These easy green cupcakes are a festive treat for St. Patrick’s Day plus delicious! Moist green cupcakes get topped with cream cheese frosting and filled with gold sprinkles for a fun St. Patrick’s Day surprise!
Magical Green Cupcakes
I love how fun St. Patrick’s Day is, especially with kids. The entire holiday is full of magic and surprises – leprechaun and rainbows. And being married to a man who is part Irish – yeah we enjoy St. Patrick’s Day around here!
There’s nothing better than doing a leprechaun hunt that ends with a bag full of yummy Lucky Charms cookies and chocolate gold coins!
I’m always looking for ways to make the holiday even more magical and these green cupcakes really do the trick!
These fun St. Patrick’s Day cupcakes use a base recipe similar to our favorite vanilla cupcakes except green of course. They then get topped with a delicious cream cheese frosting.
But that’s not the best part – the best part is the pot of gold on the inside! Large gold sprinkles get put into the cupcakes so when you bite them open, they’re filled with a pot of gold surprise! They’re similar to these St. Patrick’s Day surprise cupcakes, just green instead of rainbow!
These would also be really fun to make for Christmas with red frosting or red sprinkles inside but for now, let’s just say they’re for St. Patrick’s Day! Either way, they’re delicious cupcakes that kids will love!
Why you’ll love these Green Cupcakes
- Easy – these green cupcakes are as easy as they come! Just mix some ingredients together, bake, fill, and frost! Even the frosting is simple.
- Fun – these are really fun to eat with the gold sprinkles inside – it just gives it a nice added sweetness and an element of fun! Just make sure to use the right type of sprinkles!
Ingredient Notes
- Green food coloring – I highly recommend using a gel green food coloring because it’s more concentrated than liquid. I used Wilton’s Leaf Green gel food coloring.
- Cream cheese – for the frosting, you want to use full-fat cream cheese that’s nice and soft.
- Butter – make sure you’re using unsalted butter that’s also soft. Salted will give your frosting a little bit of a salty taste – not ideal for these cupcakes.
- Buttermilk – if you don’t have buttermilk, you can combine a cup of regular whole milk with 1 TBS of lemon juice or white vinegar, let it sit for ten minutes, and then use that in place of the buttermilk. Actual buttermilk is always better but that substitution using regular milk works fine in a pinch.
How to make Green Cupcakes
These cupcakes are super easy to make!
1 – Make the green Cupcake Batter
Preheat oven to 350°F and line cupcake pans with baking cups. You can also use a silicone cupcake pan if you prefer, but I like serving cupcakes in cupcake liners.
In the base of a stand mixer, combine flour, baking powder, sugar, cocoa powder, and salt.
Add softened butter and mix on low until the ingredients resemble wet sand.
In a small bowl, mix buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla.
Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until there are no lumps, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed.
Add the food coloring and mix on low until the desired color is reached.
Green Food coloring Tip!
I highly recommend using gel food coloring because it’s more concentrated than liquid. I specifically used Wilton’s Leaf Green Gel food coloring and it worked great. You can also use a green from a jewel-toned food coloring pack to get similar results. Using a regular green from a standard color set will result in a light green color.
2 – Bake the Green Cupcakes
Fill the cupcake liners a little more than halfway with batter in each tin. Don’t fill them more or they’ll end up overflowing.
Tip!
If you want to use basic cupcake liners to bake the cupcakes in and then add an extra one (like in my pictures) on the outside for decoration, that’s a fun way to do it as well! I did white paper liners on the actual cupcakes in the cupcake tin and then “plated” them in gold cupcake wrappers to match my St. Patrick’s Day printables!
Bake until a toothpick comes out clean, about 15-17 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool for a few minutes in the pan then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
For filled cupcakes, use a piping bag tip or a spoon to remove a small section of cake from the center of each cupcake, fill with gold sprinkles, then place the removed section back over the hole.
Sprinkle Tip!
I used these gold sprinkles and thought they were perfect because they’re a little thicker than normal gold sanding sugar, giving them more of the appearance of gold. You can also do a combination of gold sprinkles and shamrock sprinkles to make them extra festive. Just make sure the sprinkles aren’t super hard or no one will want to eat them!
3 – Make the Cream Cheese Frosting
While cupcakes are cooling, make the frosting.
Start by beating the butter on medium high speed for about 5 minutes or until it is light and fluffy.
Next, add the cream cheese and beat until smooth.
Add the powdered sugar a little at a time until it is all added and frosting is smooth and creamy.
Green Cream Cheese Frosting?
If you want with a completely green twist, you can also add a bit of the gel food coloring to the cream cheese frosting to turn it into a green cream cheese frosting. I like the look of the white with gold sprinkles but green food coloring can be fun twist if you really want that vibrant green cupcakes look!
Use a piping bag to frost the green cupcakes and dust with gold glitter if desired. I just used a round piping tip but again feel free to decorate these however you want!
Serve the cupcakes once completely cooled!
They make a great addition to a St. Patrick’s Day dessert table or they would be so much fun as a treat at the end of a St. Patrick’s Day scavenger hunt!
Or if you’re not using these for St. Patrick’s Day – these green cupcakes would be great for a green baby shower (surprisingly one of the most popular boy baby shower themes!).
How to store Green Cupcakes
There are a few things you need to know about storing these green cupcakes. They store great, you just need to know how do it!
If you know you’re not going to use the cupcakes right away (if you want to make them ahead of time), bake the cupcakes and once cooled, store in an airtight container for up to three days. Do this before you fill or frost them.
If you want to store leftover cupcakes (after they’ve been filled and frosted), store the frosted green cupcakes in the refrigerator for up to three days. That cream cheese frosting will go bad if you leave it out!
How to Freeze Green Cupcakes
These green cupcakes only freeze well before they’re filled and frosted. If you want to make them ahead of time and freeze, bake and cool the cupcakes completely. Then place the cooled unfrosted cupcakes in an airtight container or freezer safe gallon size zipper bag and freeze for up to three months.
When you’re ready to use the cupcakes, remove from the freezer and thaw to room temperature before filling and frosting the green velvet cupcakes.
Tips & Storage Info
Serve these on plates and encourage people to eat them above a plate so that when they do bite into the cupcake and get the surprise inside, you don’t end up with sprinkles everywhere.
Add rainbow sprinkles to the gold sprinkles for an even more colorful burst of magic when you eat these!
Don’t add the sprinkles or frost the cupcakes until these are cooled completely. Sprinkles can just melt into warm cupcakes if added while they’re still hot.
Don’t like cream cheese frosting? These are fine with buttercream frosting as well, but the cream cheese is better!
Mix up the colors! As long as you’re using a vibrant color that will result in the bold color you want. The only difference would be changing out the color!
Recipe FAQs
What is green cake made of?
Green velvet cake is made of flour, sugar, buttermilk, baking powder, eggs, butter, salt, and vanilla. These make a moist, sweet, cake with a slight chocolate flavor that’s dyed green to give you the green color.
How much food coloring do you use for green cake?
I recommend using enough green gel food coloring that the color of the batter is a very bright green with no tinges of the brown chocolate color left. Error on the side of more food coloring than less or you’ll end up with a greenish brown cake, which is what you don’t want. I used about 1/4 a tube of the gel.
What if my cream cheese frosting is too thick?
Add a teaspoon of milk or heavy cream at a time and mix again until you get the consistency you want.
More Easy Cupcake Recipes
If you like this green cupcake recipe, make sure to try out these other delicious cupcakes!
- Candy cane cupcakes – red and white peppermint cupcakes that are perfect for the holidays!
- Grinch cupcakes – a simple cupcake that’s frosted to look like everyone’s favorite holiday villain, the Grinch himself!
- Banana pudding cupcakes – a semi-homemade cupcake recipe that starts with a box mix and gets filled with homemade banana pudding and topped with a whipped cream frosting!
- Pumpkin cupcakes – a deliciously moist pumpkin cupcake topped with a delightful cheesecake frosting!
- Hot chocolate cupcakes – chocolate cupcakes made with hot chocolate, melted chocolate, and of course marshmallows!
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Green Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- 2 cups flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp cocoa powder
- 1 tsp salt
- ¾ cup butter softened
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 2 large eggs (lightly beaten)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- green gel food coloring
- gold sprinkles optional
Frosting
- 8 ounces cream cheese (softened to room temperature)
- ½ cup unsalted butter (softened to room temperature)
- 4 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line cupcake pans with baking cups. Spray baking cups.
- In the base of a stand mixer, combine flour, baking powder, sugar, cocoa powder, and salt.2 cups flour, 1 cup granulated sugar, 1 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp salt, 2 tsp cocoa powder
- Add softened butter and mix on low until the ingredients resemble wet sand.3/4 cup butter
- In a small bowl, mix buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla.1 cup buttermilk, 2 large eggs, 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until there are no lumps, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Remove from stand mixer and fold in food coloring until the desired color is reached. Take care not to over-mix the batter.green gel food coloring
- Scoop batter into prepared muffin cups until roughly 1/2 way full. More than half full will result in overflowing cupcakes.
- Bake until a toothpick comes out clean, about 15-17 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool for a few minutes in the muffin tin then remove and let cool completely on the wire rack.
- For filled cupcakes, use a piping bag tip or a spoon to remove a small section of cake from the center of each cupcake, fill with sprinkles and then place the removed section back over the hole.gold sprinkles
Frosting
- Beat butter on medium high speed for about 5 minutes or until it is light and fluffy.1/2 cup unsalted butter
- Add cream cheese and beat until smooth.8 ounces cream cheese
- Add the powdered sugar a little at a time until it is all added and frosting is smooth and creamy.4 cups powdered sugar
- Use a piping bag to frost the cupcakes, garnish with sprinkles, then serve!
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