Candy Cane Cupcakes
An easy Christmas dessert for your holiday table - make these cute and delicious peppermint Candy Cane Cupcakes!
Servings: 24 cupcakes
Calories: 509kcal
Equipment
- 2 Cupcake pans (24 cups total)
- large cookie scoop (optional, but makes transferring batter much easier)
- small piping bag (optional; for filling cupcakes)
- Cupcake corer (optional - you can also use the back end of a large piping tip or a plastic knife)
Ingredients
Peppermint Candy Cane Cupcakes
- 1 cup unsalted butter (melted and cooled)
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 5 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons peppermint extract
- 1 cup milk - I used whole milk
- ½ cup sour cream
- ¼ cup crushed peppermint candy (save and add later - you can crush candy canes or buy crushed peppermint candy)
Peppermint Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting
- 8 ounces cream cheese (one package; softened)
- 1 cup butter (two sticks, softened)
- 6 cups powdered sugar
- 1-2 Tablespoons milk
- 1 Tablespoon peppermint extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt (if using unsalted butter)
Decorations
- 24 Mini candy canes (to top the cupcakes)
- ¼ cup crushed peppermint candy (or crushed candy canes)
Instructions
Peppermint Candy Cane Cupcakes
- First – melt your unsalted butter and set aside to cool (so it doesn’t cook your eggs when you add it!) Preheat your oven to 350℉(180℃), and prepare pans with cupcake liners. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, milk and sour cream. Add the cooled melted butter and whisk again until well combined.
- Add flour mixture to the wet ingredients and stir until just combined, being careful not to over mix the batter. The batter will be thick.
- Divide the batter evenly between the cupcake liners, filling them about 2/3 full. Sprinkle each cupcake with a bit of crushed peppermint candy/candy canes, and swirl them in a bit with a spoon or toothpick.
- Bake for 16-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean.
- Allow to cool completely before frosting. (This is an excellent time to make your frosting and filling!)
Peppermint Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting
- Beat together softened cream cheese and butter; slowly add in powdered sugar alternating with milk and peppermint extract until frosting reaches a pipeable consistency. Add salt and beat until well combined.
Peppermint filling
- Save out about ¾ cup of frosting to use for cupcake filling, and stir in an additional ½ Tablespoon of peppermint extract and ¼ cup crushed peppermint candy. Set aside until you’re ready to fill your cupcakes.
- Once the cupcakes have cooled, core them - you can use a cupcake corer, the back end of a large piping tip, or....you can do what I do and cut a cone-shaped core out with a plastic knife. Up to you! I saved the tops from the cores to put back over the filling and make frosting a bit easier.
- Transfer your filling to a piping bag, and fill your cupcakes with peppermint filling.
- Pipe your mint frosting in large swirls onto your cupcakes. Decorate the top of each frosting swirl with a mini candy cane and a few sprinkles of crushed candy cane if you’re feeling fancy! (Of note, crushed peppermint candy will get weird-looking and ‘melty’ if left on cupcake frosting overnight – add this the day you plan to serve them!)
- Done and done! Enjoy!
Video
Nutrition
Serving: 1cupcake | Calories: 509kcal | Carbohydrates: 64g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 24g