Christmas Cupcake Recipe

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Oh what fun it is to bake these festive Christmas-themed cupcakes! Fluffy vanilla cupcakes with festive sprinkles and handmade candy melt christmas trees. These breathtaking cupcakes will be the star of any holiday meal, party, or potluck you bring them to. Impress all your friends and family today by making these easy Christmas cupcakes.

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Why You Need to Make these Cupcakes

So much fun to make for the holidays, you can get the whole family involved.
A true showstopper Christmas dessert that will be the star of the show.
Extra indulgent with a light creamy frosting and candy tree decoration.
Perfect for holiday parties, bake sales, potlucks and Christmas dessert.

About this Recipe

You won’t believe how easy these cupcakes are to make! Don’t let the exquisite appearance intimidate you. Using a store bought cake mix and a simple homemade icing these cupcakes are ready in no time. The tree decorations are not only easy to make, but fun as well! You will have so much fun decorating these with the family. A light vanilla cupcake with red and green sprinkles, a light, creamy, fluffy icing, and a pretzel and candy melt tree decoration that will impress all your guests.

Try my Pumpkin Caramel Latte Cupcake!

What is in Christmas Cupcakes?

To make the trees:

pretzel sticks – used to make the trunks of the trees, these can be replaced with any edible candy sticks you can find.
dark green candy melts – often found with the specialty baking ingredients, if you can’t find them use melted white chocolate dyed with green food coloring.
nonpareils for sprinkling – Nonpareils are round sprinkles and will look like Christmas lights or little christmas balls on the tree.

For the cupcakes:

white cake mix – Don’t forget to get all the ingredients on the back of the package needed to make the cupcakes!
red, white and green sprinkles – You can use nonpareils or Jimmy sprinkles, just keep in mind nonpareils tend to bleed their colors into the batter.

Frosting + Decor:

butter
powdered sugar
vanilla
pinch of salt
half and half – Feel free to use table cream or heavy whipping cream instead.

Variations to Try

Add more decorations – Feel free to decorate the trees as much as you want. Using fun Christmas themed candy or icing can really jazz up this dessert.
Change the cake mix- There is no wrong flavor of cake mix to use, from chocolate to maple pecan use whatever you want.
Gluten free – Have a favorite gluten free cake mix? Use it in this recipe!

Pro Tips

Let the trees cool completely before attempting to remove them from the parchment lined baking sheet. Too early and they will be soft and break. Make a few extra incase some of the break while decorating.
Allow the cupcakes to cool completely before icing. If they are warm at all, the icing will melt and won’t be light and fluffy like snow.
Use festive Christmas themed cupcake liners to make these holiday desserts extra Christmas themed.
Use a toothpick or a cake test stick to check when the cupcakes are done. It should pull out completely clean when inserted into the center. Avoid overbaking to keep the cupcakes moist.
Make boxed cake mix taste like scratch made cake by adding an additional egg, using butter instead of oil, and using milk instead of water.

Make Ahead, Leftovers, and Storage

These cupcakes can be made up to 4 days in advance of Christmas day or holiday parties.

Consider keeping the cupcakes and trees separate until you are ready to serve, and assemble before serving.

Leftover cupcakes can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.

Try my Mandarin Cupcakes!

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