The Cutest Snowman Cupcakes

Baby, it’s cold INSIDE with the cutest snowman cupcakes you ever did see!

My easy “25 days of Christmas Bakes” is back again with our fifth themed treat. Have you been following along so far? It’s been pretty fun and I’ve loved to see so many of you in the kitchen baking up these fun Christmas baked goodies!

Today I have the cutest snowman cupcakes for you – and they’re definitely pretty high in the “easy” category when it comes to how simple they are to make. So simple, in fact, that I’ve made a helpful step-by-step tutorial showing just how quickly they come together.

Let’s dive right in!

Where to begin?

First things first, we need a batch of my vanilla cake and vanilla buttercream. It’s my go-to recipe, and trust me, you’ll always come back to it when you need a dependable and tasty recipe! The only change I made was to add in a bit of blue gel coloring.

HOW TO MAKE EASY VANILLA CUPCAKES

The ingredients are pretty simple for my white cake recipe – most of them you’ll already have in your kitchen! All I did to change them for these cupcakes is adding in a drop or two of sky blue food gel coloring.

INGREDIENTS TO MAKE VANILLA CUPCAKES:

• BUTTERMILK – If you don’t have buttermilk, you can always make your own by adding about a tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar to your whole milk, letting it sit for a half hour to curdle, and then using it in your recipe.
• SOUR CREAM – Always go for the full-fat real stuff. It’s thick and creamy and works wonders for the texture of your cupcakes.
• EGG WHITES – Lots of recipes require so many egg whites. This one only needs 4! Make sure your ingredients from the fridge are all room temperature before using, and save those egg yolks for a yummy curd, custard, or right in your morning scrambled eggs.
• VANILLA – I use my inexpensive vanilla in my cupcakes, and then use my more expensive stuff in my buttercream. So if you use imitation stuff here, I won’t tell anyone.
• VEGETABLE OIL – the oil in these cupcakes make them super fluffy, so I recommend not subbing in melted butter for this one.
• WHITE CAKE MIX – I prefer the taste and texture of Duncan Hines, but if you use a similar brand, you’ll be fine.

The directions for my cupcakes are here with my white cake recipe. For the transition from cake to cupcake, all you’ll need to do is split the cake batter into 24 cupcakes, add in a little bit of sky blue coloring gel, and then bake the cupcakes for about 12-14 minutes.

HOW TO MAKE CLASSIC VANILLA BUTTERCREAM

For my snowman cupcakes here, I went with my vanilla buttercream recipe.

INGREDIENTS FOR CLASSIC VANILLA BUTTERCREAM:

• UNSALTED BUTTER – Left out at room temperature for 10 minutes to soften slightly before whipping them up in the stand mixer.
• SALT – I know, we went with unsalted butter and then added salt to it. Seems like madness, but it’s how we can better control the amount of salt in the buttercream. The salt balances out the sweet.
• VANILLA – I love using the good stuff. Use pure vanilla and maybe even a little half teaspoon of almond extract if you want a little extra something!
• HEAVY CREAM – I love the 40% Darigold brand, but anything similar should be good. This helps you control the consistency of your buttercream.
• POWDERED SUGAR – Add it half a cup at a time and use it to balance the consistency of the buttercream.

The DIRECTIONS for my easy vanilla buttercream are HERE.

STEP BY STEP DIRECTIONS:

Here’s what you’ll need:

1. Wilton 1A Piping Tip – it’s a large circle. Add it to your piping bag and fill the piping bag with the vanilla buttercream.
2. Winter Themed Sprinkles – I couldn’t find the exact sprinkle mix that I used, but here’s one that’s super similar that would work perfectly.
3. Carrot Nose Sprinkles – I used these ones, but if you can’t find them, you can always use orange jimmy sprinkles or rolled orange pieces of fondant.
4. Black sphere sprinkles – These would work great! Although, I found mine in another sprinkle mix and just picked out the black spheres to use for these cupcakes.

To begin our buttercream-frosted snowman cupcakes, with a piping bag fitted with the Wilton 1A piping tip and white buttercream, pipe a large dollop of buttercream in the center of the cupcake.

Spread the sprinkles on a flat plate, then gently press the piped buttercream into the sprinkles to cover.

With the same piping tip, pipe a large dollop in the center of the sprinkled buttercream to make the bottom of the snowman. Pipe another dollop on top of the first, but this time make it a bit smaller for the snowman’s head. If you end up with a shape that isn’t exactly spherical, use a wet fingertip to flatten the top out.

Add black sprinkles for button eyes, and a carrot nose sprinkle for, you guessed it, the nose!

Add in a couple sphere sprinkles from your sprinkle mix as earmuffs and then a couple jimmies sprinkles on top to connect them. That’s it!

I cannot wait to see all your cute snowman cupcakes! They’re so festive and fun and perfect for anytime you’re feeling in a wintery mood (basically Nov-March here in Utah, eek!).

Here’s a quick video of the process:

I’d love to see your bakes! Make sure to tag me @bakingwithblondie on Instagram, TikTok, Facebok, and Youtube so I can join in on all the fun!

As always, Happy Baking!

xo,

Mandy