Need a fun red, white and blue Fourth of July cupcake? These yummy cupcakes work for any time you might want a patriotic sweet treat, whether it’s for memorial day, labor day or just hanging by the lake. Make a two color red and blue swirl topped with an adorable white star that will be the hit of the party!

A cupcake with red white and blue frosting

These cupcakes use a vanilla cupcake base and a vanilla buttercream frosting that is piped on in three different patriotic colors. They are fun and easy, and you’ll spend most of your time swirling your icing!

We made these cupcakes for a Fourth of July backyard BBQ and they were a hit! My daughter has a great time learning to pipe two frosting colors at the same time to make a two-toned swirl.

You should also try my Patriotic Fourth Of July M&M Cookies for another delicious red, white and blue treat!

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Table of Contents

What Ingredients Do I Need To Make These Cupcakes?

For The Cupcakes

½ Cup Unsalted Softened Butter- Soften on the counter
¾ Cup Sugar
2 Large Eggs
½ Cup Vanilla Yogurt – keeps the cupcakes moist
2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract- Boosts your cupcake’s flavor
1 ⅓ Cups Flour
1 ¼ Teaspoons Baking Powder
½ Teaspoon Salt- If you use salted butter, omit the salt. Using unsalted butter gives you more control over the amount of salt in your cupcakes so they aren’t too salty.

FOR THE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

1 Cup Unsalted Softened Butter- softened on the counter
4 Cups Powdered Sugar – Also known as icing sugar
2-3 Tablespoons Milk – This thins out your frosting to make it more spreadable
1 1/2 Tsp Vanilla Extract
Red and Blue Gel Food Coloring- You can use drip food coloring, but the colors won’t be as vivid.

To color these cupcakes you’ll first remove 1/2 cup of buttercream for the white tops. Then the rest of the frosting will be split into two bowls and colored with red and blue food coloring.

Red and blue frosting being mixed with cupcakes behind

What Size Frosting Tip Is Used For These Cupcakes?

I used a 1-A tip for the red and blue swirl, and a size 4-B tip for the white star on top. You can use any round tip for the red and blue frosting, and any star-shaped tip for the top and still achieve a similar effect.

Need more patrotic ideas for your celebration? Try making my Red, White And Blue Fruit Salsa, it makes a great addition to any table.

What Do I Do If I Don’t Have Any Frosting Tips? Can I Make These Cupcakes?

Yes you can make these patriotic cupcakes without any frosting tips. Load your frosting into a large freezer ziploc bag and snip the tip off the corner. I’d use a larger hole for the red and blue frosting, and a smaller cut on the white frosting top.

See below for how to load two colors into a freezer bag, or you could also make some cupcakes red with a white swirl on top and some cupcakes blue with a white swirl on top. You’d still have a fun patriotic look.

Love summer desserts? The Blueberry Muffin Loaf is great for a crowd and makes a delicious dessert with a little whipped cream! Also these Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes or these Fresh Raspberry Cupcakes With Cream Cheese Frosting will totally make everyone’s day a little brighter.

What Type Of Food Coloring Should I Use?

Sometimes you want your frosting to be bright and vivid. I recommend using gel food coloring to color your frosting. This is the gel food coloring I use, and it lasts for quite a while.

To add gel food coloring to the frosting I usually swirl a toothpick into the gel, and then into my bowl of frosting and mix well. This helps me control the amount of color I add to get it just right.

You can use regular drip blue and red food coloring to make these cupcakes, but the colors won’t be nearly as bright in color. You may also have to use more food coloring to make your frosting red and blue then you would use with the gel food coloring.

How Do You Make Two Color Red And Blue Frosting Swirls

There are a couple of method to swirl two-color frosting for your cupcakes.

A cupcake being frosted with a swirl of red and blue frosting together

Use A Coupler That Holds 2-3 Bags of Frosting– I used a coupler (frosting tip holder) that holds two or three bags of frosting side by side easily and all colors come out of the tip. I used the Wilton Color Swirl Kit here.
Place Two Smaller Piping Bags Full Of Frosting Inside A Larger Piping Bag– You’ll need one 16 inch piping bag and two 12 inch pipings bags. This Wilton Decorating Bag Combo Kit has both sizes. Then you simply fill the small bags of frosting with your colored frosting, put the tip onto the larger frosting bag, and load both colors of frosting into the bigger bag side by side.
Put Two Colors Of Frosting In The Same Piping Bag– This method works best with a bigger 16-inch piping bag, but the two colors may bleed together a little more. This is the hardest method of the three, but it does work in a pinch if you only have larger piping bags. You could also make this method work with a large gallon-sized freezer bag (because it’s stronger) in a pinch if you don’t own any piping bags.

If you’ve never tried two color frosting before, Wilton has a great video on how to create this two-colored look with two bags or with one single bag.

What About Other Cupcake Decorations?

Don’t forget to add the pretty white star dollops on the top of these cupcakes!

Cupcake with red, blue and white frosting

You can definitely make these cupcakes your own style! Grab some fun patriotic cupcake liners or add some red, white and blue sprinkles! Look for decorations that are red white and blue at the store, or just feature the American flag.

These cupcakes were the perfect sweet addition to our 4th if July celebration and they will be for your celebration too.

A side view of cupcakes with red, blue and white frosting

5 from 1 vote (1 rating without comment)

2 Comments

Scarlet says:

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These patriotic cupcakes will be perfect for Memorial Day. Thanks for the recipe. Pinning to make soon.

1. On My Kids Plate says:
  
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  Thanks Scarlet, hope your family loves them for the holiday weekend!