Birthday Cake Pancakes

The oldest of my three daughters had her fifth birthday earlier this month! She loves sprinkles, so I decided to make Birthday Cake Pancakes for breakfast as part of our celebration.

I’ve seen these made using boxed cake mixes, but they are easy to make from scratch. They make a birthday morning—or any other morning—extra special!

Ingredients

(Adapted from this recipe.)

For the glaze

• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 4 tablespoons milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the pancakes

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups milk
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 3 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2/3 cup sprinkles (use cylindrical sugar strands or sugar sequins)
• Prepared whipped cream

Instructions

For the glaze

Place the powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl. Whisk until the glaze is smooth and without lumps. Set aside.

For the pancakes

In a large mixing bowl, place the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Stir together.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, vanilla, and oil.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Briefly mix until blended. The batter will be thick and may have small lumps (this is okay). Gently fold in the sprinkles until just incorporated (do not mix too much or their colors may bleed into the batter).

Butter a pancake griddle over medium heat. Pour the pancake batter onto the griddle using a 1/4 cup measuring cup. Allow the pancakes to cook undisturbed for roughly one minute. When you see small bubbles rising to the surface and the edges of the pancakes begin looking cooked, quickly flip the pancakes over. Allow to continue cooking until done (1-2 minutes). Remove the completed pancakes and repeat this process until all of the pancakes are cooked.

To serve

Drizzle the pancakes with the vanilla glaze and top with a little whipped cream. Scatter a few sprinkles on top. Yield: 16 pancakes.

Notes

I love the looks on my girls’ faces when I surprise them with something they love. These pancakes definitely elicited those looks! They ate these with great enthusiasm and enjoyed the leftovers for breakfast the following day.

When preparing these, be sure to use cylindrical sugar strands (sometimes called jimmies) or sugar sequins (sometimes called quins or sugar shapes) for the sprinkles. Do not use nonpareils (tiny spherical sprinkles). Nonpareils will bleed their colors into the batter, causing the batter to look unappetizing. The other varieties hold their colors well, as long as you are gentle with the batter and don’t let it sit for too long.

Do you make special breakfasts for birthdays? If so, what do you make?

Shared at the following:

Farm Fresh Tuesdays, Weekend Potluck, Busy Monday, Over the Moon, and Encouraging Hearts and Home.