Grinch Cupcakes
Having a Grinch themed party? Watching the Grinch for movie night? Make these fun Grinch Cupcakes! They start with a peppermint flavored cupcake and are topped with a homemade peppermint buttercream. Then decorate them with green sugar and heart sprinkles for the perfect Grinch ending!
These Grinch cupcakes are so cute and perfect for the holiday season! They are made completely from scratch and are so light and fluffy.
We love How the Grinch Stole Christmas at our house and I love to come up with fun projects for the kids to make like these green cupcakes. Grinch kabobs are another recipe we love to make!
For this fun recipe, we’re making peppermint cupcakes and topping them with green frosting, decorative sugar, and red heart sprinkles for a Grinch-themed dessert that’s perfect for a Christmas party, holiday movie night, or just because!
If you want to make some “grinchy” memories with the family this year, you need to give these yummy Christmas cupcakes a try. I know they will be a hit!
Better yet, make it a Grinch themed day of activities by watching the movie, reading the book, enjoying these Grinch treats and making a Grinch Popsicle Stick Craft.
Ingredients
- All-purpose flour – Use the spoon and level method for measuring for the best cupcakes.
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Large eggs
- Granulated sugar
- Softened unsalted butter
- Vanilla bean paste – Or you can use the same amount of vanilla extract.
- Peppermint extract
- Milk
- Christmas sprinkles
- Powdered sugar
- Vanilla extract
- Neon green food coloring – I prefer gel coloring!
- Green sugar sprinkles
- Heart sprinkles
Helpful Tools
- Muffin pans
- Mixing bowls
- Hand mixer or stand mixer
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Liquid measuring cup
- Wire cooling racks
How to Make Peppermint Cupcakes
Preheat oven to 350°F and line the cupcake pans with paper liners.
Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.
In another large bowl with a hand mixer (or stand mixer) beat the eggs and sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy.
Add the butter, vanilla, and peppermint extract and mix until just combined. Mix in the milk and then add the dry ingredients. Stir by hand with a spatula until the cupcake batter is just combined. Stir in the sprinkles.
Fill the cupcake liners 1/2 to 3/4 full with batter and bake the cupcakes for 18 to 20 minutes. Once a toothpick comes out clean, the cupcakes are done.
Cool the cupcakes on wire racks before adding the frosting.
How to Make Buttercream Frosting
Whip the softened butter in a large bowl with a hand mixer (or in a stand mixer). Once the butter is creamy, slowly add the powdered sugar while mixing. Keep whipping the mixture until it’s smooth.
Mix in the peppermint extract and vanilla and mix just until combined.
Add the milk, a little at a time, until the frosting is smooth with a good piping consistency. If your frosting is too thick, add a little more milk. If it is too thin, add a little more powdered sugar.
Add the green coloring a little at a time until you get the Grinch green color. Transfer the frosting to the ziplock bag and snip off the corner so you can pipe the frosting.
Pipe the buttercream frosting on each cupcake in an upwards swirl. Once they are frosted, sprinkle the green sugar and red heart sprinkles over the top.
Recipe Tips
Short on time? You don’t have to DIY this whole recipe! Use a boxed cake mix (that yields 24 cupcakes) for this recipe instead of making homemade cupcakes. Use a white cake mix and add the peppermint extract to make it minty! You can also use store-bought vanilla frosting and tint it green for the decorations.
Ingredients: For the best Grinch cupcakes, use room temperature ingredients to make them. Room temperature butter, eggs, and milk are easier to mix and will make light and fluffy cupcakes!
Make-Ahead: You can make and bake the cupcakes the day before and keep them in an airtight container and frost them the next day.
Piping Tip: If you want to skip the ziplock bag, you can use a piping bag with a round tip to pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes.
If you’re looking to make some fun holiday cupcake recipes with the kids this year, these Grinch ones need to be on your list! I hope you give them a try – Enjoy!
More Fun Christmas Activities!
- Keep little hands busy and have them make Christmas Tags for all the presents!
- Make some Grinch Popsicle Crafts to go with your Grinch-themed movie night!
- Hot Chocolate Spoons are easy to make and great for gifting!
If you make these cute cupcakes take a picture and share them on Instagram! Make sure to #kidsactivityzone or tag us @kidsactivityzoneblog so we can see them!
Grinch Cupcakes
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 4 large eggs
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 3 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
- 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
- 1 cup milk
- 2 Tablespoons Christmas sprinkles
Buttercream Frosting
- 2 pounds of powdered sugar
- 6 sticks of butter softened
- 1 Tablespoon peppermint extract
- ½ Tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2-3 Tablespoons milk
- Neon green food coloring
Toppings
- Green sugar sprinkles
- Heart Sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Line your muffin tins with paper liners and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In a separate large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar with a hand mixer or stand mixer until light and fluffy.
- Add in your softened butter, vanilla extract and peppermint extract and mix until just combined.
- Next mix in the milk.
- Pour flour mixture into wet ingredients and stir by hand until just combined.
- Add your Christmas sprinkles into batter and mix gently until combined.
- Fill your muffin tins ½ to ¾ full with the batter. Using a cookie scoop makes this quick and easy.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean.
- Let cool completely on a cooling rack.
- While the cupcakes are cooling make the peppermint buttercream.
- Add 6 sticks of butter to a large mixing bowl using a stand mixer or use a electric hand mixer and large mixing bowl. Turn onto low-medium speed and whip your butter.
- Next gradually add in the powdered sugar, mixing as you add it. Whip until completely mixed and the frosting becomes smooth.
- Add in your peppermint and vanilla extract to the buttercream and mix until just combined.
- Next you want to add in the milk to your buttercream. Start with 2 Tablespoons.
- You are just going to add a little milk at a time until you get a smooth frosting that is a good piping consistency. You don’t want it too thick and you definitely don’t want it too thin. If it goes too far one way or the other you can always thicken it back up with more powdered sugar or thin it out with more milk or creamer.
- At this point you also want to add your neon green food coloring, preferably gel food coloring. This gives you the best grinch green, add a little at a time until it is the right color.
- To make things easy I pipe these using a large ziploc bag.
- Fill the ziploc bag with your frosting and cut off the tip and pipe the frosting onto your cupcake in an upwards swirl.
- Sprinkle on the green sugar sprinkles and the heart sprinkles.
