4th of July Cupcakes
4th of July Cupcakes are baked from scratch with a fun red, white, and blue swirl inside! Top them with buttercream and patriotic sprinkles.
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup yogurt natural or greek
- 1 ¼ cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- red food coloring see note 1
- blue food coloring
Vanilla Buttercream:
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream or whole milk, or half and half
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
Decorations:
- 2 tablespoons 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 and sugar at medium speed until lighter in color and smooth. Then add the eggs, one at a time, mixing after each until it’s well-incorporated. Add the vanilla extract and yogurt, and continue to mix until 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 and the sprinkles. Mix just until everything is combined.
- Fill the cupcake liners halfway to ⅔ full with batter. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until a cupcake inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Allow to rest and cool completely before decorating.
- Separate the cake batter evenly into three small bowls. Add red food coloring to one, blue food coloring to another, and leave the last bowl white. To each cupcake liner, add a scoop of each color of cake batter, making sure not to fill the cups more than ⅔ full. Use a chopstick or a butter knife to swirl the colors together.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Allow the cakes to rest and cool completely before decorating.
- Make a simple buttercream cupcake frosting by creaming butter in a large bowl. Slowly add the powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Add the salt, vanilla, and heavy cream, and continue blending to get a smooth frosting. Add additional cream if needed to get the right consistency for piping.
- Add the frosting to a piping bag fitted with a star tip. Start in the center of the cupcake and pipe a continuous spiral until you’ve covered the whole cupcake.
- If desired, top each cupcake with 4th of July sprinkles.
Notes
- Food Coloring: The amount of coloring you'll need will depend on the type and brand of food dye you're using. I suggest gel food coloring. Start with 2-3 drops and add more as needed to get the color you like.
- Don’t overfill. Filling the cupcake liners only halfway, and definitely no more than ⅔ of the way is key to making sure that 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.
- Cool Cupcakes Completely: Don’t try to add buttercream to cupcakes that are still warm. It will just melt and fall right off!
- No Decorating Tips? I’m showing you exactly how to make these cupcakes using piping bags and tips, but if you’d rather, you can still make these cupcakes and simply spread the icing on top.
Nutrition
Serving: 1cupcake | Calories: 345kcal | Carbohydrates: 45g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 76mg | Sodium: 93mg | Potassium: 84mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 34g | Vitamin A: 565IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 40mg | Iron: 1mg
Find it online: https://littlesunnykitchen.com/4th-of-july-cupcakes/