Christmas Cupcakes

If you read My Baking Addiction on a regular basis, you are well aware of the fact that I am a lover of all things sweet – but cupcakes seems to be the confection that I enjoy experimenting with the most. There are so many flavors that can be incorporated into a cupcake, which is what makes it one of the most versatile desserts. Although you won’t find a recipe within this post, you will find some great links to some fantastic blogs.  I hope their insanely creative and festive ideas give you all the last minute inspiration you need!

I’d like to start my features with a Pine and Dandy Christmas Cupcakes from The Bite Size Baker.  This recipe starts with a chocolate cupcake baked in a festive liner, and dusted with powdered sugar. Adding holiday Christmas toppers such as snow-covered pine trees make these cupcakes have a vintage snow globe feel, that will make you all warm and fuzzy inside.  It’s always a bonus when you can take such a simple idea and create a picture-perfect dessert.

Next on the list are these beautiful Snowflake Cupcakes from Glorious Treats.  Chocolate cupcakes are covered in Vanilla Cream Cheese frosting and topped with unique royal icing snowflakes. These decadent chocolate cupcakes are finished off with white non-pareils and silver dragees that are reminiscent of an icy cold Winter’s day. The recipes for the chocolate cupcakes, Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting, and the royal icing snowflakes are included on  Glorious Treats.  These may be a bit more time consuming than some of the other featured cupcakes, but are definitely worth the effort.

Confessions of a Cookbook Queen has truly outdone herself with these charming Snowman Christmas Cupcakes.  You can virtually utilize any cupcake recipe that you wish; it’s the decoration that makes this holiday cupcake so unique. These snowman inspired cupcakes are created by assembling mini chocolate sandwich cookies dipped in white chocolate, mini-marshmallows, and attaching them to a lollipop stick. Food markers were used for the added details such as the buttons and eyes. These mini- cupcakes are incredibly creative and are certain to delight any holiday crowd.

Obviously, based on the multiple snowmen related features, I find snowmen to be very endearing, so when I saw these Snowmen Cupcakes from allyou.com, I was hooked. There is nothing more festive than plump little snowman faces with ear muffs!  I was actually quite shocked with this decorating idea, because as detailed as they looked, they entailed a simple assembly of sanding sugar, various candies and vanilla wafers. Pipe a thin line of frosting for the mouth and you had tasty snowmen that look way too good to eat.

My next selection for the Christmas Cupcake Round-Up are these Tangled Christmas Lights Cupcakes from one of the most creative and talented bloggers that I know –  i am baker. I felt that these cupcakes definitely encompassed what most of us experience during our holiday decorating in such a whimsical manner. It never fails, as organized and neat as I think the lights have been stored, I always end up with a tangled mess that has me debating throwing them all away and just starting over and buying new ones. This cupcake is a fun interpretation of one of the many headaches of the holiday season is certainly one that can be appreciated by many!

There couldn’t be a holiday cupcake round up without some type of gingerbread inspired cupcakes. Although there seems to be many interpretations of this classic, holiday flavor combination – these Gingerbread Cupcakes from Tidy Mom were my absolute favorite. There was something about the pairing of spicy ginger cake with a creamy cinnamon cream cheese frosting that made me flip for these cupcakes.  And of course I couldn’t resist those adorable little gingerbread men garnishing the top.

It seems that my love for the cupcake has only grown fonder and my list of “must-do recipes” has increased since writing this post. I hope you enjoy experimenting with some of these recipes as much as I plan to! Happy Baking!