Description
These festive Christmas Tree Cupcakes are a delightful holiday treat featuring moist vanilla cupcakes topped with green buttercream frosting piped into a tree shape, decorated with colorful sprinkles and Twizzler candy garlands to resemble a Christmas tree. Perfect for holiday parties and family gatherings.
Ingredients
Scale
Cupcake Batter
- 2 cups cake flour
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ cup salted butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup milk
- 3 large eggs
- ¼ tablespoon vanilla extract
Decorations
- 16 oz green buttercream frosting
- ¼ cup sequin-style rainbow sprinkles
- 2-3 Twizzler Pull 'n' Peel Candy, peeled into strings
- Star shaped sprinkles
- Confectioners sugar, optional
Instructions
- Preheat Oven: Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C) and line a muffin tin with cupcake liners; set aside.
- Mix Dry Ingredients: In a large bowl, combine cake flour, baking soda, and baking powder; set aside.
- Cream Butter and Sugar: In a medium bowl, cream together the softened butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add Wet Ingredients: Beat in the eggs one at a time, then whisk in the milk and vanilla extract until well combined.
- Combine Batter: Gradually add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients bowl and mix until the batter is smooth and free of lumps.
- Fill Cupcake Liners: Pour the batter into the cupcake liners, filling each about two-thirds full.
- Bake Cupcakes: Bake in the preheated oven for 22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Cool Cupcakes: Remove cupcakes from the oven and let them cool completely on a wire rack before decorating.
- Pipe Frosting: Fill a piping bag fitted with an open star tip with the green buttercream frosting. Start by piping a small quarter-sized circle in the center of the cupcake, then pipe a swirl starting from the outside edge inward with overlapping layers to form the shape of a Christmas tree, finishing with a pointed tip by pushing down and pulling up on the frosting.
- Add Decorations: Wrap strings of Twizzler Pull 'n' Peel candy around the base of each cupcake to create a tree skirt, sprinkle with sequin-style rainbow sprinkles, and place a star-shaped sprinkle at the top of the tree. Optionally, dust cupcakes lightly with confectioners sugar to mimic snow.
Notes
- If you don't have a piping bag, a ziplock bag with a small corner cut off works well for piping frosting.
- You can substitute salted butter with unsalted butter and add a pinch of salt if desired.
- Allow cupcakes to cool completely before frosting to prevent melting or sliding.
- Use gel food coloring to achieve a vibrant green color for the buttercream frosting.
- Twizzler Pull 'n' Peel candy can be replaced with any thin licorice or candy strings for the garland decoration.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cupcake
- Calories: 320 kcal
- Sugar: 28 g
- Sodium: 150 mg
- Fat: 18 g
- Saturated Fat: 10 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 6 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 38 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 3 g
- Cholesterol: 65 mg
