Easter Basket Cupcakes
These Easter Basket Cupcakes are a fun, festive, and totally edible way to get into the Easter spirit!
Did the Easter Bunny leave you baskets when you were a kid? I was definitely visited by the Easter Bunny every year…and I definitely loved it. Even when I was out of town visiting my grandparents, the Easter Bunny still managed to find me there. That bunny must be pretty darned smart…and he must have had a good GPS to find me.
But then one year, the Easter baskets stopped. I don’t remember exactly when it happened, but I kinda wish I still got them. But that’s ok…the Easter Bunny has more important things to do now. Like deliver baskets to other boys and girls. Or hang out with Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy and the Abominable Snowman. (Man, I’d love to walk in on that meeting!) Since Easter baskets no longer show up outside my bedroom door, I decided to make my own baskets this year. In cupcake form. These Easter Basket Cupcakes are a fun, festive, and totally edible way to get into the Easter spirit!
I’m not sure I’ve mentioned it here yet, but I have an odd fascination with frosting tips. Quit laughing. I mean, how can you not love something that makes “grass” out of frosting. Or those tips that make a bunch of little stars. I know it’s a simple concept, but it still fascinates me.
One of the coolest things about these Easter Basket Cupcakes is that they are entirely edible. Yup, the grass is frosting and the handle is a Twizzler. (Twizzlers might be my wife’s favorite candy of all time, and she definitely snuck a few when I wasn’t looking. At least she was nice enough to leave me a couple for making these cupcakes!) Oh, and here’s a handy tip for inserting the Twizzler handle: use a straw. As shown in the picture below, insert a normal straw into both sides of the cupcake to make a hole for the Twizzler. Otherwise, you might squish the cupcake putting in the handle. Not that I know from experience. But I can say that squished cupcakes still taste just as good as non-squished cupcakes.
These cupcakes are also a great project to make with the kids. You can make the cupcakes and frost them, but then let the kids help decorate the tops. Since my kids are of the four-legged furry variety, I couldn’t exactly count on them for help decorating these cupcakes. But I’m pretty sure I could count on them for help with eating the cupcakes. (Just kidding…I don’t feed the dogs human food. Except for the last little bit of yogurt each morning. And sometimes the ice cream remnants at night.)
Easter Basket Cupcakes
Ingredients
For the Cupcakes
- 3 cups cake flour see note
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1½ cups sugar
- 3 eggs
- ½ cup sour cream
- ½ Tbsp vanilla extract
- ¾ cup milk
For the Frosting
- 1½ cups unsalted butter, room temperature
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1½ Tbsp vanilla extract
- 2 Tbsp milk
- green food coloring
For Decoration
- Jelly beans
- Twizzlers
Instructions
For the Cupcakes
- Grease and flour a 12-cup muffin pan, or use paper liners; set pan aside. Preheat oven to 350°F.
- In a medium bowl, combine the cake flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir until well combined; set aside.
- Using a countertop mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
- Add about ½ of the flour mixture to the bowl; mix on low speed until well combined.
- Add the sour cream, vanilla, and approximately half of the milk to the bowl. Mix on low until well combined.
- Add the remaining flour mixture; mix on low until well combined.
- Add the remaining milk; mix on low until well combined. (Tip: Don’t forget to scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure all ingredients are fully mixed.)
- Fill greased or lined muffin tins approximately 2/3 full. Bake at 350°F for 24-26 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean.
- Allow cupcakes to cool before frosting.
For the Frosting
- In the bowl of a countertop mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter on medium-high speed for 6 minutes.
- Add the vanilla, green food coloring, and powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, mixing after each addition until fully absorbed.
- Add the milk and mix on medium high speed until well combined. (Note: If the frosting is too thick or thin, just add a bit of additional milk or powdered sugar.) Whip the frosting for another 4-6 minutes on high speed.
To Decorate Cupcakes
- Using a piping bag fitted with a #233 tip, fill the bag approximately ½ full of frosting. Frost the tops of cupcakes, refilling the bag as necessary.
- Place jelly beans in the “grass” frosting; finish by bending a 6" Twizzler in half and inserting both ends into opposite sides of the cupcake. (Tip: Use a straw to make a hole in both side of the cupcake before inserting the Twizzler handle. This will make it easier to insert the Twizzler without crushing the cupcake.)
Hey ~ the Easter baskets stopped when you went off to college ~ then
they switched to care packages! Smile!
Hahaha…thanks for the reminder!! 🙂
I love these baskets…ahem cupcakes!! They are so cute and love that everything is edible!!!!
Thanks so much, Z! These are definitely a fun Easter treat to bake! 🙂
We, being neighbors, were the lucky recipients of some of these adorable cupcakes. Believe me, they taste every bit as good as they look!
Yay! Thanks, Judy!! I appreciate having neighbors who are so willing to help out with extra cupcakes. 🙂
Love love love these adorable cupcakes! Oh yes, we got easter baskets from the bunny. 🙂
Thanks, Tina!! Maybe these cupcakes will show up in your Easter basket this year! 🙂
Dude you’re kind of a cupcake artist of something, they look like a piece of art or something. Great job!
Hahaha…thanks, Mike! I don’t know if I’d call myself an artist, but it sure was fun eating my work. 🙂
These are too cute. Easter baskets can totally still come for adults. The bunny just may need a little extra help 🙂
Thanks, Laura! I totally agree that Easter baskets are still valid for adults…I’m hoping the bunny finds me this year! 🙂
Question: Could these possibly be more adorable?
Answer: No flippin’ way! 🙂
Hahaha…I love the question that answers itself. Thank you so much, Becca!!!
How cute! Hah I’ve had plenty of squished cupcakes too.
Haha…there’s absolutely nothing wrong with a squished cupcake! 🙂
These are super cool! Perfect Easter baking recipe idea!
Thanks, Jess! Happy Easter!
I love Easter and as my kids are getting a little older I wonder if the Easter bunny should keep visiting. I’m thinking until they say they are too old, they will keep getting visits 😀 When I was a a teen we would do egg hunts, but the eggs had money inside. I tell you, you are never too old to run around looking for those kind of eggs. Haha
These are so cute! Perfect for Easter baking. I’m going to plan to make these with my daughter. She will love putting these together 😀 Great tip for not squishing the cupcakes!
Hey Cindy! We, too, had a golden egg that had some cashed stuffed inside. I think that’s what kept all the older kids really pumped about the egg hunt! Man, I’d love to walk outside and find an egg stuffed with money on my sidewalk today. Heck, I’d even root around in the bushes to find it! Thanks for stopping by, and Happy Easter!
The Easter bunny used to hide my basket…it was not always easy to find! Love the cupcakes!
Now that is one rude Easter bunny. But I kinda like the idea of hiding the Easter basket. Not sure that would work with these cupcakes, though…I’ve got 2 pups who would relish the thought of hide-and-seek cupcakes!
Hahahahah, hahahahaha… wait, still laughing about your obsession with cupcake decorating tips. Ah, always down for a good laugh. Thanks David.
And, weird… the Easter baskets stopped being to my house too a few years back. I filed complaints and took the appropriate steps to try to get them to start delivering again, but for some reason, no dice. I’ll have to resort to eating a dozen of these cupcakes.
Stop laughing at me! We all have our issues…mine just happen to relate to frosting tips. I think you need to re-file those complaints about the missing Easter baskets. Perhaps you sent them to the wrong address? You know, contrary to popular opinion, the Easter Bunny does not live in the North Pole. He actually lives somewhere in Ireland. With a leprechaun.