Santa Cupcakes

Santa cupcakes are peppermint sprinkle cupcakes that are decorated to look like Santa Claus.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 20

Total Time 50

Servings cupcakes

Calories 434kcal

Author Kate @ I Heart Eating

Equipment

Muffin tin

Ingredients

Cupcakes

¼ cup salted butter melted
2 tablespoons plain Greek yogurt or sour cream at room temperature
½ cup whole milk at room temperature
1 large egg at room temperature
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
⅓ cup Christmas colored sprinkles

Frosting

1 cup salted butter at room temperature
2-3 tablespoons milk or heavy cream
3 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
Red food coloring
Brown food coloring
Red and brown mini M&Ms

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and place cupcake liners in a 12-count cupcake tin. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, combine melted butter, yogurt, milk. egg, peppermint extract, and vanilla extract.
¼ cup salted butter, 2 tablespoons plain Greek yogurt or sour cream, ½ cup whole milk, 1 large egg, 1 teaspoon peppermint extract, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Add flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar to the wet ingredients, and mix until combined.
1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder, ½ teaspoon salt, 1 cup granulated sugar
Fold in sprinkles.
⅓ cup Christmas colored sprinkles
Divide the batter evenly between the muffin tins, filling each muffin liner about ⅔ of the way full.
Bake for about 20-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Let the cupcakes cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes, and then remove them to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Once the cupcakes have cooled completely, you can frost them.
In a large mixing bowl, beat the softened butter, powdered sugar, milk, and peppermint extract with an electric hand mixer until well-combined.
1 cup salted butter, 3 cups powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon peppermint extract, 2-3 tablespoons milk or heavy cream
Separate the frosting into three bowls. You'll need about 1/2 the frosting to be white, 1/4 will be tan, and 1/4 will be red.
Add 4 drops of red food coloring to one bowl, and stir in to combine,
Red food coloring
Add 1 drop of brown food coloring to the second bowl, stir in to combine.
Brown food coloring
Leave the last bowl white.
Transfer the white food frosting to a piping bag with a star tip. Set aside.
Using an offset spatula, frost each cupcake with a thin layer of the brown frosting. Make sure the tops are smooth!
Using an offset spatula, frost the top ⅓ of each cupcake with the red frosting to act as Santa’s hat.
Using the white frosting, pipe little dollops on the bottom third of each cupcake to act as Santa’s beard.
Pipe a thin line of white frosting over the bottom of Santa’s hat.
Place one red M&M in the center of each cupcake for Santa’s nose and two brown M&Ms for Santa’s eyes.
Red and brown mini M&Ms

Notes

Butter: I use salted butter in both the cupcakes and the frosting. If using unsalted butter, increase the salt by 1/4 teaspoon in the cupcakes and add a couple of pinches of salt to the frosting.
Milk: Whole milk gives you softer, richer cupcakes. You can substitute buttermilk for the total amount of milk and sour cream.
Peppermint extract: Be sure to use peppermint extract and not spearmint. Spearmint extract will give you cupcakes that taste like toothpaste or mouthwash.
Vanilla extract: For whiter cupcakes, you can use clear vanilla flavoring.
Nutrition values are estimates.

Nutrition