Easter Basket Cupcakes
These Easter Basket Cupcakes start with a boxed cake mix, tub of frosting and are decorated with candy to look like an Easter basket! This is the perfect Easter dessert that’s impressive yet easy.
How adorable are these little Easter basket cupcakes! These are so much fun to make and decorate and I love to hand them out around Easter time. They’re so unique and fun and a great way to incorporate all that candy that seems to be everywhere around Easter.
These cupcakes are super simple to make, but they’ll look like you picked them up from a bakery because they’re just so darn cute! Your kids will love to jump in and help decorate these cupcakes to take to grandparents, their Sunday school class, or their class at school. It doesn’t get much more fun than a candy topped, fluffy, cupcake does it?
Why You’ll Love Easter Basket Cupcakes
- These Easter cupcakes are a great option to hand out as gifts! Just wrap them in cellophane and give them out to family and friends.
- Easter basket cupcakes would make a great food decorating activity for a class or small group of children. Just bake the cupcakes and frost them and let the kiddos decorate!
- This Easter cupcake recipe is simple and easy to follow.
Ingredients for Easter Basket Cupcakes
- White cake mix – I personally prefer to use white cake mix, but you could use a yellow cake mix or even strawberry or lemon if you’d like!
- Large eggs – Be sure you use large eggs, or the batter may turn out a little different than it’s supposed to.
- Half and half – Using half and half helps give your cupcake a more rich flavor!
- Vegetable oil – If you don’t want to use vegetable oil, you can melt some butter and let it cool to room temperature and then use that.
- White vanilla frosting – Grab your favorite can of frosting to use on your yummy Easter dessert. You can also use a colored frosting if you want.
- Nerd ropes – You can find these on the candy aisle at your local grocery store.
- Coconut flakes – These can be found on the baking aisle.
- Rainbow Twizzlers – These will be the handles for your baskets. If you can’t find rainbow twizzlers, you can just use red, brown, or black ones.
- Candy eggs – I typically find these on the season aisle at my grocery store.
Helpful Tools
How to Make this Easter Cupcake Recipe
Empty the contents of your vanilla cake mix into a large mixing bowl and mix in the eggs, half and half, and vegetable oil until thoroughly combined.
Scoop batter into the muffin tins until each one is a little over halfway full, then place them in your preheated oven to bake.
Once the cupcakes are fully baked, remove them from the muffin tin and place them on a cooling rack to cool for 30 min to an hour. You’ll want them completely cool before adding frosting and candy.
Once cool, add frosting and then gently place a nerds rope around the outer edge of the top of the cupcake. Press it into the frosting so it stays in place. Then, sprinkles some coconut flakes in the center and place a few candy eggs on top.
Take a Twizzler and push it into both side of the cupcake top to create a “handle” for your basket.
Make any finishing touches and then enjoy!
How to Store Easter Basket Cupcakes
This Easter dessert doesn’t store very well because the candy will get soggy. So, I recommend only storing undecorated cupcakes and then decorating them on the day you plan to serve them. Store you undecorated cupcakes, lightly covered, at room temperature for 3-5 days.
If you have decorated cupcakes that you need to store, lightly cover them and keep them at room temperature for 3-5 days. But please note that the candy will likely bleed and get soggy.
I do not recommend putting your decorated cupcakes in the fridge or freezer.
I can’t find candy eggs. What else can I use?
If you’re unable to find candy eggs, you can use jelly beans or M&M’s!
Can I use a different flavor of cake mix?
Yes! Some fun ones to try would be funfetti, strawberry, or even lemon.
Pro Tips for the best Easter Basket Cupcakes
- Put your frosting in a piping bag to easily top each cupcake with the perfect amount of frosting!
- Get adventurous with your candy decorations and think outside of the box! You can decorate your Easter cupcakes with anything your heart desires.
- If you want extra fun, carve out a small hole in the middle of your cupcake before decorating it. Fill it with ganache or candy for a fun surprise when you eat!
This fun treat is a great way to celebrate the season of Easter! Get to baking and have fun!
More Easter Recipes and Activities You’ll Love
- This Swirled Easter Cake is a quick and simple recipe for a tasty dessert!
- Need a fun craft? Check out these Salt Dough Easter Eggs.
- This Easter Egg Shaving Cream Painting is the perfect amount of messy and fun!
- Want something fun at the kids table for Easter brunch? Take a look at these Easter Placemats!
Easter Basket Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 15.25 ounces box white cake mix
- 3 large eggs
- 1 ¼ cup half and half
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 15.6 ounces tub white vanilla frosting
- 20-24 Nerd ropes
- 2 cups coconut flakes
- 12.4 ounces bag Rainbow Twizzlers
- 9 ounces bag candy eggs
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line two muffin tins with cupcake liners.
- Mix together the cake mix, eggs, half and half and vegetable oil in a large mixing bowl until smooth, about 2-3 minutes.
- Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin tins filling each liner ½ -⅔ full of batter.
Bake for 19-23 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean and the top of the cupcakes bounces back after being gently tapped. - Remove the cupcakes from the oven and the muffin tin and allow to cool completely before decorating, about 30 minutes to an hour.
- Frost a cupcake with a layer of frosting and then wrap one Nerd rope around the edge to create the lip of the basket. Press the edges together.
- Sprinkle some of the coconut into the center of the “basket”.
- Place several eggs in the center of the cupcake.
- Take a rainbow Twizzler and push an end into either side of the cupcake to make a basket “handle”. Be sure that your Twizzler is inside the nerd rope.
- Enjoy your Easter Baskets!
Notes
- This Easter dessert doesn’t store very well because the candy will get soggy. So, I recommend only storing undecorated cupcakes and then decorating them on the day you plan to serve them. Store you undecorated cupcakes, lightly covered, at room temperature for 3-5 days. If you have decorated cupcakes that you need to store, lightly cover them and keep them at room temperature for 3-5 days. But please note that the candy will likely bleed and get soggy. I do not recommend putting your decorated cupcakes in the fridge or freezer.
- If you’re unable to find candy eggs, you can use jelly beans or M&M’s.
- Put your frosting in a piping bag to easily top each cupcake with the perfect amount of frosting!
- Get adventurous with your candy decorations and think outside of the box! You can decorate your Easter cupcakes with anything your heart desires.
- If you want extra fun, carve out a small hole in the middle of your cupcake before decorating it. Fill it with ganache or candy for a fun surprise when you eat!
