Easter Cupcakes
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Posted: 03/14/23
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Cute and easy Easter Cupcakes start with a homemade vanilla cupcake that’s topped with a homemade Swiss Meringue Buttercream frosting. Top them with a few Easter egg candies and a splattering of cocoa!
When Easter rolls around, I always have so much fun in the kitchen. There are so many delicious dishes to make for an Easter dinner, like honey baked ham, broccoli salad, and homemade crescent rolls. I have a blast with the dessert too! I of course make these adorable spring cupcakes, but I always make carrot cake bars and bunny bait too.
So, if you’re looking for a good go-to, easy Easter dessert, you’ll love these fun cupcakes for Easter. Homemade cupcakes are always better than box mix and you’ll find that they’re not difficult to make either!
Why You’ll Love Easter Cupcakes
- These delicious cupcakes are great to make for an Easter potluck or brunch!
- This recipe yields cupcakes that truly are bakery quality. They’re perfect to give out as gifts around Easter.
- Although there are a lot of steps, these cupcakes for Easter aren’t difficult to make! Just follow the step-by-step instructions and you’ll have fabulous cupcakes in an hour and a half.
Ingredients needed to make Cupcakes for Easter
- All-purpose flour – Be sure you use a high-quality all-purpose flour for best results.
- Milk – I chose to use whole milk, but you could use 2% or 1% milk if you prefer.
- Eggs – Eggs help provide structure to cupcakes. Let the eggs come to room temperature before using them and they will mix into the batter more easily.
- Unsalted butter – You’ll need unsalted butter for both the cupcakes and the buttercream frosting. Unsalted butter will help you control the salt content in your cupcakes, so I don’t recommend using salted butter.
- Granulated white sugar – Make sure you’ve got enough sugar to use in both the cupcakes and the frosting!
- Baking powder – This will act as the rising agent to make your cupcakes perfectly fluffy.
- Vanilla extract – You can’t have vanilla cupcakes without vanilla!
- Salt – A little pinch of salt helps balance the sweetness of the cupcakes.
- Egg whites – You need both eggs and egg whites for this recipe. You’ll use the egg whites in the frosting and that’s what will make it really light and airy.
- Mini Easter eggs – These can typically be found on the seasonal aisle at your grocery store. They’re candy coated eggs made out of a chocolate and malted milk ball filling.
- Teal food coloring – This makes your buttercream frosting the perfect Easter color. But you could also use another color if you prefer. Pink or yellow would be really pretty!
- Cocoa Powder – Don’t use hot cocoa mix, you need plain cocoa powder.
Helpful Tools
- Mixing bowls
- Measuring Spoons
- Measuring Cups
- Mixing tools
- Stand mixer or hand mixer
- Piping bag
- Whisk
- Saucepan
How to Make Easter Cupcakes
Follow these step-by-step instructions to make these easy cupcakes with homemade buttercream frosting!
Make the Cupcakes
Prepare a cupcake pan by lining it with 12 cupcake liners and then set it aside.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the room temperature softened butter and sugar with a stand mixer. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until the mixture is fluffy.
In a separate bowl, mix together the all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt until evenly mixed. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and then gently fold them together.
Pour milk into the batter and gently fold to combine.
Then, divide the cupcake batter between the 12 cupcake liners. They should be about 2/3 full.
Bake the cupcakes until they are a golden brown color and are springy to the touch.
Remove them from the oven and place on a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
Make the Buttercream Frosting
Pour a few inches of water into a saucepan and bring it to a simmer. Then, place the egg whites and sugar into the bowl for a stand mixer (or a mixing bowl if you don’t have a stand mixer) and set it over the simmering water
Be sure the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the water so that the egg whites don’t scramble. Use a whisk to beat the egg whites continuously for 4-5 minutes until the mixture looks frothy.
Dip you finger into the mixture and if you feel any grain, keep heating and mixing until the mixture is smooth. The sugar needs to completely dissolve.
Place the bowl onto the stand mixer, or ready your hand mixer. Whisk on medium-high speed until the egg whites reach stiff peaks.
Once the the stiff peaks are formed, the outside of the bowl should be cool. It if isn’t, place the whole bowl in the fridge for 10 minutes.
Swap the whisk attachment for the paddle attachment. When the bowl is cool, add butter one tablespoon at a time. Beat on high and fully incorporate each addition of butter until it is all mixed in.
It is normal for the mixture to look split at this point! You haven’t messed it up, so just keep going.
Add the vanilla extract and keep running the mixer until the mixture forms a silky smooth texture.
Add a drop of food coloring and beat until the color is thoroughly incorporated.
Transfer the buttercream to a piping bag that is fitted with a star nozzle.
Decorate your Cupcakes
Pipe the fresh buttercream in a swirly pattern on top of the cupcakes. Make sure they’re fully cooled before you top them with frosting.
To add a speckled effect, mix cocoa powder and vanilla and then dip a small paintbrush into the mixture and flick it onto the cupcakes with your finger.
Place three mini Easter eggs on the top of the cupcakes for the finishing touch!
How to store Easter Cupcakes
These easy spring cupcakes will do best stored in the refrigerator. Place them in an airtight container that is tall enough that it won’t smush the frosting. They will keep for about 4-5 days.
I do not recommend freezing these cupcakes.
Can I use store-bought cupcake mix?
You can absolutely buy store-bought cupcake mix to make Easter cupcakes. However, I think these homemade cupcakes are absolutely delicious and way better than a boxed mix!
Do I have to have a stand mixer to make these cupcakes for Easter?
Making cupcakes is way easier to create if you have a stand mixer, but it is not something you have to have! You can use a stand mixer, just be prepared to give a good amount of arm strength to it.
Pro-Tips for the Best Easter Cupcakes
- Don’t overload your icing with cocoa powder when making the speckled effect. Cocoa powder has a bitter taste on its own, so you don’t want to make your frosting bitter!
- Feel free to change up the color of your frosting! You can use pink, yellow, green, or any other color you’d like.
- To split up the time it takes to make these cupcakes, make the cupcakes the day before and store them in the fridge. Then you can make the frosting the next day and pipe it onto the cupcakes!
These bakery quality cupcakes will be your new favorite to bake around Easter!
Looking for a good buttercream frosting recipe? Creamy, silk, smooth, rich and FLUFFY Chocolate Buttercream Frosting is so easy to make.
Be sure to check out these soft, Chewy Sugar Cookie Bars topped with Green Coconut “Grass” and Candy Easter Eggs! And take a look at my recipes for Peeps Rice Krispie Treats and Easter Basket Cupcakes!
Oh, and Rainbow Cupcakes are another fun spring time treat. So are these adorable Sheep Cupcakes and Twinkie Bunny Cars!
Did you make this? If you snap a photo, please be sure tag me on Instagram at @julieseatsandtreats or #julieseatsandtreats so I can see your yummy treat!
Easter Cupcakes
Vanilla cupcakes topped with homemade buttercream frosting and candy eggs make these Easter Cupcakes cute and delicious!
cupcakes
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- ¾ cup unsalted butter softened at room temperature
- ¾ cup white granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
- pinch salt
- 1 Tablespoon milk
Swiss Meringue Buttercream Frosting
- ¾ cup egg whites
- 1 cup white granulated sugar
- 2 ¼ cups unsalted butter softened at room temperature and cut into cubes
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- drop teal food coloring
Decorating
- 1 teaspoon cocoa powder
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- 36 mini Easter eggs
Instructions
Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Add 12 cupcakes liners to a 12-hole cupcake pan.
- Combine the soft butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl with a stand mixer with whisk attachment until light and fluffy.
- Add the eggs, vanilla and beat until the mixture is voluminous.
- In a separate bowl mix together the flour, baking powder and salt then add it to the bowl with creamed butter. Use a spatula to gently fold it into the batter.
- Pour the milk into the bowl with batter and fold until combined.
- Divide the cupcake batter between the 12 cupcake liners filling them 2/3 full.
- Bake in the center of the preheated oven for 18 minutes or until the cupcakes have risen and are a pale golden brown color. When properly baked, they will feel springy to the touch.
- Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire cooling rack.
Swiss Meringue Buttercream:
- Fill a saucepan with a couple of inches of water and bring it to a simmer. Put the egg whites and sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer and set it over the simmering pan. Do not let the bottom of the bowl touch the water or the egg whites will scramble.
- Use a handheld whisk to beat continuously for 4-5 minutes. The mixture will look frothy. Dip your finger into the mixture and feel it between your fingers. If you can feel any grain keep heating and mixing until you can feel the mixture is smooth and slippery. This means the sugar has dissolved.
- Add the bowl to the stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whisk on a medium-high speed until the egg whites reach stiff peaks. This will take at least 10 minutes but sometimes longer.
- When the egg whites are at stiff peaks feel the outside of the bowl. It should be cool by now but if it isn’t put the whole bowl into the fridge for 10 minutes.
- Swap the whisk attachment for the paddle attachment.
- When the outside of the bowl is cool, add the butter a tbsp at a time. Beat on high speed fully incorporating each addition of butter until all the butter has been added.
- At this point the mixture will look split. Do no panic! Add the vanilla extract and keep the mixer running until the mixture comes together into a silky smooth Swiss meringue buttercream.
- Add a drop of food coloring and briefly beat until the buttercream is a uniform color. Transfer the buttercream to a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle (we used a Wilton 1M).
Decorating
- Pipe the buttercream in swirls on top of the cooled cupcakes.
- To add a speckled effect mix the cocoa powder and vanilla then dip a small paintbrush into the mixture and flick it on to the cupcakes using your finger.
- For a final flourish add 3 mini Easter eggs to the top of each cupcake.
Tips
- These cupcakes will do best stored in the refrigerator. Place them in an airtight container that is tall enough that it won’t smush the frosting. They will keep for about 4-5 days.
- You can absolutely buy store-bought cupcake mix to make these cupcakes.
- To split up the time it takes to make these cupcakes, make the cupcakes the day before and store them in the fridge. Then you can make the frosting the next day and pipe it onto the cupcakes!
Nutrition Information
Serving: 1cupcakes, Calories: 570kcal (29%), Carbohydrates: 39g (13%), Protein: 4g (8%), Fat: 45g (69%), Saturated Fat: 14g (88%), Polyunsaturated Fat: 10g, Monounsaturated Fat: 19g, Trans Fat: 6g, Cholesterol: 58mg (19%), Sodium: 300mg (13%), Potassium: 106mg (3%), Fiber: 0.3g (1%), Sugar: 30g (33%), Vitamin A: 396IU (8%), Vitamin C: 0.003mg, Calcium: 32mg (3%), Iron: 1mg (6%)
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