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    Decorated Treats » Recipes » Designs & Tutorials

    Easy Christmas Cupcakes

    Published: Dec 23, 2020 · Modified: Apr 7, 2023 by Priya Maha

    Jump to Recipe

    Make easy Christmas cupcakes with this delicious cupcakes recipe and decorating tutorial. Learn to make moist and fluffy cupcakes decorated with simple buttercream swirls and fondant stars and a generous fill of red and green sprinkles for true festive treats!

    A batch of cupcakes decorated with red, white and green sprinkles and a large red fondant star.

    The cupcakes recipes is adapted from my moist vanilla cupcakes recipe. They are very easy to make and produce most wonderfully moist and fluffy cupcakes.

    The only additional ingredient I have in these Christmas cupcakes is the sprinkles. Not only are the sprinkles used to decorate the cupcakes, I have also added them in the cupcake batter.

    And since these are for Christmas, I choose sprinkles in red and green. So my cupcakes have lovely specks of red and green all over, inside and out!

    The Christmas cupcakes are decorated with a simple swirl of buttercream and bright red, fondant star toppers.

    Jump to:
    • ❤️Why You Will Love These Cupcakes
    • 🧾Supplies Required
    • 📃Substitution and Variation
    • 👩‍🍳How to Make
    • 💡Expert Tips
    • 💭FAQs
    • ❤️More Recipes and Tutorials You Will Love
    • 📖Recipe

    ❤️Why You Will Love These Cupcakes

    • The cupcakes are much fun to make.
    • These are easy and suitable to beginners.
    • They are so pleasantly full of holiday spirit and are absolutely perfect for the holiday season.
    • You can make them as sweet treats for your Christmas dessert table, or you can even make and sell these at your local bake sale for Christmas.

    For more Christmas treats, check out my easy Christmas cake decoration, Christmas reindeer cupcakes, Christmas cheesecake, Christmas tree cupcakes, Christmas sprinkle cookies and snowflake cookies.

    🧾Supplies Required

    For the Cupcakes:

    Butter, vanilla extract, salt, sugar, eggs, milk, self raising flour and baking powder against a marble background.
    • Self-raising flour + baking powder + salt - mix and sift these together to aerate.
    • Butter - I use salted butter. If using unsalted butter, add an extra small pinch of salt to the batter.
    • Granulated sugar - this fine sugar is recommended over coarse sugar as coarse sugar takes longer to dissolve and tends to leave sugar speck on the surface of the cupcakes after baking.
    • Eggs - use large, room temperature eggs.
    • Milk - Keeps the cupcakes soft and moist. Use room temperature milk. Both full cream and low fat milk will work.
    • Vanilla extract - for flavoring and aroma.

    For the Buttercream:

    Powdered sugar, vanilla, butter and milk against a marble background.
    • Butter - Use salted butter. Salt enhances the taste of the buttercream. Make sure the butter is not too cold or too soft. It should be soft but firm when pressed.
    • Powdered sugar - sift first before using as it tends to be lumpy.
    • Vanilla extract - for flavoring.
    • Milk (optional) - only use if the buttercream is too stiff. Always add in small amounts and increase as needed.

    For the Decoration:

    Red fondant and a bottle of red, green and white sprinkles.
    • Christmas themed sprinkles - I used sprinkles mix with combination of red, green and white sprinkles.
    • Red fondant for the star toppers

    *Refer to the recipe card below for full list of ingredients and exact quantities. For best results, use a digital kitchen scale where applicable*

    📃Substitution and Variation

    • These Christmas cupcakes are decorated with a simple swirl of buttercream. Because I used butter in making the buttercream and did not include any artificial coloring, the frosting has a light tint of yellow to it.
    • If you want absolutely white frosting, you can substitute the butter with shortening or you can tint your buttercream with white food coloring for white buttercream.
    • Or, if you prefer to tint your buttercream to other colors like green frosting, you can always tint your buttercream with green food coloring.
    • If you like, you can even substitute the buttercream with cream cheese frosting.
    • You can also substitute the vanilla extract with peppermint extract for a minty batch of cupcakes.

    This recipe has not been tested with other substitutions or variations. If you do try, please let me know in the comments section below!

    👩‍🍳How to Make

    Step 1: Bake the cupcakes. Preheat oven and place cupcake liner into a cupcake tray.

    A bowl of butter and sugar and egg in a bowl of creamed mixture.

    Add butter and sugar into a large bowl (image 1)and cream both until light and fluffy with an electric mixer on medium high speed for approximately 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape the sides of the bowl constantly.

    Add in the eggs (image 2). Start with one egg, beat it well until you do not see any traces of egg before adding the next egg. Beat again until all traces of the eggs are no longer visible.

    Flour and wet batter in a bowl and sprinkles in a bowl of batter.

    Sift in the flour, baking powder, and salt into the creamed mixture (wet ingredients) in 4 batches (image 3). Alternate the flour mixture with milk. Fold these in until well incorporated.

    Next, add vanilla and sprinkles (image 4). Give the batter a quick mix until it's all smooth.

    Cupcake batter in cupcake liners and baked cupcakes.

    Scoop or spoon the batter into the prepared cupcake casings, and fill each casing to about two thirds full (image 5). The cupcakes will rise quite substantially when baking so it is important not to overfill the casings.

    Bake the cupcakes until well risen and golden brown in color (image 6). Remove from the oven and let them cool in the tin for about 5 minutes before removing them onto a wire rack to cool.

    As soon as the cupcakes turn just slightly warm, cover them in a container and let them continue to cool down, covered. Let them cool completely before decorating.

    Step 2: Make the fondant star toppers. Knead and roll some red fondant to about half a centimeter thickness.

    A star cutter on red fondant and a red fondant star with toothpick inserted into it.

    Use a star cutter to cut the stars out (image 7). Insert a toothpick at the ends of each star. Let them set in a horizontal position until they are ready to go onto the cupcakes (image 8).

    Note: These stars can also be made a few days in advance.  

    Step 3: Make the buttercream. Cream butter until soft. Add the powdered sugar and mix brief with a spatula to moisten the sugar before creaming with the beaters. Beat until fluffy.

    Adding vanilla into a bowl of buttercream and buttercream in a yellow bowl.

    Add vanilla extract (image 9) and continue to beat until it is well incorporated. If the buttercream is stiff, add some milk and mix well (image 10).

    Step 4: Decorate the cupcakes. Fit a piping bag with a large star tip (I used tip 1M) and fill it with the buttercream. 

    Buttercream swirl on a cupcake and 5 cupcakes with buttercream and sprinkles.

    Pipe large stars onto each of the cooled cupcakes (image 11).

    Sprinkle the top generously with Christmas themed sprinkles (image 12).

    A cupcake with red star topper and sprinkles.

    Attach one red fondant star right in the center of your buttercream stars (on top of each cupcake) (image 13). And that completes the decoration on the Christmas treats. 

    5 cupcakes decorated with red star toppers and Christmas themed sprinkles.

    💡Expert Tips

    • When mixing the cupcakes batter, cream the butter and sugar for a good 3 minutes and scrape the bowl half way through for light and fluffy cupcakes.
    • Do not overmix the batter after adding flour. This is prevent your cupcakes from becoming tough.
    • Make sure sprinkles are the last ingredient to go in. And even then, mix them into the batter quickly until they are just incorporated. Mixing them for too long will cause the colors to bleed and get mixed up.
    • Keep to the baking time and do not over bake to keep their moist texture.
    • The sprinkles on these Christmas cupcakes tend to bleed into the buttercream if you leave them in warm temperature, so they are best added before serving.
    • The star toppers for these Christmas cupcakes are made of fondant and can be made ahead of time. Simply store them in a dry place (do not refrigerate).
    A sprinkles cupcake with its casing peeled off. Cupcake is decorated with simple buttercream swirl, a red star topper and red and green sprinkles.

    💭FAQs

    How long can the cupcakes last?

    These delicious cupcakes can last at room temperature for a good 4 to 5 days (provided they are handled without any traces of water/moisture). If you wish to keep them longer, store them in an airtight container the refrigerator and bring them to room temperature before serving.

    How to store the cupcakes?

    Keep them at room temperature in a covered container in a cool place. If you wish to keep them for more than 4 or 5 days, they are best refrigerated. Bring the cupcakes to room temperature before serving.

    ❤️More Recipes and Tutorials You Will Love

    • Chocolate cupcakes in black cupcake liners, decorated with black frosting, white fondant cut out and black buttercream spiders.
      Creepy Halloween Spider Cupcakes (How to Make)
    • A set of 5 cupcakes in white cupcake casings decorated with buttercream, sugar sprinkles and a pretty 5 petal fondant flower.
      Vanilla Cupcakes from Scratch (Perfectly Moist!)
    • 4 cupcakes with 2d christmas tree deco.
      Christmas Tree Cupcakes
    • 4 cupcakes with reindeer face deco.
      Christmas Reindeer Cupcakes

    Do you like this tutorial? Please leave a 5-star ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐rating in the recipe card below and consider a review further down this page. I would love to hear from you. Thank you!

    📖Recipe

    5 cupcakes decorated with red star toppers and Christmas themed sprinkles.

    Easy Christmas Cupcakes

    Moist and fluffy Christmas cupcakes with cheerful sprinkles inside and outside. These cupcakes are so pretty and full of festive cheer!
    5 from 31 votes
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: Dessert
    Cuisine: American
    Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes
    Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes
    Decorating Time: 45 minutes minutes
    Total Time: 1 hour hour 25 minutes minutes
    Yield: 24 cupcakes
    Author: Priya Maha
    Prevent your screen from going dark
    Metric - US Customary

    For best results, use the metrics measurements. US customary measurements have not been tested and are only meant for guide.

    Ingredients

    Cupcakes

    • 190 g self raising flour
    • 100 g butter
    • 175 g granulated sugar
    • 2 eggs
    • 140 ml milk
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    • ¼ teaspoon salt
    • ½ teaspoon baking powder
    • 60 g red and green sprinkles

    Buttercream Frosting

    • 150 g butter (salted)
    • 300 g powdered sugar
    • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
    • 1 tablespoon milk or heavy cream (optional)

    Decoration

    • Sprinkles
    • Fondant stars
    Metric - US Customary

    Instructions

    • Preheat oven to 170°Celsius. Prepare cupcake liners.
    • Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, for approximately 3 minutes. Scrape the sides of the bowl constantly.
    • Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
    • Sift in the flour, baking powder and salt into the creamed mixture in 4 batches, alternating each batch with milk. Start and end with the flour. Mix until the flour is well incorporated.
    • Fold in the vanilla extract followed by the sprinkles.
    • Pour batter into prepared cupcake liners and bake for 20 minutes until the cupcakes are well risen and have turned golden brown.
    • Remove the cupcakes from the oven and let them cool in the tin for 5 minutes before removing them onto a wire rack to cool further.
    • Keep the cupcakes covered as soon as they turn warm and let them continue to cool down, covered.
    • To make the buttercream, cream the butter until fluffy. Sift in the powdered sugar, a little at a time.
    • Add vanilla and continue beating until the buttercream is light and fluffy. Add milk if it is too stiff.
    • Frost the cupcakes only when they have completely cooled down. Fill buttercream into a piping bag fitted with a large star tip and pipe a star on top of each cupcake. Decorate with sprinkles and attach a red fondant star in the center.

    Notes

    1. When mixing the cupcakes batter, cream the butter and sugar for a good 3 minutes and scrape the bowl half way through for light and fluffy cupcakes.
    2. Do not overmix the batter after adding flour. This is prevent your cupcakes from becoming tough.
    3. Make sure sprinkles are the last ingredient to go in. And even then, mix them into the batter quickly until they are just incorporated. Mixing them for too long will cause the colors to bleed and get mixed up.
    4. Keep to the baking time and do not over bake to keep their moist texture.
    5. The sprinkles on these Christmas cupcakes tend to bleed into the buttercream if you leave them in warm temperature, so they are best added before serving.
    6. The star toppers for these Christmas cupcakes are made of fondant and can be made ahead of time. Simply store them in a dry place (do not refrigerate).

    Nutrition

    Calories: 201kcal | Carbohydrates: 28g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 37mg | Sodium: 117mg | Potassium: 22mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 22g | Vitamin A: 290IU | Calcium: 19mg | Iron: 1mg
    Tried this recipe?Mention @decorated_treats or tag #decoratedtreats!

    Reader Interactions

    5 from 31 votes (31 ratings without comment)

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    5 cupcakes decorated with red star toppers and Christmas themed sprinkles.
    5 cupcakes decorated with red star toppers and Christmas themed sprinkles.
    5 cupcakes decorated with red star toppers and Christmas themed sprinkles.
    5 cupcakes decorated with red star toppers and Christmas themed sprinkles.
    A sprinkles cupcake with its casing peeled off. Cupcake is decorated with simple buttercream swirl, a red star topper and red and green sprinkles.

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