Have yourself a merry little Christmas with Christmas-themed cupcakes! Cupcakes are a quick, simple way to bring some tasty and cute holiday cheer into your kitchen. These 5 Christmas cupcake ideas are so festive they’re bound to bring some joy to the world!

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Christmas Cupcake Ideas

1. Santa Hat Cupcake

For this Christmas cupcake idea, swirl the frosting into a cute santa hat. Simply use a white cake box mix, foil cupcake liners, red and white frosting, and white candy beads. I used this jumbo round frosting tip for the red frosting starting at the outside of the cupcake and swirling in. (If you don’t have an icing bag or a coupler attachment piece, I recommend getting these. I use them often and it helps the frosting experience go a lot smoother!) Be sure to pile this high and at the very end tip stop squeezing the piping bag and lightly pull away to the side… that should leave a little tip of your santa hat. Then, using this jumbo closed star frosting tip, I used a slight push and pull method to add the white rim. After frosting, I added the white bead to the end of the hat tip. There you have it! Your very own santa hat cupcake.

Pro Tip: I have found that the round frosting tip uses up a little more frosting than the others so be sure to have enough frosting on hand that you don’t run out part-way through.

2. Winter Wonderland Cupcake

This Christmas cupcake idea is simple but elegant. Capture the feeling of a white, snowy Christmas with this Winter Wonderland Cupcake. Super simple process. Just make a white cupcake box cake mix according to package directions (using the egg whites option) in white cupcake liners. (If you want to use a more Christmas themed cupcake liner, these Wilton Winter Wonderland Assorted Baking Cups are really pretty.) Once the cupcakes are cooled, use white frosting and this jumbo closed star frosting tip, to swirl your frosting on the cupcake. Swirl from the outside and work your way in. (If you don’t have an icing bag or a coupler attachment piece, I recommend getting these. I use them often and it helps the frosting experience go a lot smoother!) Immediately following frosting, generously put crystal sprinkles all over the top.

Pro Tip: you’ll want to put on the sprinkles before the frosting sets so the sprinkles stick better. I frost a cupcake and add sprinkles before moving onto the next cupcake.

3. Christmas Tree Cupcake

A Christmas tree is such an iconic part of Christmas. To make these cute Christmas Tree Cupcakes, make a white cupcake box cake mix according to package directions in foil cupcake liners. (If you want the cake to be green instead of white, generously add green food coloring.)

Once the cupcakes are cooled, you can start frosting. I mixed a generous amount of green food coloring into white frosting to get the dark green look. You can use this jumbo open star frosting tip, to swirl your frosting on the cupcake. Swirl from the outside and work your way in. Be sure to pile this high and at the very end tip stop squeezing the piping bag and lightly pull away upward… that should leave a little tip for your Christmas tree. (If you don’t have an icing bag or a coupler attachment piece, I recommend getting these. I use them often and it helps the frosting experience go a lot smoother!) Immediately following frosting, put a red skittle or red M&M on top for the star.

Disclosure: I original tried cutting out stars from Airheads for my stars, but in the morning I came into the kitchen and saw that the stars had wilted and rolled down. So I gently removed them and added a red skittle instead. You may need to do some fixing as well once the frosting sets.

4. Hot Chocolate Cupcake

Nothing tastes more like Christmas than a cup of hot chocolate, so we’ve turned this holiday favorite drink into a tasty cupcake! This cupcake is so cute that we gave it its own post. Click here for the recipe and super easy step-by-step directions.

5. Candy Cane Cupcake

And last but not least, my favorite Christmas cupcake idea–Candy Cane Cupcakes. Simply make a white cupcake box cake mix according to package directions (using the egg whites option) in white cupcake liners.

Once the cupcakes are cooled, you can start frosting. I used white frosting and split the frosting in half. In a bowl I mixed a generous amount of red food coloring into one half of the frosting to get the dark red look. I left the other half white. Then, I cut one corner tip off of two sandwich-sized Ziploc bags and spooned red frosting into one and white frosting into the other. I then slid both of the filled bags (cut end down toward the tip) into my icing bag that was all ready to go with a jumbo closed star frosting tip. (If you don’t have an icing bag or a coupler attachment piece, I recommend getting these. I use them often and it helps the frosting experience go a lot smoother!) Swirl your frosting on the cupcake working your way from the outside in.

Lastly, stick a mini candy cane into the center of the cupcake. And there you have it–your own multi-colored swirl candy cane cupcake that was really easy to make but looks super impressive.

Hopefully you’ve decided on your favorite Christmas cupcake. If you have any questions please feel free to leave a comment below. Merry Christmas!

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