Snowman Cupcakes are a fun, sweet way to celebrate winter holidays with the kids. Vanilla cupcakes are topped with a delicious vanilla buttercream frosting, complete with a marshmallow snowman. Snowman Cupcakes are great for holiday parties, Christmas dessert, and winter birthday parties, or just because!
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The kids love to make and decorate their own snowmen...and lick the frosting bowl clean! During the winter, these are a favorite cupcake of ours, along with eggnog cupcakes, chocolate turkey cupcakes and reindeer cupcakes. They pair perfectly with a hot cup of peppermint hot chocolate or traditional hot cocoa made in your slow cooker. They'd also be a fun addition to this hot chocolate charcuterie board.
This snowman cupcake recipe is made with a variation of classic buttercream frosting - a cream cheese frosting that combines butter, powdered sugar, cream cheese and vanilla extract to make a soft, thick and creamy frosting. It's easy to decorate and holds its shape well. I use this frosting to make all of my cupcakes, from mermaid cupcakes to candy corn cupcakes to patriotic red white and blue cupcakes.
If you love snowman themed recipes, try our melted snowman almond bark for another cute idea.
Ingredients
We're making this recipe as easy as possible by using a box of white cake mix and a simple 4-ingredient homemade frosting. The most work will come from decorating them with all the delicious candy listed below.
- White cake mix: plus oil and eggs as indicated on package
- Butter
- Cream cheese
- Vanilla extract: store bought or homemade.
- Confectioner's sugar: also called powdered sugar.
- White sugar sprinkles
- Marshmallows: the large size.
- Cinnamon imperials
- Christmas light bulb sprinkles: if you can't find these, any orange candy or a dot of orange frosting will do.
- Rolo candies
- Twizzler pull n' peels
- Black writing icing
- Pretzel sticks: the short, thin variety.
Equipment
To make cupcakes, you'll need:
- Piping bag and piping tips: I use a reusable cloth variety, but disposable piping bags work too.
- Electric hand mixer and a mixing bowl (or a stand mixer)
- Standard size muffin tin
- White cupcake liners
How To Make Snowman Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to the temperature indicated on the box of cupcake mix (usually 350° Fahrenheit). Line the muffin tin with the liners. Make the cupcake batter as indicated on the package and fill each liner ⅔ full. Bake for the time indicated on the box, usually 18-20 minutes. Remove cupcakes from the oven when done and place on your decorating workspace. Let the cupcakes cool for at least 1 hour before frosting.
- When the cupcakes have cooled make the vanilla buttercream frosting. Combine the softened butter, cream cheese and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl. Using the electric hand mixer, beat on medium speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Add the powdered sugar 2 cups at a time and continue to beat on low speed until smooth. Choose your piping tip and secure it to the piping bag. Fill the piping bag with frosting.
- Using a knife, make a small slit in the center of each marshmallow where the nose will be. Dab each Christmas light bulb sprinkle in frosting and secure into the slit of the marshmallow. Use the writing icing to draw eyes and a mouth on each marshmallow.
- Squeeze the frosting in a circular fashion onto the cupcakes. Sprinkle the frosted cupcakes with the white sugar sprinkles. Press the marshmallow faces onto the frosting.
- Peel apart the twizzler pull n' peels, leaving 2 or 3 pieces together. Cut so they are about 5 inches in length. Wrap the twizzlers around the marshmallows to make a scarf.
- Place 2 cinnamon imperials as buttons and secure 2 pretzel sticks into the cupcakes to make arms. Squeeze a small amount of frosting onto the top of each marshmallow and press a rolo candy onto it to make a hat. Serve within a few hours or within 2 days for the best results.
A little side note! I suppose you could consider these to really be melted snowman cupcakes, since their buttons and arms are laying on the frosting and only the head is still "standing".
Recipe Variations
- Use chocolate cake or cupcake mix to make chocolate snowman cupcakes.
- Change up the types of candy you use. Such as a hat made with a Reese's peanut butter cup, buttons made out of m&m's or reese's pieces candies. The arms can be made from writing icing instead of pretzels.
Chef's Tips
- Make sure the butter and cream cheese are slightly softened prior to beating them to make the frosting. You can also microwave them for a few seconds to ensure they are soft. They should be soft enough that if you touch them, your finger will make an indent. This will create a smooth, creamy frosting.
- Only frost completely cool cupcakes. Speed up the cooling process by putting them in the fridge to chill.
Storing Cupcakes
These snowman cupcakes are best eaten fresh but can be stored in the fridge for up to 4 days for optimal quality.
FAQs
Yes, for optimal quality you should make them only 2 days ahead of time. You can prepare the cupcakes up to 6 months early, freeze them, then decorate them with frosting and candy up to 2 days before planning to serve.
Due to the dairy in the frosting, you should not store these cupcakes at room temperature. Please store in the fridge to prevent any upset tummies.
Recipe
Snowman Cupcakes
Equipment
- piping bag and piping tips
- electric hand mixer
- standard size muffin tin
- 18 white cupcake liners
Ingredients
- 1 box white cake mix, plus oil and eggs as indicated on package
- ½ cup butter, softened
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 4 cups confectioner's sugar
- 1 cup white sugar sprinkles
- 18 large marshmallows
- 36 cinnamon imperials
- 18 Christmas light bulb sprinkles
- 18 rolo candies
- 3 twizzler pull n' peels
- black writing icing
- 18 mini pretzel sticks
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to the temperature indicated on the box of cupcake mix (usually 350° Fahrenheit). Line the muffin tin with the liners. Make the cupcake batter as indicated on the package and fill each liner ⅔ full. Bake for the time indicated on the box, usually 18-20 minutes. Remove cupcakes from the oven when done and place on your decorating workspace. Let the cupcakes cool for at least 1 hour before frosting.
- When the cupcakes have cooled make the vanilla frosting. Combine the softened butter, cream cheese and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl. Using the electric hand mixer, beat on medium speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Add the powdered sugar 2 cups at a time and continue to beat on low speed until smooth.
- Choose your piping tip and secure it to the piping bag. Fill the piping bag with frosting.
- Using a knife, make a small slit in the center of each marshmallow where the nose will be. Dab each Christmas light bulb sprinkle in frosting and secure into the slit of the marshmallow. Use the writing icing to draw eyes and a mouth on each marshmallow.
- Squeeze the frosting in a circular fashion onto the cupcakes. Sprinkle the frosted cupcakes with the white sugar sprinkles. Press the marshmallow faces onto the cupcakes.
- Peel apart the twizzler pull n' peels, leaving 2 or 3 pieces together. Cut so they are about 5 inches in length. Wrap the twizzlers around the marshmallows to make a scarf.
- Place 2 cinnamon imperials as buttons and secure 2 pretzel sticks into the cupcakes to make arms. Squeeze a small amount of frosting onto the top of each marshmallow and press a rolo candy onto it to make a hat.
- Serve within a few hours or within 2 days for the best results.
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