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Probably one of the best things during the holidays is all of the yummy treats (though my waistline may have to disagree)! I love finding new treats from cookies, to fudge, and more. Welcome to this month’s Blogorail Teal loop. Today we are sharing some yummy holiday treats. I am excited to share with you my Surprise Christmas Tree Cupcakes. They are so easy to make and everyone loves the fun surprise.
To make these Surprise Christmas Tree Cupcakes you will need:
- 2 boxed cake mixes- one vanilla/white and the other the flavor of your choosing. (I did both Yellow and Chocolate)*
- Ingredients required for cake mixes (check the box)
- Green food coloring
- Cake Pan
- Cupcake liners/tins
- Frosting (or make your own)
*If you prefer to make your cake from scratch, feel free to use your favorite recipes instead of the boxed mixes.
How to make Surprise Christmas Tree Cupcakes:
Prepare your vanilla/white cake mix according to the box instructions. Before pouring the batter into the pan, mix in green food coloring.
After you have mixed in the food coloring, set aside about a half cup of the batter to use later.
Pour the remaining batter into a cake pan and back per mix instructions.
After you have baked and cooled the cake, you are going to take it and crumble it up. (You will probably only need about half the cake. I used the whole cake but I did two batches.)
After you crumble it up, add in a little bit of the batter at a time and now, dig your hands in (don’t forget to wash them first) and mix it up until you get a play dough like texture. You can also add a little bit of water if needed to get the desired texture.
Now make your second cake mix following the box instructions. Line your cupcake pans and put just enough batter in each cup to cover the bottom.
Now is the fun part- making your Christmas trees cupcakes! This part is great for kids to help with as well! The Goof loved it!
I got out parchment paper for us, but you can do it on any clean surface you don’t mind your food touching.
You are going to make 2-3 small circles, each one slightly smaller than the next. Then you will make a small chocolate chip shaped topper. (See picture below)
I even ended up making little spacers to put between them, but you honestly can not tell the difference between the ones that had spacers (chocolate ones) and the ones that didn’t (yellow ones) so I think that step is probably not necessary.
Now layer your Christmas trees in your cupcake liners. This is where you have to check your work. You don’t want the trees too tall but you also don’t want them to short. It only takes 1-2 tries to get the right height, so don’t get frustrated. You want them to go about 3/4 the way up the cupcake liner.
Once you have made all your trees, now you need to fill up the cupcake liners. You need to fill up to the top of the trees. Do not worry if you are still able to see the trees a little, the cupcake will rise around it some.
Bake the cupcakes per the box instructions but make sure to check that they are actually done before pulling them out. Mine needed about 5-10 extra minutes to bake.
Once the cupcakes are done, let them cool before frosting them and adding any decorations to the top.
Now, when you take out the cupcakes, cut them in half, and you will find your surprise Christmas trees!
These cupcakes are sure to be a hit at parties or just for fun with your kids. Will you be trying these out? Let me know how they turn out for you.
This is so cute! And looks easier than I thought it would be. I may have to take a break from all the cookies to try a cupcake!
I’ve done this method for Mickey heads before. It’s surprisingly simple. I’d love to try the trees. Thanks for the detailed instructions.
Oh my goodness, those are SO adorable! They turned out wonderfully. My kids would maybe get frustrated putting them together.. but that just means I can try it and surprise them when they bite into the first! 🙂
Love these. This would be a great baking recipe the entire family can help with.
What a brilliant idea and very well thought out. You are a star! If I had grandchildren around I would try them but they all live overseas. Maybe I could give it to other grannies around here – they would love it. Annette