experiences always started with the box mix. It was fine for my college self to use boxed cake mixes but now that I’m a grown up with a real kitchen and no good excuses not to, I wanted to figure out how to make the nostalgic dessert from scratch.
Choose The Right Sprinkles For Your Cake!
If you’ve tried making any homemade funfetti style treats in the past, you may already know what I am about to say. If you only take away one thing from this post, remember to buy the right kind of sprinkles! If you use the tiny round nonpareils sprinkles, you will see that they melt into your batter and cause the batter to turn a sad, brown color. Not what we are going for! Those tiny sprinkles work well for decorating, so save them for after the cake has cooled and you’ve added the frosting. But take my word for it and make sure you purchase the topper sprinkles, also called jimmies, to mix into your batter. These are the ones that will mix without melting and have that bright color even after baking.
Thicker Batter Is Better Batter!
The other important thing to note is that a thicker batter is essential to making sure your sprinkles are suspended throughout the batter rather than sinking all to the bottom. The batter in this recipe is a great example of how thicker batter allows for even distribution of sprinkles throughout the cake. And I think we all know that even sprinkle distribution is one of life’s greatest accomplishments.
I hope you enjoy this cute mini funfetti cookie cake. Have any other great funfetti ideas? Let’s hear ’em!
- CAKE
- ½ cup butter, softened
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 large egg + 1 egg yolk*
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1.5 cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1.5 teaspoons cornstarch
- ⅔ cup white chocolate chips
- ½ cup rainbow sprinkles (not nonpareils)*
- VANILLA FROSTING
- ½ cup butter, softened
- 1 and ¾ cups powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream or half-and-half
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- salt, to taste
- extra sprinkles for decorating on top
- Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Spray a 9-inch pie dish or cake pan with nonstick spray and set aside.
- Using an electric mixer, cream the softened butter until smooth. Add the sugar and continue mixing on medium speed until fluffy. Then beat in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla.
- In a medium bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cornstarch. With the mixer running on low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients a little at a time. The dough will be quite thick. That’s ok! Once combined, gently fold in the white chocolate chips and ½ cup sprinkles using a rubber spatula.
- Press the cookie dough evenly into the prepared pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until very lightly browned on top. Avoid overbaking to be sure the cookie center is extra soft. Allow the cake to cool completely before frosting. The center will slightly sink - that's normal. Don’t worry, the frosting will be so beautiful, you won’t even notice!
- For the frosting: Using an electric mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy. Add powdered sugar, cream, and vanilla with the mixer running on low. Increase to high speed and beat for 3 full minutes. Add more powdered sugar if frosting is too thin or more cream if frosting is too thick. Add a pinch of salt to cut the sweetness if you prefer your frosting a little less sweet.
- Then decorate the cake with the frosting and extra sprinkles. I used a Wilton star tip to decorate the edges and then sprinkled the nonpareil sprinkles on top of my frosting for a lighter, finishing touch.
- Make sure you use a sharp knife to cut your pieces. And do everyone a favor and serve this with vanilla ice cream! They are a perfect pair!
I made this and it was delicious!!
So glad it turned out well for you!