Make Christmas Lights Cupcakes for a Bright Holiday
To add a dash of electric holiday fun to your dessert table, consider making these fun Christmas lights cupcakes! These adorable Christmas light treats will have everyone at your Christmas party lighting up with delight.
Hehehe…see what we did there?
In addition to being tasty and visually appealing, Christmas lights cupcakes are a fun conversation starter and a great way to involve kids in the holiday food prep. When we first saw some Christmas light cupcakes at one holiday event or another – years ago – we thought the process looked so intimidating. Honestly, these cupcakes are so simple!
Why We Love Christmas Light Cupcakes
These cute treats are not only fun to make but also provide an opportunity to get creative with your Christmas desserts. They make tasty addition to a Christmas event or a wonderful surprise for the little ones at your gathering. No doubt, Christmas food has evolved over the years, and now we welcome cute Christmas-themed foods of all types these days.
They can be taken to daycare parties or school parties (IF your school doesn’t have a “store-bought only” rule as our school does), and the kids will light up with delight! (Yes, we did it again!)
A Hack for Christmas Light Cupcakes
If you love a homemade cupcake with homemade frosting, you likely already have a favorite vanilla cupcake recipe. If you want to make the cupcakes yourself but are okay with shortcuts, save time with a box mix batter and a can of store-bought frosting.
And if you are really wanting to save time during the hectic Christmas preparations, you can opt to buy bakery cupcakes with plain vanilla frosting from the grocery store.
Ingredients
- 12 pre-made/store bought cupcakes with white frosting
- Black gel tube (food coloring gel)
- M&Ms of various colors
It might actually take a time or two to get the hang of squeezing out the icing for the string of lights, but once you figure out how much pressure to put on the squeeze tube, it will get easier!
Storage
- Store leftover Christmas lights cupcakes in the fridge for up to three days for ideal taste and texture. You can also freeze them for up to three months. If you are storing already frosted cupcakes, make sure to store them in a container with enough room to make sure the presentation isn’t disturbed.
Recipe Tips for Christmas Lights Cupcakes
You can use this cupcake decorating concept as a starting point for other festive creations. Try making Christmas lights cookies with iced sugar cookies, or or even Christmas light cake pops for an even more lit Christmas party (seriously…we are just out of control).
Substitutions and Variations for Christmas Light Cupcakes
- If you want to take your Christmas cupcakes to the next level, consider experimenting with different cupcake flavors and frostings. For example, you could make strawberry cake batter with vanilla icing.
- Keep the candies in a certain traditional colorful Christmas lights color scheme if you are wanting a more targeted color scheme.
Colorful Christmas Lights Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 12 Cupcakes vanilla with vanilla frosting; store bought or pre-made
- 1 Black food coloring gel
- 1 cup M&M candy
Instructions
- Set out 12 pre-baked and frosted cupcakes on wire rack or tray.
- Using black gel tube, draw a "string of lights" around each cupcake, circling around 2-3 times.
- Insert colorful M&M candies (sideways) into the circles, spacing out the candies about two inches apart. The finished product should look like a black string of lights with colorful light bulbs going around the top of the cupcake.
Nutrition
More Great Recipes
Cute Flower Themed Snacks for Kids
Mexico Flag Strawberries for Fiestas
Frankenstein Whoopie Pies for Halloween
Orange Halloween Drink with Eyeballs
Halloween Peanut Butter Eyeballs
Halloween Pumpkin Rice Krispie Treats
Orange Fanta Float for Halloween
Barbie Party Food Frosting Board
