Fluffy flapjacks loaded with cake batter sweetness and sprinkles, layered with fluffy rainbow chip cheesecake mousse, and enrobed in rich white chocolate ganache!
As I’ve mentioned multiple times before on here, I LOVE me some sprinkles. The name alone sparks instant joy in my brain, and I really don’t see that changing EVER. Heck, I’ll be in my 90’s, perusing the aisles of Michaels, swooping up the newest sprinkles they have to offer.
Anywho, just as my love of sprinkles grows and grows, so does my love of Funfetti. It’s truly my favorite cake flavor ever (even though it’s not technically a flavor), and I’ve been obsessed with it ever since I was a child. And of course, a Funfetti cake was never complete without the oh-so-iconic Rainbow Chip Frosting!
So to commemorate two of my loves–Funfetti cake and Rainbow Chip Frosting–I decided to change things up a bit with a breakfast twist…
These Funfetti Pancakes are my childhood fantasies come true. They’re not only the fluffiest pancakes I’ve ever made from scratch, but they’re perfectly flavored with just the right amount of cake batter sweetness. PLUS, the colorful sprinkles all throughout make them so incredibly enticing.
What makes these flapjacks different from your standard recipe is the fact that they contain a little cake mix. I wanted to infuse some of that classic cake batter flavor into the pancakes, but I also didn’t want it to be too sweet. I found that a half cup of white cake mix was perfect for that subtle flavor and sweetness.
Along with the cake mix, I added some vanilla and almond extract to the batter. These are two extracts that I ALWAYS add to white cake batter, so it only makes sense that they would intensify the cake batter flavor in these pancakes.
When it comes to the sprinkles, I like to use the cylindrical “jimmie” sprinkles since they’re larger and more vibrant than the small round nonpareils. It’s also crucial to note that the sprinkles are stirred in RIGHT before the batter is poured onto the pan. Since the color of the sprinkles tends to bleed once it hits the batter, the less time it sits in the batter, the better. ALSO, the less stirring, the better! Once the sprinkles are added, stir no more than a few rotations, and LET IT BE. You don’t want to risk all of the colors bleeding together into one ugly brownish, greenish hue.
To amp up the Funfetti factor of these pancakes, they’re layered with the most divine Rainbow Chip cheesecake mousse. Yes, you read that right–RAINBOW CHIP CHEESECAKE MOUSSE. It’s something I came up with a couple of years ago when I made my Circus Animal Cookie Mini Trifles, and it’s BEYOND exquisite. What’s also great about this mousse is the fact that it’s only 4 ingredients–Rainbow Chip frosting, cream cheese, heavy cream, and powdered sugar! And if you wanted to make things even easier, you could replace the heavy cream and powdered sugar with whipped topping.
Now, a picture perfect stack of pancakes is never complete without some kind of delicious, syrupy sweet sauce ladled over it. Being that the theme is Funfetti, I couldn’t think of a better topper than white chocolate ganache. PINK white chocolate ganache, that is!
Since white chocolate ganache isn’t as attractive as dark/milk chocolate ganache with its yellowish hue, I thought I’d cover it up with a little pink food coloring. Feel free to use any color you want! You could even just leave the ganache the way it is. For photo purposes, however, I felt the coloring was definitely necessary.
After a generous drizzle of white chocolate ganache, these pancakes are finished off with a shower of sprinkles! I mean, it’s pretty much mandatory at this point.
To many of you, this probably looks more like an actual cake than a stack of pancakes. While it does contain just a little more sweetness than your average pancake dish, the flapjacks themselves really aren’t that sweet, so you don’t have to worry about sweetness overload. I also love how the Rainbow Chip cheesecake mousse complements the taste of the cake batter in the pancakes, and how the ganache just brings an extra bit of decadence to the dish.
Childhood me would be absolutely speechless right now…
Funfetti Pancakes
Ingredients
Rainbow Chip Cheesecake Mousse:
- 1 cup heavy cream*
- ¼ cup powdered sugar*
- 8 ounces Rainbow Chip frosting
- 4 ounces cream cheese softened
White Chocolate Ganache:
- 1 cup white chocolate chopped or chips
- ⅓ cup heavy cream
- Food coloring**
Pancake Batter:
- 1 ½ cup + 1 Tablespoon all-purpose flour divided
- ½ cup white cake mix
- 1 Tablespoon sugar
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs
- 1 ⅓ cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract
- 3 Tablespoons butter melted
- ¼ cup sprinkles (I used the long cylindrical kind)
- Vegetable oil for cooking
Instructions
Make the Rainbow Chip Cheesecake Mousse:
- In the chilled bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the heavy cream until soft peaks form. Add the powdered sugar, and continue whipping until stiff peaks form. Transfer whipped cream to another bowl, and replace whisk attachment with paddle attachment. To the mixing bowl, add the cream cheese, and beat until smooth. Add the Rainbow Chip frosting, beating until combined. Fold in the whipped cream. Refrigerate filling until ready to serve.
Make the White Chocolate Ganache:
- Place white chocolate in a medium microwave-safe bowl. Pour heavy cream into a glass measuring cup and heat in the microwave until it begins to boil. Immediately pour hot cream over chocolate, cover bowl with plastic wrap, and let sit for 3 minutes. Remove plastic wrap and stir. If mixture is still lumpy, place bowl in the microwave and heat in 15-second increments until ganache is completely smooth. Stir in food coloring; set aside until read to serve.
Make the Pancakes:
- In a large bowl, whisk together 1 and 1/2 cup flour, cake mix, sugar, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, lightly whisk the eggs, milk, vanilla and almond extract. Stir in the melted butter. Fold the wet mixture into the dry ingredients until just combined, avoiding over-mixing. In a separate small bowl, combine the sprinkles and 1 tablespoon flour.
- Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat with some vegetable oil. Pour sprinkles into the pancake batter, stirring ONLY a few rotations, to prevent sprinkles from bleeding into the batter.
- Once hot, pour 1/4 cup of batter onto the skillet. Cook pancake until little bubbles begin to form on the surface. Flip and cook the other side until golden brown, about 1-2 minutes. Repeat with the remaining pancake batter.
- Serve pancakes warm, with Rainbow Chip cheesecake mousse and white chocolate ganache.
Notes
**I used Wilton's gel food coloring in the color "rose", but any color will work.