Whip up a batch of these soft and buttery Christmas Cupcakes - fluffy vanilla cupcakes topped with creamy buttercream and decorated with all your favourite festive lollies! Perfect for kids' parties, school break-ups, or your Christmas Day dessert table, they're as easy as they are cute.
If you love Christmas fun with the kids, try my Reindeer Brownies or Mini Christmas Puddings next!
These easy Christmas cupcakes are all about festive fun without the fuss!
A soft vanilla base, smooth buttercream, and simple decorations like Jaffas, M&Ms, or spearmint leaves make them perfect for baking with the kids or bringing to any Christmas event.
For other Christmas-themed ideas, check out my Peppermint Chocolate Christmas Slice or kid-friendly Rum Balls - both festive favourites that pair beautifully with these cupcakes.
Why You're Going To Love This Recipe
- Quick and easy: No complicated ingredients or steps - just classic cupcakes that always turn out perfect.
- Festive fun: Get creative with decorations - the kids will love helping out.
- Make-ahead friendly: Bake the cupcakes ahead of time and decorate later.
- Customisable: Switch up the flavours, colours, or toppings to match your Christmas theme.
- Perfect for parties: Ideal for classroom celebrations, dessert tables, or edible gifts.
- Conventional and Thermomix - simple instructions for both methods are in the recipe card below.
Jump to:
Cupcake Ingredients
This is truly the ultimate vanilla cupcake recipe - soft, fluffy, and foolproof every single time. It's my go-to for birthday parties, school celebrations, and any special occasion that calls for something sweet.
Note: Scroll to the recipe card at the bottom for the ingredients quantities and full detailed method.
- Unsalted butter - softened to room temperature so it creams perfectly with sugar.
- Lollies for decorating - I love using red and green M&Ms, Jaffas, and spearmint leaves. If you can't find spearmint leaves, swap for soft green candy or jelly lollies.
Variations
- Chocolate Christmas Cupcakes: Replace 2 tablespoon of flour with cocoa powder for a chocolate base.
- Candy Cane Cupcakes: Stir crushed candy canes into the batter or sprinkle them over the buttercream.
- Mini Cupcakes: Halve the cooking time and you'll have bite-sized treats for gifting or dessert platters - great for kids' Christmas parties!
- Gluten-Free Option: Use a gluten-free self-raising flour blend with xanthan gum - the texture stays just as soft.
- Change up the decorations - create mini Christmas tree cupcakes with green buttercream and sprinkles, Santa hat cupcakes with red icing and mini marshmallows, melting snowman cupcakes with white icing and candy faces, or wreath cupcakes with green frosting and red M&Ms.
Need To Substitute An Ingredient?
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How To Make Christmas Cupcakes
Now for the fun part - let's get baking! Follow these simple steps to make your cupcakes, then let the kids go wild decorating with their favourite festive lollies.
Note: Scroll to the recipe card at the bottom for the ingredients quantities and full detailed method.
- Cream the butter & sugar: Preheat the oven and line two 12-hole muffin tins with cupcake cases. Beat together the butter, sugar, vanilla, and a pinch of salt until pale and fluffy.
- Add eggs & flour: Add lightly beaten eggs slowly while mixing. Sift in the self-raising flour and gently fold until just combined - don't overmix!
- Bake the cupcakes: Spoon the batter into the cases (fill ⅔ full) and bake for 12-15 minutes until golden and springy to the touch. Allow to cool completely before decorating.
- Make the buttercream: Beat butter until pale and creamy, then gradually add remaining buttercream ingredients, beating until smooth and fluffy. Spread the buttercream onto the cupcakes.
- Decorate: Decorate with red and green M&Ms, Jaffas, and spearmint leaves - or go all out with mini candy canes and gold sprinkles.
- Serve: Let the buttercream set slightly before serving!
Recipe Tips
- Room-temperature ingredients: This ensures your batter mixes evenly and gives it a light texture.
- Don't overmix: Overbeating can make cupcakes dense. Mix until the flour just disappears. Fill cases to ⅔rd's full.
- Check doneness early: Cupcakes are ready when they spring back when lightly touched.
- Decorating: swirl the buttercream over each cupcake with a knife, or use a piping bag with a large round tip or star tip for a more decorative finish.
- Stop greasy cases: Add a few grains of rice under each paper case - it absorbs excess oil!
- Cooling: Let cupcakes cool completely before icing, or the buttercream will melt.
- Storage: Best eaten within 1-2 days; however, you can store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
- Freezing: Freeze undecorated cupcakes for up to 1 month. Defrost at room temperature before icing.
- Buttercream consistency: If your frosting is too thick, add a teaspoon of milk at a time until smooth.
Christmas Cupcake FAQs
Yes! Cupcakes are at their very best when freshly baked, but you can freeze them for up to 1 month. Thaw at room temperature before icing with buttercream and decorating.
You can, but homemade buttercream tastes far better and holds its shape beautifully.
Anything festive! I have used red and green M&M's, Jaffa's and spearmint leaves, but candy canes, Christmas sprinkles, edible gold balls, mini marshmallows, or even tiny chocolate trees would all give that special Christmas look!
Add a drop or two of gel food colouring to separate bowls of frosting - mix gently until you get your desired shade.
More Christmas Recipes To Make With The Kids
If you're looking for more fun and festive Christmas recipe ideas to make with the kids, this collection is exactly what you need! Quick, easy and lots of FUN!
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Christmas Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 200 g unsalted butter softened
- 200 g caster sugar
- pinch of salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla essence
- 4 eggs
- 200 g self raising flour
- red & green M&Ms, spearmint leaves and Jaffas to decorate, see notes
For the icing
- 185 g unsalted butter softened
- 340 g icing sugar mixture
- 2 tbs milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Conventional Method
- Preheat oven to 175 degrees celsius (fan-forced). Place cupcake cases into the holes of two 12-hole muffin trays.
- Place the butter, caster sugar, salt and vanilla extract into a bowl.
- Beat together with a stand-mixer or hand-held beaters until pale and fluffy.
- Add the eggs to a separate bowl and beat together lightly.
- Slowly add the egg mixture to the butter mixture while continuing to beat.
- When all of the egg mixture has been completely combined with the butter mixture, sift in the self raising flour and stir with a spoon until just combined (don't over combine).
- Place the cupcake mixture into the cupcake cases - filling them to ⅔ full.
- Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes or until golden and when they spring back when touched in the centre (if you're making mini cupcakes, reduce the cooking time slightly).
- Leave cupcakes in the baking trays for 5 minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool completely.
- To make the icing, beat the butter in a bowl until pale and fluffy (approximately 5 minutes).
- Slowly add the icing sugar mixture, milk and vanilla extract and continue to beat until smooth and creamy.
- Decorate the cupcakes when they have completely cooled (see images above for details).
Thermomix Method
- Preheat oven to 175 degrees celsius (fan-forced). Place cupcake cases into the holes of two 12-hole muffin trays.
- Place sugar and butter into the TM bowl and and mix for 15 seconds, Speed 5.
- Add the eggs, salt, vanilla extract and self-raising flour and mix for 15 seconds, Speed 5. Scrape down sides of mixing bowl with spatula, then mix for a further 10 seconds, Speed 5.
- Place the cupcake mixture into the cupcake cases - filling them to ⅔ full. Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes or until golden and when they spring back when touched in the centre (if you're making mini cupcakes, they will need slightly less cooking time).
- Leave cupcakes in the baking trays for 5 minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool completely.
- To make the icing, place the icing sugar into the TM bowl and mix for 10 seconds on Speed 9.
- Add the butter, milk and vanilla extract to the bowl. Mix for 30 seconds on Speed 4.
- Decorate the cupcakes when they have completely cooled (see images above for details).
Notes
- Room temperature ingredients: This ensures your batter mixes evenly and gives a light texture.
- Don't overmix: Overbeating can make cupcakes dense. Mix until the flour just disappears. Fill cases to only ⅔rd's full to give room to rise.
- Check doneness early: Cupcakes are ready when they spring back when lightly touched.
- Stop greasy cases: Add a few grains of rice under each paper case - it absorbs excess oil!
- Cooling: Let cupcakes cool completely before icing, or the buttercream will melt.
- To decorate: I have used red and green M&M's, Jaffa's and spearmint leaves, but candy canes, Christmas sprinkles, edible gold balls, mini marshmallows, or even tiny chocolate trees would all give that special Christmas look!
- Storage: Best eaten within 1-2 days, however you can store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
- Freezing: Freeze undecorated cupcakes for up to 1 month. Defrost at room temperature before icing.
- Buttercream consistency: If your frosting is too thick, add a teaspoon of milk at a time until smooth.
Ayla says
I am a kid and I would love to bake them for my family
Milla says
Can you Freeze them?
Lucy says
Absolutely!
Kellie says
What does it mean if the cupcakes sunk in the middle a bit?
Lucy says
Hi Kellie, your oven might be running a little hot. Generally if they sink in the middle it's because they've been cooked too high and risen too quickly which then makes them fall in the middle. Try lowering the temp a little next time. xx