Christmas Reindeer Cupcakes

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(7)
6 Reviews
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These cute reindeer cupcakes for Christmas are delicious. You can get the kids to help you decorate for loads of family fun.

Submitted by rasckus
Updated on February 24, 2023
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Prep Time:
1 hr
Cook Time:
20 mins
Additional Time:
1 hr 5 mins
Total Time:
2 hrs 25 mins
Servings:
12
Yield:
12 cupcakes
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Ingredients

Original recipe (1X) yields 12 servings

Cupcakes:

  • 9 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

  • ¾ cup white sugar

  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

  • 2 eggs

  • 1 ½ cups sifted self-rising flour

  • ½ cup milk

Frosting:

  • 1 cup confectioners' sugar

  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, room temperature

  • 1 tablespoon milk

  • 1 drop brown food coloring

Decoration:

  • 6 vanilla wafer cookies (such as Nilla®)

  • 12 red jelly beans

  • 24 candy eyeballs

  • 24 chewy chocolate-flavored candy (such as Tootsie Roll®)

  • 24 pretzels

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 12-cup muffin tin or line cups with paper liners.

  2. Combine 9 tablespoons butter, white sugar, and vanilla extract in a large bowl; beat with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Add eggs one at a time and beat until well combined. Fold in half the flour and 1/4 cup milk and stir to combine. Repeat with remaining flour and milk. Spoon batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling each 3/4 full.

  3. Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 18 minutes.

  4. Remove the tin from the oven and cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Remove cupcakes from the tin and cool completely on a wire rack before decorating, about 1 hour.

  5. Combine confections' sugar, 1 tablespoon butter, and 1 tablespoon milk in a large bowl; beat with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Thin frosting with a little milk or water, if necessary. Add food coloring and stir until frosting is uniformly brown. Add more food coloring, 1 drop at a time, until frosting is the color you like.

  6. Spread a thin layer of frosting on top of each cupcake. Break vanilla cookies in half. Place half a cookie on each cupcake as a mouth. Use a bit of frosting to glue a jelly bean onto the cookie for Rudolph's red nose. Stick 2 candy eyeballs into each cupcake. Break off a piece from each pretzel so they look like antlers and stick 2 onto the top of each cupcake. Shape chewy candies into ears and stick 2 onto the sides of each cupcake.

    overhead view a Christmas Reindeer Cupcake, garnished with pretzels and cherries, next to a pretzel
    Magda

Tips

Instead of brown-colored icing for the reindeer cupcakes, you can use chocolate buttercream icing, which will be naturally brown.

You could color the frosting any color, such as red, blue, or green. Then use white ready-rolled fondant icing to cut out Christmas-inspired shapes to stick on top of the cupcakes. Try stars, Christmas trees, holly leaves, or other holiday-inspired shapes. Silver dragees also make a festive addition to sprinkle on top.

These cupcakes are great any time of year if you skip the reindeer decorating!

21 home cooks made it!

Nutrition Facts (per serving)

427 Calories
14g Fat
77g Carbs
6g Protein
Nutrition Facts
Servings Per Recipe 12
Calories 427
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 14g 18%
Saturated Fat 7g 36%
Cholesterol 57mg 19%
Sodium 815mg 35%
Total Carbohydrate 77g 28%
Dietary Fiber 2g 6%
Total Sugars 36g
Protein 6g 13%
Calcium 86mg 7%
Iron 2mg 13%
Potassium 106mg 2%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

** Nutrient information is not available for all ingredients. Amount is based on available nutrient data.

(-) Information is not currently available for this nutrient. If you are following a medically restrictive diet, please consult your doctor or registered dietitian before preparing this recipe for personal consumption.