Easy Christmas Cupcakes
These 3 quick and easy Christmas cupcake ideas are perfect for a festive afternoon activity with the kids! Using simple shop-bought ingredients, you can whip up adorable marshmallow snowmen, strawberry Santas, and chocolate pretzel Christmas trees. The best part? No fancy tools required—just an ice cream scoop for a quick easy hack for frosting cupcakes! These sweet and fun treats will brighten up your holiday celebrations, and the kids will have a blast decorating (and eating) them. Happy baking!
Vanilla Cupcake
Ingredients:
- 180g all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 115g unsalted butter, softened
- 200g granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla paste
- 120ml whole milk (room temperature)
Decoration:
Snowman - Marshmallow, Pretzel Stick and Black and Orange Candy melts.
Santa - Strawberry and Black Candy melts.
Christmas Tree - Pretzel Stick, Green Candy melts, Sprinkles.
Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 175°C. Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners.
2. In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
3. In a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed for about 3 minutes until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides as needed.
4. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Mix in the vanilla.
5. On low speed, add half of the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Pour in the milk, then mix again until smooth. Add the remaining dry ingredients and fold by hand until just combined. Do not overmix.
6. Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake liners, filling them about ¾ full.
7. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
8. Allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.
Vanilla Buttercream (American style)
Ingredients:
- 250g unsalted butter, room temperature
- 560g icing sugar (powdered sugar), sifted
- 4-6 tablespoons heavy cream (or whole/semi-skimmed milk)
- 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
1. In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter using a hand mixer, stand mixer, or by hand until it becomes pale, light, and fluffy. This may take several minutes.
2. Gradually sift half of the icing sugar into the butter and beat until fully combined. Repeat with the remaining half of the icing sugar.
3. Add the heavy cream and vanilla extract, mixing until the frosting is smooth and creamy. If the frosting is too thick, add more cream, one tablespoon at a time, until the desired consistency is reached.
4. Use immediately to frost cupcakes, cakes, brownies, or any sweet treats. Enjoy!
5. Instead of piping you could try using an ice cream scoop for frosting the cupcakes. A great hack if you have little time or much easier for kids to manage.
6. Check out reel below on how to decorate the 3 quick and easy Christmas cupcake designs. Each design is so simple to assemble. Have fun!