Grinch Cupcakes
Homemade Grinch Cupcakes with a hint of peppermint topped with a delicious Peppermint Buttercream and a festive pretzel Christmas tree topper. Such a fabulous way to celebrate the Holidays!
Servings 24 cupcakes
Calories 500kcal
Equipment
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Ingredients
Grinch cupcake Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 4 large eggs
- 1 ½ cups granulated white sugar
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 3 teaspoons vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract Note 1
- 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
- 1 cup whole milk
- 2 Tablespoons red and green nonpareil sprinkles optional add to cupcake batter
Peppermint Buttercream Frosting
- 9 cups confectioners sugar
- 3 cups unsalted butter, room temperature 6 sticks of butter
- 1 Tablespoon peppermint extract
- ½ teaspoon vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
- 4-6 Tablespoons milk
- neon green food coloring
- heart sprinkles
Whoville Cupcake Topper
- green sugar sprinkles
- 24 pretzel sticks
- 12 ounces green candy melts
Instructions
How to make Grinch Cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 350°F/177°C. Line your muffin tins with paper liners. Set aside.
- To mix the dry ingredients, in a large bowl whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer using paddle attachment or a large mixing bowl using an electric hand mixer with beaters attached, beat the eggs and sugar until light and fluffy, about 4 to 5 minutes.
- Add in softened butter, vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract, and peppermint extract. Mix until just combined.
- Next mix in the milk until just combined.
- Pour the dry flour mixture into the wet ingredients and stir by hand until just combined.
- Fill the prepared muffin tins ½ to ¾ full with the batter.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean.
- Let cool completely on a cooling rack.
Peppermint Buttercream Frosting
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with beaters attached or a large bowl using an electric hand mixer with beaters attached whip the butter until light and fluffy, about 4-5 minutes.
- Gradually add the confectioners' sugar to the butter mixture.
- Whip until the frosting becomes smooth, another 3-4 minutes.
- Add in the peppermint and vanilla bean paste or vaniila extract.
- Add in 1-2 Tablespoons of milk. Add a little at a time until you get a smooth frosting that has a good piping consistency. You don't want it too thick and you definitely don't want it too thin. If it goes too far one way or the other you can always thicken it back up with more confectioners' sugar. Or thin it out with more milk.
- Add the neon green food coloring, this gives the best grinch green, add a little at a time until it is the right color.
- To make frosting easy, pipe frosting using a large plastic bag. Fill the plastic bag with the frosting and cut off the tip and pipe the frosting onto your cupcake in an upwards swirl.
- Sprinkle on the green sugar sprinkles and the heart sprinkles.
How to make Whoville Trees
- Lay out a piece of parchment paper on a large baking sheet and place 24 pretzel sticks on it, spaced apart.
- In a microwave-safe bowl melt your green candy melts in 30 second intervals until melted and smooth.
- Fill a small plastic bag with the melted green candy. Snip off a small corner of the plastic bag so you can pipe the frosting in the shape of a tree.
- Pipe a tree across the pretzels by going in a back and forth motion, curving at the top.
- Place a heart sprinkle on the tip of each one.
- Leave the trees out to harden or speed things up by placing them in the refrigerator.
- Stick your Whoville tree on the top of each frosted cupcake.
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
Be sure to check the Expert Tips and FAQs above with important tips and questions that can help make a delicious recipe.
Note 1: Vanilla bean paste gives a lot of flavor to the cupcakes. It can be expensive and difficult to find. Vanilla extract can be substituted for vanilla bean paste.
I'm not a registered dietician, I do my best to provide the most accurate nutritional values. Any nutritional data I provide is an approximation. Actual dietary information can vary based on ingredients and portion sizes
Nutrition
Serving: 1cupcake | Calories: 500kcal | Carbohydrates: 69g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 24g | Saturated Fat: 15g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 93mg | Sodium: 123mg | Potassium: 70mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 57g | Vitamin A: 773IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 36mg | Iron: 1mg