Gluten Free Birthday Cake Mix Waffles

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Have some fun with this trendy dessert! Your whole family is going to LOVE this gluten free cake mix waffles recipe! Top them with ice cream, hot fudge, and your favorite funfetti sprinkles!

A hand is dropping colorful sprinkles on top of a cake batter Waffle Sunday.

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Why This Recipe Is Great:
Ingredient Notes:
Recipe Step By Step Directions:
Tips and Recipe FAQ:
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Summer is the time of birthdays in our house. What better way to celebrate the birthday "person" than to make it a special treat? We enjoy birthday cakes as most people do, but for fun, this funfetti waffle can't be beaten!

Colorful sprinkles, ice cream, hot fudge, these colorful waffles are just crazy good! If you love dessert as much as we do, you will want to check out all of my delicious gluten free dessert recipes!

If your crew loves waffles and cake, this waffle dessert will be the perfect combination to make everyone happy.

Why This Recipe Is Great:

You can use ANY store-bought gluten free cake mix to make this recipe!! I used my popular Gluten Free Vanilla Cake recipe, which is also fine.
These dessert waffles are so fun to make and eat!
If you don't have a waffle iron, make this as pancakes with a frying pan or cast-iron skillet.

Top view of a cake batter waffle on a plate with a bowl of sprinkles, an ice cream scoop and hot fudge next to the plate.

Ingredient Notes:

You can make this recipe in two different ways. Here are notes on both ways so you can choose which type of cake waffles to make.

Using Store-Bought Cake Mix

Gluten Free Cake Mix - You can use any flavor you like. Vanilla is best if you are using sprinkles because the colors show up more.
Every cake mix requires different liquid ingredients, so if you are using cake mix, you will need to use those ingredients.

Using My Cake Mix Recipe

Gluten Free Flour Blend - If you are using my recipe instead of a gluten free box cake mix, you need to use a good gluten free flour blend. I tested this recipe with both King Arthur Measure for Measure and Bob's Red Mill 1:1 GF Blend. Other blends will work, but you may need to keep an eye on the moisture level because some mixes are starchier than others.
Xanthan Gum - If your mix or recipe doesn't contain xanthan or guar gum, add 1 teaspoon.
Baking Powder - I recommend using aluminum-free. It makes a big difference in flavor. Also, be sure your baking powder is not expired. You check out this article to read more about which baking powder is gluten free.
Salt - You can use sea salt or kosher salt.
Eggs - Use size large.
Sugar - Don't use coarse sugar.
Milk - You can use regular milk or non-dairy milk in this recipe if you want these to be dairy-free.
Butter or Coconut Oil - Use either one you have on hand, but if you use butter, use unsalted.
Sprinkles - Not all sprinkles are gluten free so be sure to see this post on gluten free sprinkles.

Recipe Step By Step Directions:

Step 1: Pour your dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl. use a wire whisk to blend the dry ingredients together. If you are using boxed cake mix, follow the directions on the back of the box or bag.

funfetti waffle wet ingredients in a bowl

Step 2: Add the butter or coconut oil to a microwave-safe medium mixing bowl. Soften the butter or coconut oil in the microwave.

Step 3: Add the wet ingredients to the bowl and mix them together well. Add your sprinkles to this mixture too.

pouring the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients

Step 4: Pour your wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix them together.

Step 5: Every waffle maker is a bit different. Preheat your waffle iron as listed in the manufacturer's directions.

Step 6: Add the cake batter to the hot waffle iron. Close the lid and allow it to cook for 3-5 minutes until the waffle is cooked. If you use a lot of waffle batter, you may need to cook it longer.

Don't forget, you can make these as pancakes if you don't have a waffle iron!!

Step 7: Carefully remove the waffle from the waffle iron. Top your waffle with vanilla ice cream and hot fudge! Waffle sundaes are all the rage and kids love them!

A spoon is drizzling hot fudge onto the scoop of ice cream to make a waffle Sunday.

Drizzle on the hot fudge, caramel sauce, this creamy vanilla sauce, or even a homemade berry sauce!

Tips and Recipe FAQ:

Are sprinkles gluten free?

If you love funfetti waffles as much as we do, make sure you use => gluten free sprinkles. It never occurred to me to check this, but you do need to be careful. Some brands of sprinkles are made on shared equipment!

How long will these funfetti waffles keep fresh?

These funfetti waffles will keep fresh for up to 4 days in the refrigerator or up to 3 months in a freezer-safe container in your freezer.

This post was updated from an old June 2017 post with more details and options.

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