Buddy The Elf’s Favorite Christmas Cupcakes

Celebrate the four elf food groups with Buddy the Elf’s favorite Christmas cupcakes! Inspired by his famous candy-covered spaghetti breakfast, these cupcakes get a pile of yellow frosting “spaghetti” topped with marshmallows, chocolate chips, and sprinkles. They’re a blast to make with the kids and perfect for Christmas movie nights.

 

Why We Love Elf’s Favorite Cupcakes

• Fun To Make With The Kids – The kids will have so much fun helping to make these Christmas cupcakes to share and chatting about Buddy’s favorite treats while they do it! Since they are designed to look like an elf’s favorite meal, the decorating doesn’t have to be perfect to look great, which is way fun for kids.
• Make It For A Christmas Movie Night – Of course these cupcakes are perfect for a Christmas movie night, they are based off elves’ favorite food groups!
• Unique Treat For Christmas Parties And Potlucks – These cupcakes stand out at a party in a good way that will get your family and friends talking!

Ingredients For Elf’s Favorite Cupcakes

Ingredients For The Cupcakes

• 15.25 ounces white cake mix we used Duncan Hine’s Perfectly Moist
• 1 cup flour
• ¾ cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 large eggs – whites only
• 1 cup sour cream
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup water

Ingredients For The Frosting

• 1 cup shortening – like Crisco
• 1 cup butter softened to room temperature, salted is fine for this recipe
• 4 cups powdered sugar also known as confectioner’s sugar
• 3 tablespoons milk – we used 2%, you can use what you have on hand
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup – real maple syrup will give you a lot more flavor than imitation maple syrup or a pancake syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• yellow food coloring we used gel, I used Wilton’s gel food coloring in copper, but you can use any yellow food coloring you have.

Optional Toppings

See the notes in the recipe card for more ideas.

• mini marshmallows – I used the tiny style marshmallow bits, but regular mini marshmallows work too.
• mini chocolate chips
• mini M&M’s
• sprinkles

How To Make Elf’s Favorite Cupcakes

Making And Baking The Cupcakes

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line cupcake liners in pan and set aside.
2. To a large mixing bowl add the cake mix, flour, granulated sugar and salt. Mix well until combined.
3. Separate the eggs and place just the egg whites in a medium sized bowl. Add the sour cream, vegetable oil, vanilla extract, maple syrup, and water to the egg whites. Mix until combined.

4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients in the large mixing bowl. Stir until a smooth cake batter forms. Pour cake batter into the cupcake liners in the cupcake pan, dividing evenly between about 18 cupcakes wells.
5. Place the cupcakes in the oven. Bake for 17-18 minutes or until cooked through. The tops of the cupcakes will be lightly golden brown. Let the cupcakes cool completely before frosting or the frosting will melt off. You can place them on a wire rack to cool.

Making The Frosting

1. In a clean large mixing bowl, add the butter and shortening. Cream together butter and shortening with an electric mixer until smooth, about 3 minutes.

2. Add the powdered sugar to the butter mixture a cup at a time, mixing on low well in between each cup until the frosting begins to thicken. Then add the milk, vanilla extract and maple syrup and mix again with the electric mixer until combined.

3. Place a little of the food coloring in the frosting and mix with an electric mixer until combined. Keep adding food coloring until you get your desired color.

4. Load the frosting tip into the end of the frosting bag. (see notes in the recipe card at the bottom) Fill the bag with frosting. Pipe frosting to look like spaghetti all over the tops of the cupcakes. Top with sprinkles and candies to decorate, then enjoy!

Elf Cupcake Variation Ideas

• Get Creative With The Toppings – I went with toppings like the ones Buddy piles on his cupcakes, but don’t feel limited! Holiday gumdrops, festive sprinkles, or any chopped-up seasonal candy all work. Buddy loves all things sugar, so the more fun, the better.
• Simplify The Cupcakes – The maple flavor is what makes these feel like they came straight out of the Elf movie, so I think it’s worth the few extra ingredients. Short on time? Bake the cupcakes according to the box and top them with this frosting. You may end up with a few fewer cupcakes that way.

How Long Will Elf’s Favorite Cupcakes Last?

Expect these cupcakes to last for 4-5 days. Store the cupcakes in a covered container in the refrigerator. It’s ok if they are on a platter to share for around 3-4 hours, but beyond that they should be refrigerated.