This Piñata Cupcake recipe is SO FUN! Pack these delicious homemade vanilla cupcakes with sprinkles and watch them spill out when you take a bite. You need to make these for whatever the next celebration is.
Piñata cupcakes are a total party in your mouth! These simple and delicious vanilla cupcakes look normal enough, but inside, they hold a surprise treasure trove of colorful and fun sprinkles.
Make these fun cupcakes for any occasion. Think about birthday parties (especially for kids), New Year’s Eve, or a Mexican food-themed fiesta. The piñata cupcake fillers can easily be customized to be color-coordinated with any theme or occasion!
If you love making cupcakes from scratch, you’ll want to save my Chocolate Cupcake Recipe, and these fun Rainbow Cupcakes too!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It’s the Ultimate Party Cupcake – Cake + piñata vibes = instant party! This fun cupcake recipe is perfect for birthday parties, or any other type of party you want to throw.
- From Scratch Recipe – A vanilla cupcake made with simple and common ingredients is easy to whip up whenever the mood strikes. These little cakes will be way better than anything you can make from a boxed cake mix.
- Easy Decorating – There’s no need for any fancy decorating on top of these cupcakes when all of the fanciness is inside of them! A simple swirl of buttercream is all you need to decorate piñata cupcakes.
Key Ingredients
Complete list of ingredients and amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
For the Cupcakes:
- Unsalted Butter: I almost always choose unsalted butter when baking sweet recipes. This allows us to ensure that the final cupcakes aren’t overly salty.
- Sugar: Gotta have sugar to make cupcakes! Regular granulated white sugar is ideal for this recipe.
- Eggs, Oil, and Milk: Our recipe’s wet ingredients include eggs, vegetable oil or canola oil, and milk. I suggest using either whole milk or 2%.
- Pure Vanilla Extract: The better your vanilla extract, the more delicious your piñata cupcakes will be!
- Flour, Baking Powder, and Salt: The dry ingredients are just some simple pantry items.
For the Buttercream Frosting:
Unsalted Butter, Powdered Sugar, more Vanilla Extract, and Heavy Whipping cream: Combined, these four ingredients make the most incredible buttercream frosting for cupcakes ever.
You’ll also need about 4 ounces (½ cup) of fun rainbow sprinkles. See below for my recommendations for the best ones.
How to Make Fun Piñata Cupcakes
- Get Ready to Bake: Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C and line a muffin pan with 12 cupcake liners. Set aside while you make the batter.
- Cream: In a large bowl, using an electric hand mixer, cream together the butter, sugar, oil, and vanilla extract on medium speed. Then add the eggs, one at a time, mixing after each until it’s well incorporated. Set the bowl of wet ingredients aside.
- Mix Dry Ingredients: In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
- Combine Wet and Dry: Pour about one-third of the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix until combined using the electric mixer. Then add the rest of the dry ingredients. Gradually add in the milk and continue mixing just until everything is combined into a smooth cake batter.
- Bake: Fill the cupcake liners halfway with batter. Bake in the preheated oven for 19-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Allow to rest and cool for at least 15 minutes. Do not fill and frost until they are fully cool.
- Make Space: Using a small knife, cut a circle 1 inch deep and about 1 inch diameter into the center of the cupcake from the top, being careful not to go all the way to the bottom. Remove the “core” and discard the bottom, keeping just the circle “lid” for the hole. Fill the hole with about 2 teaspoons of sprinkles, and then replace the lid.
- Make Frosting: Cream butter in a large bowl to make a simple buttercream cupcake frosting. Slowly add the powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Add the vanilla and heavy cream and continue blending to get a smooth frosting. Add additional cream if needed to get the right consistency for piping.
- Frost: Use a piping bag to generously frost the pinata cupcakes in any style that you like. Top with more sprinkles. I used a star tip here to make a simple swirl.
Recipe Tips
- Don’t overfill. Filling the cupcake liners only halfway and definitely no more than ⅔ of the way is key to ensuring that the cupcakes don’t overflow. They aren’t as cute if they look like mushrooms!
- Measure Correctly: I have some tricks for making sure you’re measuring your ingredients correctly! When baking, it’s important to accurately measure everything to get the best results in the end.
- You don’t need a fancy tool. There are tools made specifically for coring cupcakes. I don’t think that’s necessary unless you’re making filled cupcakes all the time. You can easily use a paring knife to cut a hole. Another good trick is to use the wide part of a jumbo piping tip to make the hole instead.
- Let them Cool. There’s nothing worse than putting buttercream frosting on a too-warm cupcake. It will sadly melt and slide right off. Be sure that the cupcakes are fully cooled before filling them and adding the frosting.
- This works with any flavor. Try turning chocolate cupcakes into piñata cupcakes too, or any other cupcake recipe that you like.
The Best Sprinkles for Pinata Cupcakes
There are so many really fun sprinkle mixes out there! I found a few options from Wilton that I like. You can find Wilton Sprinkles in stores, or check out the selection online.
- Rainbow Sprinkles – Classic and great for any kind of celebration or a kid’s birthday party.
- Cactus and Llama Sprinkles – These fit the Pinata theme too perfectly!
- Pineapple Sprinkles – For a summertime get-together or a Luau-themed party.
How to Make Pinata Cupcakes
How to Fill a Cupcake
It’s easier to fill a cupcake with sprinkles than it might look!
- Cut: First, take a small, sharp knife and cut a 1 inch deep, about 1-inch diameter circle into the center of the cupcake from the top, being careful not to go all the way to the bottom.
- Remove: Lift out the “core” of the cupcake gently. Trim off the bottom of the core and discard, keeping the circular piece that was the top. (It’s totally fine if your cupcake holes aren’t perfect. We’ll be covering up the tops with lots of buttercream frosting to hide any uneven lines or little mistakes).
- Fill and Replace: Use a small spoon to insert sprinkles into the hole you created. Then put the top back on before frosting.
See? Easy!
Tip!
You don’t have to discard the middle of the cupcake if you don’t want to. Just put it back on top and frost around it to cover it up.
Other Delicious Cupcake Fillers
Once you get the cupcake filling method down, the sky’s the limit for what you can put inside of all of your favorite cupcake recipes. Try some of these tasty cupcake filler ideas:
- Melted Chocolate, Hot Fudge Sauce, or Homemade Nutella.
- Chocolate Mousse or Ganache.
- Small candy like M&Ms, Skittles, Reese’s Pieces, Nerds, or even chocolate chips. You can mix the candy in with sprinkles to make it extra festive. The cupcakes in this recipe use a sprinkle mix that includes small chocolates that are like Sixlets.
- Jam Filled Cupcakes are always delicious. Any kind of fruit jam or preserves is excellent.
- Fill cupcakes with Cannoli Dip, and Funfetti Cake Batter Dip can go right inside a cupcake. It’s like two desserts in one!
- Custard or Pudding
- Caramel Sauce
- Peanut Butter or Almond Butter, mix it with a bit of powdered sugar to make it thicker and sweeter.
Do you love a good Cream Cheese Frosting? Instead of this buttercream, make the cream cheese frosting from my Red Velvet Cake Recipe to frost your Pinata Cupcakes with!
What to Serve with Pinata Cupcakes
Have a Fiesta!
Pinata Cupcakes are the perfect dessert to go with a Mexican-themed feast, and luckily for you, I have tons of great Mexican food and Tex-Mex recipes here!
Start with Tacos like these Easy Baked Chicken Tacos or Mushroom Tacos for the veggie lovers. Mexican Shredded Beef Tacos are always a hit too.
On the Grill, make Fajita Chicken Kabobs or Marinated Mexican Chicken. Be sure to serve it all with Cilantro Lime Rice and my amazing Guacamole!
At a Birthday Party
Skip the cardboard piñata and have birthday sprinkle-filled cupcakes instead! I suggest using rainbow sprinkles, or a sprinkle mix to match your party theme. Kids go nuts for these cupcakes, so be sure to plan to make them the next time you have a kid’s birthday party.
Other great foods to serve at kids’ birthday parties are finger foods like Ham and Cheese Roll-Ups, Cheeseburger Sliders, and Crispy Oven Baked Chicken Tenders.
Recipe Frequently Asked Questions
Can I make Pinata cupcakes ahead of time?
You can make these up to 3 days ahead of time if they are stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container. Cupcakes without icing can also be wrapped individually and frozen for up to three months.
Why is it called a piñata cake?
The name for this fun cupcake comes from the Mexican party centerpiece or game in which a paper decoration is filled with candy. Pinatas are a fun party game, but piñata cupcakes have less to do with blindfolds and baseball bats and might be a bit safer!
Do I need a hammer for piñata cupcakes?
Nope! There are some trendy piñata cakes that have hardened chocolate covering them, and the fun part is smashing them open with a wooden mallet! My piñata cupcakes are much easier to make and enjoy; no hammer is needed.
I have a feeling that you’ll be making amazing Pinata Cupcakes for all special occasions from now on! They are so much fun that you’ll be asked to bring them to all the parties. Be sure to pin the recipe for later.
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest!
Piñata Cupcakes
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- ¼ cup (28g) unsalted butter softened, ½ a stick
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- ¼ cup (60ml) vegetable or canola oil
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- 1¼ cups (150g) all purpose flour
- 1½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (120ml) milk whole or 2%
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
- ¾ cup (113g) unsalted butter softened, 1 stick
- 3 cups (600g) powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
- Sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C and line a muffin pan with 12 cupcake liners. Set aside while you make the batter.
- In a large bowl, using an electric hand mixer, cream together the butter, sugar, oil, and vanilla extract on medium speed.
- Then add the eggs, one at a time, mixing after each until it’s well-incorporated. Set the bowl of wet ingredients aside.
- In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
- Pour about one third of the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix until combined using the electric mixer. Then add the rest of the dry ingredients.
- Gradually add in the milk and continue mixing just until everything is combined into a smooth cake batter.
- Fill the cupcake liners halfway with batter. Bake in the preheated oven for 19-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Allow to rest and cool for at least 15 minutes. Do not fill and frost until they are fully cool.
- Cut a 1 inch deep and about 1-inch diameter circle into the center of the cupcake from the top, using a small knife, and being careful not to go all the way to the bottom. Remove the “core” and discard the bottom of it, keeping just the circle “lid” for the hole. Fill the hole with about 2 tablespoons of sprinkles, and then replace the lid.
- Make buttercream cupcake frosting by creaming butter in a large bowl. Slowly add the powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Add the vanilla and heavy cream, and continue blending to get a smooth frosting. Add additional cream if needed to get the right consistency for piping.
- Use a piping bag to generously frost the pinata cupcakes in any style that you like. Top with more sprinkles.
Notes:
Nutrition Information
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
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