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Looking for an easy dessert for the holidays? Christmas Cupcakes are super simple and so much fun. Today I’m showing you how to make FOUR different decorations: Christmas Tree Cupcakes, Santa Hat Cupcakes, Christmas Pinata Cupcakes, and Melting Snowman Cupcakes!
These are such a fun and easy cupcake recipe that were fun to make – and eat!
Today I’m going to show you how to make some super cute cupcakes for Christmas! These ideas are mere ideas – you can use any kind of cupcake you like!
With just some easy frosting, sprinkles and food coloring you can make the cutest Christmas Cupcakes ever.
Table of Contents
What do you need to make Christmas Cupcakes?
Again, these cupcakes are just decorating ideas to get you started. Here’s what you’ll need:
- Cupcakes: you can use any flavor, homemade or from the store.
- Vanilla Frosting: use homemade or store bought. If using homemade you’ll want a double recipe.
- Cupcake Liners: any color works, but I love the brown ones for the trees and Santa hats!
- Tools: pastry bags, round tip (Wilton Tip 12), star tip (Wilton Tip 22), Wilton 1M tip, gel food coloring (I love the Wilton Color System or Americolor Gel)
- Sprinkles: gold stars for the trees (and any other kind for ornaments) plus some fun holiday sprinkles for the piñata cupcake and something for the buttons on the snowman
- Marshmallows for the snowmen face
How to get the right color frosting
Instead of using guesswork, check the brand of food coloring you’re using and see if that brand has a color chart on their website. It helps you do the mixing by telling you the number of drops for each color.
- Wilton Color Right Food Coloring Chart
- Here’s a generic one if you don’t have a brand specific chart.
- McCormick Food Coloring Chart
How to decorate Christmas Cupcakes
I made four different versions for you so let’s talk about how I did each one.
Christmas Tree Cupcakes
This is seriously the EASIEST cupcake decoration ever.
Cupcakes: Bake the cupcakes in brown liners if you have them – and chocolate cupcakes look more like the bark of the tree.
Frosting: I did Spring Green from the Wilton Color Chart (linked above).
Tools: Use a piping bag fitted with a 1M tip and frost the cupcakes high (see my easy cupcake frosting tutorial to see how I get it so high).
Decorating: Top the cupcake with a gold star and sprinkle some sprinkles around the edges of the frosting for ornaments.
Santa Hat Cupcakes
Cupcakes: Use any flavor cupcake. If you can find red liners they are perfect!
Frosting: Tint some of the frosting bright red. This is best done with a gel food coloring (the grocery store kind has a hard time turning full red).
Tools: Use the small round tip with the red frosting to pipe the pile of hat, then use the star tip with white frosting to pipe the ball at the end and puff balls around the base.
Decorating: If you want, sprinkle some white sanding sugar on the white parts to make it look fluffy.
Melting Snowman Cupcakes
Cupcakes: Use any flavor cupcake and any color liner.
Frosting: leave it white, no piping bag or tip needed.
Tools: toothpick, for drawing the arms and face. Black and orange food coloring for the arms and face.
Decoration: use a knife to spread white frosting on the cupcake. Cut a large marshmallow in half and place it on one side of the cupcake, then add large sprinkle buttons. Use the toothpick dipped in food coloring to draw the face and arms.
Swirled Pinata Cupcakes
Cupcakes: Use any flavor cupcake and any color liner.
Frosting: two or three colors: red, green, white.
Decoration: Fill the cupcake with sprinkles and frosting with frosting.
See this post on how to do a swirled frosting effect.
See this post on how to make a pinata cupcake.
The Christmas Piñata Cupcakes are so much fun!
These Christmas themed cupcakes are perfect for the holidays!
Cupcakes and Frostings to use
Have you made this recipe?
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Christmas Cupcakes Recipe Tutorial
Ingredients
- 24 Cupcakes
- 2 recipes vanilla frosting or 4 cans vanilla frosting
- Food Coloring
- Sprinkles
- Marshmallows for the snowmen
Instructions
- Christmas Tree Cupcakes: tint frosting green. Add to a pastry bag fitted with a 1M tip and frost cupcake high, then decorate with a gold star sprinkle and other sprinkles for ornaments.
- Melted Snowmen Cupcakes: frost cupcake white. Cut a large marshmallow in half and place it on the cupcake. Place sprinkles as buttons facing away from the head and use a toothpick with food coloring to draw the arms and face.
- Santa Hat Cupcakes: tint 3/4 of frosting red. Use a round tip to pipe the hat then use a star tip to pipe around the edges and the tip.
- Pinata Cupcakes: tint frosting 2 or 3 colors. Wrap each color frosting in plastic wrap formed into a log. Place all frostings in a pastry bag fitted with the 1M tip. Cut out top of cupcake and fill with sprinkles. Frost cupcake.
- See the recipe post for more details and links to tools and other resources.
Recipe Nutrition
4 EASY Christmas Cupcake Recipes – learn how to decorate cupcakes super simple for the holidays: Snowman Cupcakes, Santa hat Cupcakes, Christmas Tree Cupcakes and Pinata Cupcakes with swirled frosting! These easy decorating techniques are so much fun!
Last Updated on November 19, 2020
