Add some holiday flair to your dessert table! From cupcakes with holiday-themed decorations to classic holiday flavors, these cupcakes are guaranteed to make your holidays sweeter.
This post begins with recommended holiday cupcake baking equipment. Cupcakes are easy to make with some kitchen basics, but I've included some suggestions to upgrade your cupcake baking experience. If you want more cupcake baking tips, check out my Cupcake Baking Guide.
Next, we move on to the cupcake recipes. They're separated into three sections:
Cupcakes with holiday-themed decorations: This section includes Buddy the Elf cupcakes, Grinch cupcakes, and cupcakes with other festive decorations like reindeer, Santa, Christmas trees, and ornaments. Several recipes in this section are great for baking with kids.
Classic holiday flavors: Looking for something that tastes like Christmas in a cupcake? This section has it! Gingerbread, hot chocolate, cinnamon, eggnog, and peppermint are the stars of these recipes.
Boozy cupcakes: Let the kids decorate reindeer or ornament cupcakes, then make a batch of Baileys, tiramisu, or Bourbon cupcakes for the adults.
Recommended Holiday Cupcake Baking Equipment
Hand mixer or stand mixer: My Kitchen Aid stand mixer is a trusty workhorse I've had for close to 15 years now. However, a stand mixer is completely not necessary for making cupcake batter. A hand mixer is totally fine.
Upgrade your stand mixer experience: I recently purchased the Countess Flour Funnel™ from The Cookie Countess. This is a total game changer when it comes to adding flour gradually while the mixer is running. It fits all Kitchen Aid stand mixers!
Mix by hand: If you don't have a hand mixer or stand mixer, cupcake batter is easy to make in a large mixing bowl with a wooden spoon and rubber or silicone spatula.
Batter measuring: I use a cookie scoop to measure my batter, which makes sure each cupcake is the same size. This promotes even baking so all cupcakes so you don't end up with a mix of overdone, underdone, and just right cupcakes. I use the largest cookie scoop in my set, which holds about 3 tablespoons of batter.
Muffin tin: Literally nothing fancy needed here! Just a basic muffin tin and cupcake liners will work great. The only kind of muffin tin I don't recommend is silicone.
Apple corer: For cupcakes that have a filling, I remove the centers with an apple corer.
Piping bags and tips: This is the way to get pretty icing! Wilton is my go-to brand, and a lot of recipes include which Wilton tip you should use.
Looking for more holiday dessert inspiration? Check out these 25 Christmas Cookie Recipes.
Holiday-Themed Cupcake Decorations
Classic Holiday Cupcake Flavors
Boozy Holiday Cupcakes
