Football Cookie Cups

Football Cookie Cups are the best of the best when it comes to Superbowl Desserts! These sugar cookie cups are filled with a layer of rich chocolate and topped with buttercream grass and a chocolate almond football.

Were you looking for a dessert to make for your Superbowl Party? You’ve found the best recipe for Football Cookie Cups! These will disappear quickly as people snack on them during the game, so consider doubling the recipe if you’re expecting lots of guests for the big game. 

Need more ideas for Superbowl Desserts? Make a dessert dip like Cannoli Dip or Funfetti dip to satisfy the hungry crowd. 

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

1. Perfect for Football Season: Take these fun cookie cups to a tailgate party, or serve them the next time friends are over to watch the game. Football cookie cups also make a great treat for your kid’s football team. 
2. Tiny Chocolate Footballs: I love how easy it is to turn almonds into little footballs to decorate these cookies with! 
3. Easy Recipe: Baking cookies in a mini muffin pan is actually easier than baking them on a tray! This scratch recipe for sugar cookie cups comes together easily too with just a handful of ingredients. 

Key Ingredients

Complete list of ingredients and amounts can be found in the recipe card below.

• Butter: I suggest using unsalted butter when baking. You have much more control over the salt level this way. Let the butter for the cookies and the buttercream soften at room temperature before starting. 
• Sugars: Both white and brown sugar is used in this cookie cup recipe. This gives them the perfect chewy texture with crisp edges. 
• Egg: One large egg, at room temperature, please. 
• Vanilla Extract and Salt: These add the right amount of flavor to these sugar cookie cups. 
• Flour and Baking Powder: The dry ingredients round out the cookie dough recipe. Baking powder gives these cookies a bit of lift, but not too much that the cookies overflow the pan. 
• Buttercream: To make the creamy topping for cookie cups, you’ll need butter, powdered sugar, milk or cream, and vanilla extract. Green gel food coloring makes the buttercream into football turf! 
• Chocolate: Milk or dark chocolate is used to fill the centers of the cookie cups and to turn the almonds into chocolate footballs. A small amount of white chocolate is used to pipe on the stitches.
• Chocolate Almonds: Whole almonds are dipped into milk chocolate and then decorated with white chocolate stitches. 

How to Make Football Cookie Cups

1. Get Ready to Bake: Preheat your oven to 350°F/180°C, and lightly spray a mini muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray. 
2. Make the Cookie Dough: In a large bowl, using a hand electric mixer, beat the butter with the sugars until light and creamy. Then add the egg and vanilla extract and beat until combined. Finally, add flour, baking powder, and salt, and beat again at low speed until just combined. 
3. Bake: Using a small cookie scoop, divide the cookie dough between 22 of the cookie cups. Bake for 12 minutes. Remove from the oven, and while the cookies are still warm, push down the centers using a measuring teaspoon so that there is room to add melted chocolate.

1. Fill with Chocolate: Melt chocolate in the microwave or in a double boiler. Add about 1 teaspoon of melted chocolate to each cookie cup. Allow to set before adding frosting. Place the cookie cups in the freezer to speed up the process.
2. Make Buttercream: In a large bowl, using an electric hand mixer, beat the butter until creamy, and then gradually add the powdered sugar. Add the milk, vanilla, and food coloring and beat again. You can adjust the consistency of the frosting if needed by adding more powdered sugar or milk.

1. Create Chocolate Footballs: Dip each almond into the remaining melted chocolate and allow the chocolate to set. To speed up the process, pop in the freezer.
2. Frost and Decorate: Add the buttercream to a piping bag fitted with a grass tip and pipe frosting into each cooled cookie cup. Top with almond footballs. Then, melt white chocolate and add to a piping bag with a #3 tip. Pipe the lines on the chocolate almonds.

Recipe Tips

• Add Some Peanut Butter: Instead of filling the cups with melted chocolate, use a miniature Reese’s Cup to fill that space instead! Just like I did in my Peanut Butter Cookie Cups Recipe.
• Skip the Chocolate: Fill the cookie cups with buttercream instead of melted chocolate if you like.
• For Grass: Skip the buttercream if you like, and use green dyed coconut flakes. You can also use buttercream AND coconut flakes. The more the merrier when it comes to cookie cup decorations. 
• Measure Correctly: When baking it’s important to measure all of the ingredients accurately. Use a digital scale to measure your ingredients, or check out these tips for getting ingredient measurements right. 
• Go Slow with Powdered Sugar: If you add it all in at once and turn on the mixer, you’ll create a sugar storm! Add just a little bit at a time and mix at low speed. 
• You Will Make 22: A mini muffin pan will have 24 spots, but you will leave 2 of them empty for this recipe. 

Helpful Tools for Making Cookie Cups

• A Mini Muffin Pan: Wilton pans are my go-to. They are reasonably priced and work very well. 
• Piping Tips and Bag: Disposable piping bags and a grass tip make decorating these cookie cups easy. 
• Gel Food Coloring: Gel food coloring will give you vibrant colors without changing the texture of your icing. I like this set that has all of the basic colors.
• Electric Hand Mixer: This is the perfect tool for mixing up both the cookie dough and the creamy buttercream frosting. I love this one from Kitchenaid, as it has a large range of speeds for making all sorts of recipes. 
• Cookie Scoop: Using a scoop helps you to ensure that all of the cookie cups are the same size. I use these scoops for all of my cookie recipes. 

What to Serve with Football Cookie Cups

This football-themed dessert will be right at home among a variety of football food appetizers! Try these:

• Ham and Cheese Sliders
• Cheeseburger Dip
• Classic Deviled Eggs
• Baked Potato Skins
• Reuben Egg Rolls
• Bacon Ranch Cheese Ball
• Air Fryer Buffalo Wings
• Chocolate Chip Cheese Ball

FAQs

Enjoy the big game with these adorable football cookie Cups! Be sure to Pin it and share it.

Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest!

Recipe

5 from 5 votes

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Football Cookie Cups

Prep Time: 25 minutes mins

Cook Time: 12 minutes mins

Total Time: 37 minutes mins

Author: Diana

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Football Cookie Cups make the perfect Superbowl dessert. Sugar cookie cups are filled with chocolate and topped with buttercream and a chocolate almond football.

22 servings

Football Cookie Cups make the perfect Superbowl dessert. Sugar cookie cups are filled with chocolate and topped with buttercream and a chocolate almond football.

Equipment

• Mini muffin pan
• Wilton tip #3
• Wilton tip #233 for the grass
• Pipping bags

Ingredients 

1/2x1x2x3x

• ▢ ½ cup unsalted butter 1 stick, 113g, room temp
• ▢ ½ cup granulated sugar 100g
• ▢ ¼ cup light brown sugar 50g
• ▢ 1 large egg room temp
• ▢ 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• ▢ 1 ¼ cups all purpose flour
• ▢ ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ▢ ½ teaspoon salt

Buttercream:

• ▢ ½ cup unsalted butter 1 stick, 113g, room temp
• ▢ 3 cups powdered sugar
• ▢ 2 tablespoons milk or heavy cream
• ▢ 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• ▢ Green food coloring

For the chocolate almonds:

• ▢ 22 almonds
• ▢ ¾ cup milk chocolate or dark, for dipping the almonds + to add to cookie cups
• ▢ 2 tablespoons melted white chocolate

Instructions 

• Preheat your oven to 350°F/180°C, and lightly spray a mini muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray.
• In a large bowl, using a hand electric mixer, beat the butter with the sugars until light and creamy. Then add the egg and vanilla extract and beat until combined. Finally, add flour, baking powder, and salt, and beat again at low speed until just combined.
• Using a small cookie scoop, divide the cookie dough between 22 of the cookie cups. Bake for 12 minutes. Remove from the oven, and while the cookies are still warm, push down the centers using a measuring teaspoon so that there is room to add melted chocolate.
• Melt chocolate in the microwave or in a double boiler. Add about 1 teaspoon of melted chocolate to each cookie cup. Allow to set before adding frosting. Place the cookie cups in the freezer to speed up the process.

Make Buttercream:

• In a large bowl, using an electric hand mixer, beat the butter until creamy and then gradually add the powdered sugar. Add the milk, vanilla, and food coloring and beat again. You can adjust the consistency of the frosting if needed by adding more powdered sugar or milk.

Create Chocolate Footballs:

• Dip each almond into the remaining melted chocolate and allow the chocolate to set.
• Add the buttercream to a piping bag fitted with a grass tip and pipe frosting into each cooled cookie cup. Top with almond footballs, then melt white chocolate and add to a piping bag with a #3 tip. Pipe on the lines to create footballs.

Notes:

• Add Some Peanut Butter: Instead of filling the cups with melted chocolate, use a miniature Reese’s Cup to fill that space instead.
• Skip the Chocolate: Fill the cookie cups with buttercream instead of melted chocolate if you like.
• For Grass: Skip the buttercream if you like, and use green dyed coconut flakes. You can also use buttercream AND coconut flakes. The more the merrier when it comes to cookie cup decorations. 
• Measure Correctly: When baking it’s important to measure all of the ingredients accurately. Use a digital scale to measure your ingredients, or check out these tips for getting ingredient measurements right. 
• Go Slow with Powdered Sugar: If you add it all in at once and turn on the mixer, you’ll create a sugar storm! Add just a little bit at a time and mix at low speed. 
• You Will Make 22: A mini muffin pan will have 24 spots, but you will leave 2 of them empty for this recipe. 

Nutrition Information

Serving: 1cookie cup, Calories: 231kcal, Carbohydrates: 33g, Protein: 2g, Fat: 11g, Saturated Fat: 7g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 3g, Trans Fat: 0.3g, Cholesterol: 30mg, Sodium: 125mg, Potassium: 53mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 26g, Vitamin A: 271IU, Calcium: 17mg, Iron: 1mg

This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.

© Little Sunny Kitchen