Peppermint Reindeer Cupcakes Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 12-cup muffin tin or line cups with paper liners.
• Combine 9 tablespoons butter, white sugar, and vanilla extract in a large bowl; beat with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Add eggs one at a time and beat until well combined. Fold in half the flour and 1/4 cup milk and stir to combine. Repeat with remaining flour and milk. Spoon batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling each 3/4 full.
• Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 18 minutes.
• Remove tin from oven and cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Remove cupcakes from the tin and cool completely on a wire rack before decorating, about 1 hour.
• Combine confections' sugar, 1 tablespoon butter, and 1 tablespoon milk in a large bowl; beat with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Thin frosting with a little milk or water, if necessary. Add food coloring and stir until frosting is uniformly brown. Add more food coloring, 1 drop at a time, until frosting is the color you like.
• Spread a thin layer of frosting on top of each cupcake. Break vanilla cookies in half. Place a cookie half on each cupcake as a mouth. Use a bit of frosting to "glue" a jelly bean onto the cookie for Rudolph's red nose. Stick 2 candy eyeballs into each cupcake. Break off a piece from each pretzel so they look like antlers and stick 2 into the top of each cupcakes. Shape chewy candies into ears and stick 2 into the sides of each cupcake.

Steps:

• Remove paper liners from cupcakes. Cut in half crosswise; set bottom aside. Decorate the tops with candies for the 'eyes' and 'mouth'. Add sour cherry balls for the 'nose'. Break pretzels in half for 'antlers'.
• Spread 1 tablespoon ice cream over the bottom of each cupcake. Place decorated halves on top. Serve immediately or freeze for several hours before serving.

Steps:

• For the cupcakes:
• Bake according to package instructions for cupcakes, adding 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract to batter and substituting white cranberry juice for water.
• For the Peppermint White Hot Chocolate "CUP" cakes:
• Fill a zip top bag with icing. Snip a small corner of the bag and pipe icing onto each cupcake to look like whipped cream on top of the "cup".
• To add peppermint "handle" for the "cup":
• Poke a small hole in the side of each cupcake using a chopstick or tooth pick and fill the hole with royal icing. Insert one end of the "U" shape candy cane piece into hole and the other end into the icing to make your "cup" cake. Sprinkle with crushed candy cane pieces.
• For the Snowman Cupcakes:
• Using a butter knife or spatula, lightly frost the cupcakes.
• Flatten a large marshmallow on waxed paper with the palm of your hand. Cut a second marshmallow in half horizontally, then stack the first half flat on the first marshmallow to form a torso then the second on it's side for a head. Thread a pretzel stick or toothpick through the bottom to secure marshmallows and stick into cupcake top.
• Use royal icing to attach cake decorating dots as eyes and buttons. Add a wedge cut from an orange slice candy for a nose.
• For the Reindeer Cupcakes:
• Using a butter knife or spatula, lightly frost each cupcake.
• Break the pretzels in half, and insert into the top of each cupcake for antlers. Use blue candy covered chocolates to make eyes. Cut fruit by the foot to make a mouth and place the red gumdrop in the center for the nose.
• With a hand mixer, beat the egg whites with the lemon juice or extract until frothy. Add the sifted powdered sugar and beat on low speed until combined, smooth, and shiny. Turn to high and beat approximately 5 minutes until stiff and glossy. Add food coloring, if desired, and transfer to a pastry bag to pipe onto cookies or cakes.;

Steps:

• Place the candy canes in a food processor or blender and grind to a fine powder.
• Line two muffin pans (12 cups each) with cupcake liners and preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Blend dry cake mix, water, oil, eggs, and peppermint extract in a mixing bowl at low speed for 30 seconds, beat at medium speed for 2 minutes. Fold in 1/4 cup of the candy cane powder, reserving the rest.
• Divide batter among muffin pans and bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean after stuck into the center.
• Once cupcakes are removed from oven cool them completely.
• While cupcakes are cooling, stir remaining candy cane powder into the vanilla frosting.
• Frost cooled cupcakes and enjoy, or store in an airtight container.