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Your favorite new popcorn flavor: cake batter popcorn!! This birthday cake popcorn uses cake mix and white chocolate (and sprinkles!) to make a delicious and EASY sweet treat for any movie night or just because you have a sweet tooth like me.

A bowl of popcorn covered in colorful rainbow sprinkles, with extra popcorn and sprinkles scattered on a white surface around the bowl.

I love popcorn as a nighttime snack! I like to keep my mouth and hands busy while we watch TV, so I often use popcorn as a dessert, plus it’s a great snack or as a party favor or dessert for a party dessert table. This Birthday Cake Popcorn is so simple to make with just 4 ingredients PLUS it’s fun and festive (and delicious). It’s the perfect treat for a birthday party with colorful sprinkles and tons of birthday cake goodness. It’s one of my favorite flavors and the whole family loves it.

Four bowls on a white surface contain white chocolate melts, yellow cake mix, popcorn, and colorful sprinkles, each labeled with bold text.

How to make Birthday Cake Popcorn

You’ll want popcorn, of course. You can use already popped popcorn (like Smart Pop or something similar) or you can pop your own. You need a total of about 9 cups of popped popcorn, which is about 5 tablespoons of unpopped kernels or about 2-3 bags of microwave popcorn. Be sure to sift through the popcorn and remove any unpopped kernels.
The coating is a mixture of melted white chocolate and dry cake mix. I usually use yellow cake mix, but white cake mix or funfetti cake mix are fine too (or really, any flavor). Just the dry powder; you don’t need to make the batter.
I don’t recommend using white chocolate chips for this – they don’t melt very easily. I always use melting wafers or almond bark (my favorite brand is Ghirardelli, they taste the best).
While some cake batter recipes I make use cake batter extract (or vanilla extract) I don’t recommend that in this recipe. Melting chocolate is very finicky and can seize when adding extract if it has too much water in it. The cake mix makes this perfectly birthday cake-flavored!
I always add rainbow sprinkles for a color pop – jimmies (the long rods) are my favorite but you can use any colors.
When melting the candy melts, be sure to use a microwave-safe bowl and work on 50% power in 30 second increments. This will ensure your chocolate doesn’t get too hot and seize. Melts are formulated for melting, but if you’re having trouble, add a tiny bit of vegetable oil to help it along.

Click to see the recipe card below for full ingredients & instructions and below the recipe card for process shots.

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A bowl of popcorn topped with colorful rainbow sprinkles, with more popcorn and sprinkles scattered on a white surface around the bowl.

Dorothy’s Expert Tips

Toss the white chocolate mixture with the popcorn in a large bowl – you may need to use your hands.
If you want to dye the popcorn a different color, you can use a colored cake mix (like strawberry for pink) or make sure to use candy food coloring (not water based) so your chocolate doesn’t seize.
I like popping my own popcorn either using an air popper or a silicone microwave container (or a glass one; I’ve tried both and they both work). Microwaves can be finicky so it might take some trial and error not to burn it.

Birthday Cake Popcorn Recipe

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Birthday Cake Popcorn is the easiest popcorn snack ever – a sweet popcorn mix with white chocolate and cake mix and cake flavor – and sprinkles. It's so good you won't want to stop eating it.

Recipe Video

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 2

Total Time 12

Yield 8 servings

Serving Size 1 serving

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Ingredients

▢ 9 cups (49g) popped popcorn
▢ 8 ounces (228g) white chocolate melts
▢ ½ cup (33g) dry yellow cake mix
▢ 2 tablespoons (20g) sprinkles

Instructions

Place popcorn in a very large bowl. Remove any un-popped kernels.
Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Place white chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl and heat on 50% power for 1 minute; stir.
Continue heating on 50% power in 30 second increments, stirring between each, until melted and smooth.
Stir cake mix into the white chocolate.
Pour mixture over the popcorn and stir/toss with your hands to coat.
Spread popcorn mixture out onto the prepared cookie sheet and sprinkle with sprinkles while still wet. Allow to dry.
Once dry, break into pieces. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for several days.

Recipe Notes

If you’re popping your own popcorn, you’ll need approximately 5 tablespoons of kernels.

It’s best to use candy melts (i.e. Ghirardelli White Chocolate Melts), not white chocolate chips. They’ll melt better, are less likely to seize when adding the cake mix and are made for coating.