Make someone’s birthday wishes come true by waking them up with these extra soft & sprinkle-loaded birthday cake cinnamon rolls. Like a cross between cinnamon rolls and confetti cake, this extra-special breakfast treat is perfect for kicking off an extra-special day. Top with vanilla or cream cheese icing, and don’t forget the birthday candle!
*Wishes for a second helping.*
. I’ve made very few edits to the original recipe, which are reflected in the printable recipe below.
Like a sprinkle-loaded stack of birthday cake pancakes, these Funfetti cake-inspired rolls are the happiest treat on your special morning. I make them a few times each year when a family birthday rolls around. And, on several occasions, I’ve made these INSTEAD of birthday cake, because… honestly… cinnamon rolls for dessert just makes sense.
And some people just don’t like cake. Yes, I know you’re out there!
You’ll Love These Birthday Cake Cinnamon Rolls
- Filling tastes like cake mix, but it’s not from a box
- Fluffy, buttery, and tender dough
- Loaded with colorful rainbow sprinkles, like a batch of confetti cupcakes
- Topped with cream cheese icing (and more sprinkles!)
- Almost like having confetti cake for breakfast
The dough for these birthday cake cinnamon rolls comes from my raspberry sweet rolls. It’s my favorite dough, and I based my ultra-popular overnight cinnamon rolls recipe off of it, too. And it’s quite easy! If you’re afraid of working with yeast, please do not be intimidated; there is hardly any “work time” involved, just some “wait time” as the yeast does its job.
Patience is yeast’s best friend.
I chose to use this particular dough recipe as the base for these colorful rolls because I love how fluffy the end result is. The rolls are soft, tender, buttery, and sweet and truly make a wonderful “starter” dough recipe for any sort of filling. And I figured their fluffy, pillow-y texture and buttery taste would make the perfect base for a confetti cake center. Swirls of sprinkles and sweet dough—how can you go wrong?
Grab These Ingredients for the Sweet Roll Dough:
After the dough comes together, it will be a little soft and sticky—that’s normal. Knead the dough on a floured counter or keep it in the mixer for kneading—whichever method you use, it should be about 5 minutes of kneading. If you need a visual for doing so by hand, my How to Knead Dough tutorial will help.
Place the dough into a lightly greased bowl, cover, and set it in a draft-free area to rise until doubled in size—it takes about 2 hours. After that, punch the risen dough down:
Cake Mix Filling
Now let’s talk about the filling. The crème de la crème of today’s rolls. How did I achieve the cake batter flavor without cake mix? Well, I began thinking about the texture and taste of actual cake mix. Creamy, buttery, powdery smooth, vanilla-y, and sweet. (Everything we know and love about these cake batter chocolate chip cookies!) I took those 5 main attributes and brainstormed ways to get them without using a box mix.
For that creamy taste and texture, the secret ingredient is powdered coffee creamer. You could also use dry milk powder. For the buttery flavor, I used (surprise!) melted butter. For the powdery smoothness, I used all-purpose flour. For the vanilla flavor, I used vanilla extract. And for the sweetness, I used a mix of white and brown sugars. Voila! You have a cake batter filling without a box cake mix.
Stir in 1/2 cup of sprinkles, but do not use nonpareils (the little balls) in your homemade cake batter mix. I always say non! to nonpareils in baked goods because they bleed their colors in the oven. You can sprinkle nonpareils on top of the frosted rolls before serving, however!
Fill the Rolls
Spread softened butter all over the rolled-out dough, and then sprinkle with cinnamon, followed by the homemade cake crumbles. The butter will allow the crumbles to stick and the cinnamon is just necessary for cinnamon rolls, right?! I do not suggest leaving out the cinnamon as there may not be enough flavor without it. Plus, cake batter + cinnamon rolls… need I say more?
Use a very sharp knife to cut the roll into 12 rolls.
Arrange in a greased baking pan, cover, then let the rolls rise until a little puffy, about an hour. This is the 2nd rise. (Alternatively, you could let the rolls rise overnight. See Notes in the written recipe below for overnight instructions.)
Here are the sprinkle cinnamon rolls before and after that 2nd rise:
Then it’s time to bake. Your birthday breakfast is almost here!
The Icing on the Cake 😉
I love the pops of color inside the swirls of soft, fluffy dough—a gorgeous tie-dye effect. It doesn’t matter what birthday you’re celebrating, whether it’s their 5th or 95th; kids and kids-at-heart can’t help but smile when they see these. I mean, just look at them—this is a birthday party in a breakfast pastry!
Birthday Cake Cinnamon Rolls Recipe
Ingredients You’ll Need
Instructions
- Whisk the warm milk, 2 Tablespoons sugar, and the yeast together in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a dough hook or paddle attachment. Cover and allow mixture to sit for about 5 minutes or until foamy on top. *If you do not own a mixer, you can do this in a large mixing bowl and in the next step, mix the dough together with a large wooden spoon/silicone spatula. It will take a bit of arm muscle. A hand mixer works, but the sticky dough repeatedly gets stuck in the beaters. Mixing by hand with a wooden spoon or silicone spatula is a better choice.*
- On medium speed, beat in the remaining sugar (which should be 1/2 cup/100g) and the softened butter until it is slightly broken up. Add the eggs, vanilla, and salt and beat on medium speed until combined. The butter won’t really be mixing into the mixture, so don’t be alarmed if it stays in pieces. Switch the mixer down to low speed and with it running, add 1 cup of flour at a time, making sure it’s fully incorporated before adding the next. After 4 cups have been added, add the last 1/2 cup and beat until the dough comes together and pulls away from the sides of the bowl, about 3 minutes. Dough will be soft.
- Keep the dough in the mixer (and switch to the dough hook if you used the paddle) and beat for an additional 5 full minutes, or knead by hand on a lightly floured surface for 5 full minutes..) If the dough becomes too sticky during the kneading process, sprinkle 1 teaspoon of flour at a time on the dough or on the work surface/in the bowl to make a soft, slightly tacky dough. Do not add more flour than you need because you do not want a dry dough. After kneading, the dough should still feel a little soft. Poke it with your finger—if it slowly bounces back, your dough is ready to rise. You can also do a “windowpane test” to see if your dough has been kneaded long enough: tear off a small (roughly golfball-size) piece of dough and gently stretch it out until it’s thin enough for light to pass through it. Hold it up to a window or light. Does light pass through the stretched dough without the dough tearing first? If so, your dough has been kneaded long enough and is ready to rise. If not, keep kneading until it passes the windowpane test.
- Lightly grease a large bowl with oil or use nonstick spray. Place the dough in the bowl, turning it to coat all sides in the oil. Cover the bowl with aluminum foil, plastic wrap, or a clean kitchen towel. Allow the dough to rise in a relatively warm environment for 2 hours or until double in size. (I always let it rise on the counter and it takes about 2 hours. For a tiny reduction in rise time, see my answer to Where Should Dough Rise? in my Baking with Yeast Guide.)
- Grease the bottom and sides of a metal or glass 9×13-inch baking dish or line with parchment paper.
- Punch down the dough to release the air. Place dough on a lightly floured work surface and using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll dough into a 12×18-inch rectangle. Make sure the dough is smooth and evenly thick. If the dough keeps shrinking as you roll it out, stop what you’re doing, cover it lightly, and let it rest for 10 minutes to relax the gluten. When you return to the dough, it should stretch out much easier.
- Melt 2 Tablespoons (28g) of the butter. Reserve the rest for step 8. Whisk the flour, sugar, brown sugar, powdered coffee creamer, and salt together. Using a fork, mix in the melted butter and the vanilla extract until crumbly. Mix in the sprinkles. (*You will use the cinnamon in the next step.*)
- Spread dough with the remaining butter (6 Tablespoons). Sprinkle evenly with the cinnamon, and then the sprinkle filling mixture evenly on top. Tightly roll up the dough to form an 18-inch-long log. With an extra sharp knife, cut into 12 even rolls, about 1.5 inches each. Arrange in the prepared baking pan.
- Cover the rolls tightly and allow to rise until puffy, about 1 hour. (Or use the overnight option in the Notes below.)
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C).
- Bake for about 25–28 minutes or until they are lightly browned on top. About halfway through baking time, tent a piece of aluminum foil over the pan to prevent the tops from browning too quickly. Remove pan from the oven and place pan on a wire rack for about 10 minutes as you make the icing.
- In a medium bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat the cream cheese on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Add the confectioners’ sugar, cream/milk, and vanilla. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds, then switch to high speed and beat for 1 minute. Spread the icing over the warm rolls, garnish with extra sprinkles if desired, and serve immediately.
- Cover leftover frosted or unfrosted rolls tightly and store at room temperature for up to 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
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