Grow your taste buds by three sizes with these fun and delicious grinch cupcakes. A moist and fluffy chocolate cupcake topped with creamy green buttercream. Bake up a batch of these for your holiday parties or as a kitchen craft with the kids.
Christmas desserts are certainly a highlight of the season - lots of different sweet flavors, festive colors and perfect for enjoying with family and friends.
We have come up with a lot of different fun Christmas cupcakes such as these gingerbread cupcakes, chocolate peppermint cupcakes or these ornament cupcakes. And, these grinch themed cupcakes are no exception.
As always, when we come up with a festive decorated recipe, we strive to make it easy to replicate for everyone. In addition to the delicious flavor of these cupcakes, they are also super fast to make - you only need 30 minutes.
Ingredients
For cupcakes:
- Butter - softened + unsalted
- Cocoa Powder
- Oil
- Eggs
- Vanilla
- Flour
- Milk
- Baking Powder
- Salt
For Frosting:
- Powdered Sugar
- Milk
- Vanilla
- Butter
- Green Food Coloring
- Red Heart Sprinkles
See recipe card for quantities.
Substitutions & Variations
Missing a few ingredients, or want to make these even easier? These are some variations we have tested out.
- Use boxed mix - the main highlight of these cupcakes is their festive decorations. Speed up making them by using a chocolate cake mix.
- Change up colors - you can change up the colors and flavors by making a vanilla cupcake (just leave out the cocoa powder), add green food coloring. And then do a totally red frosting by using red food coloring.
- Add a red heart inside - you can make these a filled cupcake by adding a cherry or other red filling. Or, by actually making red velvet cake and cutting out heart shapes and placing them inside the cupcakes.
For other grinch desserts try these: grinch macarons, grinch hot chocolate bombs, grinch rice krispie treats or grinch cake roll.
How to Make Grinch Cupcakes
Use these easy to follow instructions to bake up a batch of grinch cupcakes.
Step one: Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line cupcake tin with liners.
Step two: cream together butter and sugar for 2 - 3 minutes on medium high. Then add in eggs, oil, vanilla, milk, cocoa powder, flour, baking powder and salt.
Step three: mix on medium low, scraping sides down as needed until well combined. Pour batter into cupcake liners filling about ⅔ of the way full. Bake for about 15 minutes.
Step four: add butter, sugar and milk to mixing bowl and mix on low until well combined.
Step five: turn up to high speed for 2 -3 minutes until it becomes fluffy.
Step six: add in green food coloring and gently fold together until well combined.
Step seven: add frosting to a piping bag with a large star tip and carefully pipe frosting onto the top of the cupcakes. Then add heart sprinkles to each.
Hint: make sure cupcakes are totally cooled before adding the frosting. Otherwise it is likely to slide right off the tops (ask me how I know).
⭐Recipe Tips for Success
- Frosting consistency - get your frosting right so that you can pipe it on properly. It should be thick enough that it doesn't droop when scooped up with a spatula, but not so thick that it's difficult to squeeze out of the piping bag.
- Pretty piping - the key to pretty frosting is to add a large dollop right in the center of the cupcake. Then, starting at an outer edge, circle it around until you meet back at the center. Make sure to use even pressure on the piping bag the whole time.
- Fully baked - make sure your cupcakes are fully baked before removing them from the oven. You should be able to stick a toothpick in the center and remove it without having anything stick to it.
Storage
These cupcakes stay good if kept in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. For longer storage they should be frozen.
They can be frozen up to 3 months and maintain good quality. If they are already frosted, make sure to flash freeze before packaging them up. Defrost in the fridge overnight.
Grinch Cupcakes
Equipment
- Cupcake Liners
- Cupcake/Muffin Tin
- Hand or Stand Mixer
- Mixing bowl
- Spoon or Spatula
- Measuring Spoons
- measuring cups
- Star Tip
- Piping Bag
Ingredients
For cupcakes
- .5 cup Butter unsalted + softened
- .75 cup Sugar
- .25 cup Oil
- 2 Eggs
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla
- .75 cups Milk
- 1.25 cups Flour
- 1.5 teaspoons Baking Powder
- .5 teaspoons Salt
- .5 cups Cocoa Powder
For frosting
- 1.5 cups Powdered sugar
- .5 teaspoons Vanilla
- .5 cups Butter unsalted + softened
- 1-2 tablespoons Milk as needed
Instructions
- Line cupcake tin with liners and preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Add .5 cups softened butter and .75 cups sugar to mixing bowl and cream on high for 2 - 3 minutes or until light and fluffy.
- Add in 2 eggs, .25 cups oil, 1 teaspoon vanilla, .75 cups milk and mix on medium until well combined.
- Add in .5 teaspoons of salt, 1.5 teaspoons of baking powder, .5 cups of cocoa powder and 1.25 cups of flour. Mix on low, scraping sides as needed until well combined.
- Spoon batter into cupcake liners filling each about ⅔ of the way full.
- Bake for 14 - 16 minutes - center should be fully set when done. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
Green Buttercream
- Add .5 cups softened butter, .5 teaspoons vanilla and 1.5 cups of powdered sugar to the mixing bowl. Mix on medium until well combined.
- Turn mixer up to high for 2 - 3 minutes or until it thickens and becomes fluffy. Add in milk if needed to thin it out.
- Add green food coloring and carefully fold in until evenly combined.
- Scoop frosting into piping bag fitted with a star tip.
- Once cupcakes are cooled, pipe frosting onto each cupcake and add a red heart sprinkle.
Notes
- Green color- adjust the darkness of the frosting color to how you like it by adding more green food coloring. Gel food coloring tends to be easier to work with.
- Pretty piping - to get a pretty looking frosting, add one large mound in the center of the cupcake. Then, start at the outer edge and go in circles slightly overlapping until you reach the center. Be sure to keep an even pressure the whole time.
- Cool cupcakes - make sure cupcakes are fully cooled before adding frosting.
- Frosting consistency - it should be thick enough to not droop when scooped up, but not so thick that it's hard to squeeze out of the piping bag.
- Keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. If storing for longer, they should be frozen.
- If freezing with the frosting already on, flash freeze before packaging up. They can be frozen for 3 months.
Nutrition
Nutrition information provided is just an estimate and may vary based on specific ingredients used.
