Christmas Tree Cupcakes

Move over Christmas Cookies! These fun Christmas Tree Cupcakes are easier than they look and a fun, festive dessert for holiday parties! Made with a boxed cake mix, you can whip up a batch and get to decorating in no time!

Christmas is when the baked goods have their time to shine. Think about it, what would the holidays be without A LOT of cookies? But why should Christmas cookies have all the fun?

As your making out your Christmas baking list, don’t forget about the simple dessert that easily feeds a crowd, and kids love to decorate and eat – cupcakes! The kids will love the added bonus of topping them with an easy Christmas Tree Pretzel to make them even more festive! Santa might skip the cookies and ask for these fun Christmas cupcakes this year!

How to Make Christmas Tree Cupcakes

Using a boxed cake mix makes these cupcakes a time saver during the mad dash of the holidays!

INGREDIENTS:

• Boxed Cake Mix – I used Triple Chocolate Fudge for this recipe, but you are welcome to use your favorite cake flavor, whether it’s a boxed mix or homemade
• Ingredients Needed From Box – each cake mix is different in the items it calls for so be sure to read the back of the box and grab anything necessary. Typical cake mixes call for eggs, oil, and water.
• Butter – be sure to plan ahead and remove the butter from the fridge and come to room temperature before using.
• Powdered Sugar – best practice tip is to always sift the powdered sugar before adding it so it doesn’t form clumps
• Vanilla Extract – I always recommend using pure vanilla extract over imitation. You are welcome to add more flavor by using a different extract – cinnamon or orange would both be delicious options for the holidays.
• Milk – use as much or as little milk as you would like based on how thick or thin you would like your frosting. We prefer thicker so we used more towards the top end of the measurements.

EQUIPMENT:

• Cupcake Pan
• Hand Mixer (or Stand Mixer)
• Mixing Bowl
• Piping Bag (or Ziploc bag)

DIRECTIONS:

Start by making the cupcakes according to the directions on the box. Or feel free to use your favorite homemade recipe.

While the cupcakes are baking, place the room temperature stick of butter in a medium sized bowl. Using a hand mixer mix well. Add powdered sugar and vanilla. Mix again until well combined. Slowly add milk little by little, mixing in between until you get the thickness/ creaminess that’s desired. I like it to be a bit thicker.

Choose a piping tip and place into a piping bag. Snip the end off and spoon frosting into piping bag. Frost your cupcakes as desired.

Decorate your cupcakes! We decorated ours with Christmas Tree Pretzels!

Box Cake Mix Hacks

Want to make your boxed cake mix tastes more homemade? Here a few suggestions on getting that bakery quality from a box:

• Add an additional egg
• Replace the water with equal amounts of milk
• Replace the oil with melted butter – you need to double the amount
• Bake based on box instructions

Make Them More Festive

If you want to take the holiday look up even more, you can add some of the following to the tops of the cupcakes for extra Christmas decoration:

• Sanding Sugar
• Coconut Flakes
• Powdered Sugar
• Extra Sprinkles

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