22 Easy Cupcake Recipes to Make For the Next Special Occasion
Who doesn’t love cupcakes?
In many ways, cupcakes are the perfect dessert—they’re small, a cinch to whip up, and can be made with endless flavor combinations you can tailor to your own preferences. Plus, let’s not forget that cupcakes are suitable for just about any occasion, from a brunch party to a neighborhood potluck. With that in mind, we’ve rounded up 22 easy cupcake recipes you’re bound to love.
FabrikaCr/Getty Images
There’s something for everyone and every occasion, though we are partial to Carrot Cake Cupcakes With Browned Butter Cream Cheese Frosting, and many of these treats can be made in an hour or less. Keep reading for some of our favorite cupcake recipes!
Related: 21 Classic, Delicious Cookie Recipes
Pumpkin Cupcakes With Cream Cheese Frosting
Preparing for a Halloween party? These are the cupcakes to make. Each one features a pumpkin base bursting with autumnal flavors, as well as a rich cream cheese frosting that’s decadent but not too sweet. Top each cupcake with some candy corn for an additional festive touch.
Carrot Cake Cupcakes With Browned Butter Cream Cheese Frosting
Carrot cake cupcakes are delicious in their own right, but these are even tastier thanks to an elevated browned butter cream cheese frosting. And while that cupcake topper sounds laborious, it’s surprisingly simple to make and comes together in just a few minutes. You’ll carefully brown six tablespoons of butter in a skillet, let it cool to room temperature, then beat the butter with cream cheese, confectioners’ sugar, and salt until it’s smooth. Add flakes of toasted coconut for some extra texture and a touch of sweetness, and enjoy!
Chocolate Cupcakes With Malted Milk Frosting
The Spruce/Diana Rattray
You can never go wrong with chocolate cupcakes. For this recipe, you’ll top a rich, chocolatey base with a creamy frosting made with malted milk powder and vanilla. Make these cupcakes for a birthday party, neighborhood potluck, or just a lazy Sunday afternoon.
Raspberry-Swirl Cheesecake Cupcakes
These miniature cupcakes are the perfect utensil-free dessert. The rich cream cheese is balanced out by a homemade raspberry sauce, as well as an easy-to-make graham cracker crust. To get that eye-catching swirl effect, simply swirl the red sauce into the cream cheese mixture with a toothpick. Not a fan of raspberries? Try the recipe with strawberries or blueberries instead.
Lemon Curd Cupcakes
Kristina Vanni
These triple lemon cupcakes are perfect for people who can’t get enough of that tart lemon flavor. Here, you’ll find a moist and fluffy lemon cake, a tart lemon curd filling, and sweet and creamy lemon buttercream frosting. Making your own lemon curd isn’t as tricky as it sounds, but if you’d rather save some time the store-bought stuff works just as well.
Cheerwine Cherry Cupcakes With Cherry-Swirl Frosting
Antonis Achilleos; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall; Prop Styling: Kathleen Varner
Cheerwine, a cherry-flavored soft drink that’s popular in the South, is added directly to a box of white cake mix in this cupcake recipe. Then, each treat is adorned with a homemade cherry-swirl frosting, as well as bright red Maraschino cherries.
Red Velvet Cupcakes With Cream Cheese Frosting
Red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting is an iconic duo for a reason. These classic cupcakes boast a deep crimson hue thanks to some red food coloring, and come together in just 40 minutes. Serve these treats at a potluck or Valentine’s Day party.
Banana Cupcakes With Honey-Cinnamon Frosting
If you’re a banana bread fan, we suggest you give these cupcakes a whirl. In this recipe, mashed bananas are folded directly into the batter for that unmistakable burst of banana flavor. Then, each cupcake is topped with a homemade honey-cinnamon frosting that comes together in less than five minutes, as well as a fresh banana slice.
Easy Strawberry Cupcakes With Fresh Strawberries
The Spruce
If you need a dozen cupcakes in a pinch, bookmark this recipe. Here, the batter is made without any cake mix or Jello, while the basic white frosting is flavored with vanilla and dotted with fresh strawberries. Simple but delicious!
Peppermint Mocha Cupcakes
These intense chocolate cupcakes are flavored with a hint of peppermint and coffee. Since the plain cupcakes are very flavorful on their own, feel free to frost them with a simple mixture of heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla. However, a homemade white chocolate or vanilla buttercream frosting also works well.
Related: 11 Delicious Desserts You Won't Believe Are Actually Healthy-ish
Lavender and Vanilla Cupcakes
Elaine Lemm
If you’re not adding lavender to your cupcakes, you’re missing out. In this recipe, a classic cupcake batter is infused with culinary lavender, resulting in a cake base that is delicate and delicious. Top each confection with an easy-to-make lavender frosting and you’re all set.
Candied Bacon-Sweet Potato Cupcakes
Welcome fall with these cupcakes, which we guarantee you’ll make more than once. In this recipe, a bourbon-bacon cream cheese frosting is the literal icing on a batch of sweet potato cupcakes. Each cupcake is then topped with a sprinkling of cinnamon-sugar and a sliver of candied bacon, which adds the perfect sweet and savory balance.
Orange Curd Cupcakes
Bursting with bright citrusy flavor, these cupcakes are ideal for people who love oranges. The bright fruits pull double duty in this recipe, as there is orange zest in the batter and homemade orange curd in the filling. Then, swirls of vanilla buttercream are crowned with store-bought dried orange slices for a picture-perfect final product.
Coconut Cupcakes with Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting
Simply Recipes / Michelle Becker
These coconut cupcakes are a cut above the rest. The batter calls for coconut milk and features shredded coconut throughout, while the cream cheese frosting is packed with plenty of desiccated coconut. To really deliver on the tropical vibes, top each cupcake with some freshly cut pineapple or mango.
Keto Vanilla Cupcakes
The Spruce / Cara Cormack
Yes, keto cupcakes exist, and we promise they’re pretty tasty. Made without wheat flour and sugar, these treats instead include a keto sweetener and a combination of coconut and almond flours. To add even more flavor to the mix, stir some lemon or orange zest into the wet ingredients. You can also make a chocolate variety by omitting two tablespoons of the coconut flour and adding 1/4 cup cocoa powder to the dry ingredients.
Magnolia Bakery Vanilla Cupcakes
If you can’t quite make the trek to one of New York City’s famed Magnolia Bakery locations but are craving a practically perfect cupcake, this recipe is for you. Here, a classic vanilla cupcake with a moist, tender crumb is topped with a heap of rich, sweet buttercream frosting. It doesn’t get much more scrumptious than that!
Moscow Mule Cupcakes
Turn the classic cocktail into a cupcake with some help from this recipe, which calls for some atypical dessert ingredients like vodka and plenty of ginger and lime juice. The liquor, along with the ginger and lime, infuse the batter, and each cupcake is topped with cream cheese frosting as well as a sliver of candied ginger. Cheers!
Easy Peanut Butter Cupcakes
The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck
For many, there’s no greater combination than peanut butter and chocolate, and if you agree you’re going to want to make a batch of these cupcakes ASAP. Here, peanut butter cupcakes are decorated with a chocolate-peanut butter frosting that comes together in minutes thanks to a surprising shortcut. To make the topper, you’ll simply blend the store-bought chocolate frosting of your choice with some peanut butter until well combined. Easy enough, right?
Hummingbird Cupcakes
Martha Stewart
For a cupcake that’s studded with plenty of goodies, this is the recipe to use. In true hummingbird fashion, the batter, which takes about 12 minutes to make, is packed with banana, pineapple, and pecans. Then, each cupcake is topped with a classic vanilla cream cheese frosting before being served.
Pineapple Upside-Down Cupcakes
Kristina Vanni
While a cupcake with no frosting may sound like a waste, we swear these pineapple creations don’t disappoint. In the absence of a classic cupcake topper you’ll find a maraschino cherry-filled pineapple ring that’s been drizzled with brown sugar syrup. Just make sure to use a jumbo-sized muffin tin to make these cupcakes so the pineapple ring can fit.
Related: 10 Delicious Mini Desserts That Don't Require Any Baking
German Chocolate Cupcakes
Kristina Vanni
If you love the combination of sweet chocolate and toasted coconut, these cupcakes will be right up your alley. To get the true German chocolate experience, be sure to look for German sweet baking chocolate when grocery shopping for your ingredients. This variety of chocolate is sweeter than semisweet chocolate, and can be found in the baking aisle of most grocery stores.
Snickerdoodle Cupcakes
Pete Scherer
These 30-minute cupcakes boast all of the beloved cinnamon-sugar flavor you find in Snickerdoodle cookies. That’s thanks to a batter that is made with ground cinnamon, cream of tartar, and buttermilk, as well as a frosting that calls for plenty of cinnamon and confectioners' sugar.
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