Christmas Reindeer Cupcakes

Cute reindeer cupcakes for Christmas that the kids will absolutely adore. These cupcakes are great anytime of year, however, simply skip the reindeer decorating! You can get the kids to help you decorate for loads of family fun.

• Preparation Time: 60 mins
• Cooking Time: 18 mins
• Total Time: 1 hr 18 mins
• Calories: 427 Calories

Ingredients

• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ cup milk
• ¾ cup white sugar
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, room temperature
• 24 candy eyeballs
• 9 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 ½ cups sifted self-rising flour
• 1 drop brown food coloring
• 6 vanilla wafer cookies (such as Nilla®)
• 12 red jelly beans
• 24 chewy chocolate-flavored candy (such as Tootsie Roll®)
• 24 pretzels

Recipe Instructions

Step 1

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 12-cup muffin tin or line cups with paper liners.

Step 2

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.

Step 3

Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 18 minutes.

Step 4

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.

Step 5

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.

Step 6

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.