Vanilla Snowman Cupcakes
Fun and delicious vanilla snowman cupcakes perfect for winter time, topped with fluffy vanilla buttercream and a marshmallow snowman with fun candy features!
Equipment
- electric mixer with paddle attachment(s)
- piping bags
- piping tips (large open circle like an Ateco #808, tiny circle writer tip like a Wilton #3, and small ribbon or basketweave or petal tip like a Wilton #101. Any similar sized and shaped piping tips will also work just fine!)
- couplers (to secure the small piping tips)
- food coloring
- mixing bowls (with lids or plastic wrap to cover the buttercream to prevent it from drying out/crusting)
- oven
Ingredients
Vanilla Cupcakes
- ½ cup butter (1 stick, softened at room temperature)
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1¼ cups all purpose flour
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt (omit if you use salted butter)
- ½ cup whole milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Vanilla Buttercream
- 1½ cups unsalted butter (3 sticks, softened at room temperature)
- 6 cups powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1-3 tablespoons heavy whipping cream or milk (as needed to thin buttercream)
- pinch of salt (omit if using salted butter)
Snowman Supplies
- 12 large marshmallows (snowmen head)
- 24 small pretzel sticks (snowmen arms)
- 36 mini M&M's (snowmen buttons)
- 1 small carrot (snowmen nose)
- 12 mini Reese's cups (snowmen hat; I like to do some with and some without, so you may not need all 12 depending on how you want to use them.)
- ⅓ cup white or clear sanding sugar sprinkles (to represent the sparkly snow)
- ¼ teaspoon edible glitter (snowmen glitter magic! This is not an exact measurement. I usually just sprinkle it over top. A little goes along way!)
Instructions
Vanilla Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a 12 cup muffin pan with cupcake liners.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the all purpose flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- With an electric mixer, cream together softened butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
- Mix in the eggs one at a time until combined, mixing well in between. Mix in the vanilla extract. Scrape down the bowl as needed.
- Slowly mix in a third of the dry ingredient mixture, then half of the milk. Add in a third more of the dry ingredients and then finish off the milk. Mix in the remaining dry ingredients and only mix until combined. Basically you're alternating the dry and wet ingredients, starting and ending with the dry.
- Fill the cupcake liners ⅔ full. Bake for 16-18 minutes until fully baked. A toothpick should come out clean when inserted into the baked cupcake.
- Let cool completely before decorating. Cupcakes should be cool to the touch before you decorate.
Vanilla American Buttercream
- While the cupcakes are baking, with an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, whip the softened room temperature butter (and a tiny pinch of salt if using unsalted butter) until it turns super light in color and fluffs up, around 2 minutes.
- Scrape down the bowl and slowly add in 1 cup of powdered sugar at a time until it is all added in. Add the vanilla extract after the 3rd cup of powdered sugar. This will help the buttercream mix easier as it starts to thicken. Use 1 tablespoon of heavy whipping cream or milk as needed to thin the buttercream out a little and make it easier to whip up. Sometimes you will need only 1 tablespoon and sometimes you will need more, upwards of 3 tablespoons. It really depends on the temperature of your environment and ingredients. Start slow and only add what you need. Keep in mind that the buttercream should still be thick, but smooth and easy to pipe out of a piping bag.
- With a wooden spoon or silicone spatula, mix the buttercream by hand for a few minutes to get any air bubbles out. Now we are ready to prepare out piping bags.
- Put around ¼ cup of the buttercream in a bowl and mix in the color of whatever you want the scarf to be. I used red for mine. Placed the colored buttercream in a small piping bag fitted with a coupler and small piping tip (such as a small petal tip like a Wilton #101). Any super small petal tip, ribbon tip, or basketweave tip will work!
- Put 2 tablespoons of buttercream in a small bowl and color it brown or black for the eyes and mouth of the snowman. You can also use any color you'd like! Place the colored buttercream in a small piping bag fitted with a coupler and tiny writing open circle tip (such as a Wilton #3 tip).
- Place 2 cups of white buttercream in a large 18 inch piping bag fitted with a large open circle piping tip (such as an Ateco #808). This is the buttercream we will use for the snowman's body. I also like to fill another small piping bag with a little bit of white frosting that will act as the "glue" to hold the marshmallow in place and the Reese's cup hat in place. You could also just use a small offset spatula or butter knife to spread a small amount of buttercream on, but I find the piping bag to be the easiest and quickest, neatest solution for "glue". This bag does not need a tip, but you can place a small open circle tip on it if you'd like.
- Now that all of your piping bags are prepped, you're ready to get the rest of your decorating supplies in order. Be sure to twist or tie off the ends of the piping bags to protect the frosting from air exposure. Store any leftover buttercream in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Gather Decorating Supplies
- While the cupcakes are cooling, prepare all of the decorating supplies. To do this I like to keep all of the items I'll be using within reach in small bowls.
- Buttons: Place mini M&M's in a small bowl to easily grab. You'll need 36 to be exact. It's up to you if you want them to match in color. We use 3 for each snowman cupcake to represent the buttons.Hats: Unwrap mini Reese's cups if needed and set them in a bowl. The snowman are adorable with or without a hat. It's completely up to you if you want to use the mini Reese's as a hat or not.Arms: Place small pretzel rods in a bowl or keep the bag near you. You'll need 24, 2 for each snowman. The pretzels are the arms.Noses: Cut the small carrot into super tiny triangles. .These do not need to be perfect. Just be sure to make them super small! These carrot pieces will be the nose.Heads: Count out 12 large marshmallows and set in a bowl.Additionally, prep a small plate with sanding sugar sprinkles to make it easy to dunk the frosted cupcakes in.
How to Decorate Snowman Cupcakes
- Pipe a large dollop of buttercream by holding the piping tip to the center of the cupcake and squeezing buttercream out for a few seconds and slowly lifting the bag upwards.
- Then dip the cupcake upside down into the sanding sugar sprinkles. Move the cupcake around gently to coat the buttercream completely in sanding sugar sprinkles. Flip the cupcake right side up and now we have the base of the snowman body! You could also stop here and make these snowball cupcakes which are super cute to mix in!
- Using the other white buttercream bag with the end snipped or fitted with a small open circle piping tip, pipe a small circle of buttercream directly on top. Place a marshmallow on top and secure it by pushing it into the buttercream a little bit.
- Place mini M&M's on the front of the belly of the snowman. Push them into the buttercream a little to secure them. These will be the buttons.
- Using the red buttercream bag fitted with a small petal or ribbon tip, pipe a scarf around the marshmallow and down onto the belly. I like to start in the front on the belly which would be one end of the scarf. Hold the piping bag on an angle and pipe up diagonally and around the back of the snowman and then back down to the front again, ending on an angle for the other end of the scarf. Using a basketweave tip will also give your scarf some texture, but you can also mimic texture by moving the piping tip very gently up and down as you pipe the scarf. Get creative and don't worry about it being perfect!
- Using the piping back with the black buttercream fitted with a tiny writer tip, dot tiny eyes and a mouth on the marshmallow creating the snowman's face.
- Dip the carrot nose in a super tiny amount of white buttercream and stick it on the marshmallow in between the eyes and mouth. This is the nose!
- Next, stick one pretzel stick into each side of the buttercream. The pretzels will serve as the snowman's arms.
- Pipe a tiny amount of buttercream on the top of the mini Reese's cup and place it on top of the marshmallow. This will be the hat. I like to do some with a hat and some without!
- Lastly, if desired, sprinkle edible glitter over top for some extra magic and there you have it - a super cute snowman cupcake! Repeat until all of the cupcakes are decorated and enjoy your delicious and beautiful snowman army!
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
