Our Homemade Funfetti Frosting Recipe is the perfect combination of your favorite buttercream with a hint of whimsy in the form of rainbow sprinkles! This is simple to make and delicious icing is going to become a go-to when you have cupcakes or even cake on your menu.
Start with our basic buttercream frosting recipe to create a simple twist that will put smiles on kids faces at every party you host! You know we didn’t want to use plain old rainbow nonpareils for this icing recipe.
Just like we wanted to punch up the color in our Homemade Funfetti Cupcakes, we did the same for this buttercream. Adding our bold, bright rainbow jimmies sprinkles did just the trick don’t you think? After all, what other frosting for funfetti cake to you need?

Why Choose Funfetti Frosting?
Cupcakes with buttercream are going to be delicious, but why not upgrade that basic cupcake with a bit of fun? It’s no surprise our best selling sprinkles are all rainbow colors. There’s just something about the explosion of hues that makes people happy! Choose from our other color variations for a truly unique color palette.
Kids love anything with sprinkles, and that means parents are happy seeing their hard work being appreciated. Choosing this easy and delicious funfetti frosting recipe is all about wanting to add whimsy to your party. When throwing a party – that is ultimately the desire. You want to see your hard work being appreciated and enjoyed. A funfetti icing is just another simple and easy way to kick your party up a gear and bust out all the colors!

How to Make Funfetti Buttercream Frosting
The keys to making this recipe are in making sure your butter is softened, and you have a quality mixer to do the bulk of the work. To create a smooth and creamy texture, you need to blend together your sugar and butter until it is free from lumps.
A hand mixer or stand mixer can work in this case, but it definitely is a need. Hand mixing this frosting typically won’t give you the results you are looking for on a cupcake.
Another important part of making funfetti frosting is to sift your dry ingredients. While this is not necessary, it makes a huge difference in how smooth the resulting frosting can be on your cupcake.

Can I Make Buttercream in Advance?
Yes! This is one of those parts of your party that you can definitely make in advance and store in the refrigerator. While some have gone so far as to freeze, it is often more difficult to maintain that smooth texture.
You can place this in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one week. When ready to use, make sure to place on the counter to come to room temperature before icing your cupcakes or cake.
Note: Make sure you are storing in a secure airtight container. Frosting can pick up the flavors of things around it very easily, so this is one time you should avoid placing near the chopped onions or leftover taco meat in the refrigerator. We place ours in a smaller fridge dedicated to baked cakes and cupcakes to avoid this from happening!

Ideas for Using This Frosting Recipe
The best thing to use this funfetti icing for is obviously our homemade funfetti cupcakes. However, there are tons of other great times that it would come in handy and work well with a cupcake or cake.
This best chocolate cupcake recipe from scratch is an ideal option to add a funfetti buttercream frosting. Another favorite it would compliment well is the Pink and Purple Valentine Party Ideas. You could definitely use just select colors of sprinkles to match this frosting to any theme you are presenting. A fun change is to tweak the colors of jimmies sprinkles that you use to dress it up for any occasion.

More Ideas for Sprinkles
Since sprinkles, or rainbow jimmies, are so much fun to work with in baking and party planning, we have to share a few more ideas. You can learn about covering cupcakes with sprinkles to know just how much you need to use for your dessert. For a fast and easy option, this easy rainbow sprinkle cake is another great idea that can be used at any party theme because we store a few in our freezer for last minute needs. Confetti cookies and covered sprinkle cake are always a fun pair too!
More fun ideas for sprinkles in desserts:
- Add to a trifle or between layers of cake on top of icing for a fun surprise.
- Cut out a small center portion of a cupcake and fill with sprinkles before topping with frosting
- Mix sprinkles into regular vanilla ice cream to give it a funfetti appearance
- Dip waffle cones in chocolate then dip into sprinkles for a fun serving option
- Dip pretzels with chocolate or candy melts then sprinkle with unique themed sprinkles
We don’t have to tell you how fun and easy it is to dress up your dessert with different sprinkles and this frosting recipe was no exception. We hope you love it as much as we do! Just a colorful pop to our regular vanilla buttercream frosting!

Homemade Funfetti Frosting Recipe
This Homemade Fluffy Vanilla Funfetti Frosting recipe is the best! Funfetti Icing is so easy to make from scratch and taste just like a sprinkle filled buttercream icing. This cupcake frosting is a fave by many and our use of rainbow jimmies brings an extra crunch and pop of color to the icing. Pair with our funfetti cupcakes recipe for a true celebration dessert for any occasion!
Ingredients
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 1-2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream or milk
- 1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract
- ⅔ cup Rainbow Jimmies Sprinkles
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, cream butter until fluffy and smooth
- Sift powdered sugar into a medium bowl - this step is optional, although it makes the frosting smooth and easier to mix
- Gradually add powdered sugar, alternating with heavy cream
- Add vanilla extract and beat well
- Gently fold in Rainbow Jimmies Sprinkles
- Use immediately or store in the refrigerator until ready to serve. Let come to room temperature before using
Notes
- Using clear vanilla extract will keep the buttercream super white. You can also use regular vanilla extract.
- Depending on consistency, add more powdered sugar or more heavy whipping cream
- Using heavy whipping cream will give the frosting a stiffness that is great for decorating, however, you can also use milk instead of cream.
2 comments
Unfortunately this turned out horribly for us. Super hard and way too many sprinkles. It was so sickly sweet I can’t fathom ever eating sugar again. Tossed the thick crust of icing (peeled off liked half dried cement) and kept the cake.
Oh goodness! This is our go to! If it’s too thick, just add a little more liquid until you get the consistency you need! If this one is too sweet, try out our cream cheese frosting, it’s the perfect amount of sweetness without being overpowering. Thanks for the feedback!