These delicious Grinch cupcakes start with a peppermint cupcake base and then get topped with Grinch inspired Santa hats with a peppermint buttercream! They’re as easy as homemade cupcakes can get and even the Grinch would love them!
I had no idea how many people have annual Grinchmas parties until I posted these Grinch brownies on TikTok and they went absolutely bonkers. Apparently Grinch is one of the most popular Christmas party themes!
So I hope that you’re prepared for all things Grinch this holiday season because I’ve got Grinch on the brain. There are so many fun things you can do with the iconic green color, images, and of course the music.
I even watched all three version of the Grinch movie this week for a little inspiration.
These Grinch cupcakes are one of my favorite recipes I’ll be sharing because I think the cupcake frosting just makes them so cute.
And cute cupcakes is definitely a thing. Yummy cupcakes is also helpful.
Good thing these are both.
These would be a really fun treat to enjoy after playing this Christmas movie bingo or doing some of these Christmas movie trivia games!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Peppermint flavor – these cupcakes have a slight peppermint flavor that makes them a perfect Christmas treat. If you don’t love peppermint, you can just leave it out and they’re still yummy, but I like the hint of mint with my treats.
- Super easy to frost – even those it looks cute, the piping is actually really easy, even for beginners. And even if they aren’t piped perfectly, they still give you that Grinch look!
- Fool-proof – these cupcakes are literally just mixing some ingredients together then baking, it’s almost as easy as opening a box of cake mix! The only way to mess these up is leaving them in the oven too long!
Ingredients
Ingredient Notes
- Vanilla – I personally used vanilla bean paste in the cupcakes and vanilla extract in the frosting but you could use vanilla extract for both. Just substitute the same amount of the vanilla extract instead.
- Milk – I used milk for my cupcakes but if you want to add a little more flavor you can also use peppermint coffee creamer (no actual coffee of course, just the creamer).
- Food coloring – I used the green from this McCormick Neon food coloring to get a good Grinch green color and just a regular red for the red frosting.
- Butter – you’ll want to use unsalted butter in this recipe that’s soft. If you don’t have unsalted, I recommend reducing the amount of added salt to just 1/4 tsp instead of 1/2 tsp.
- Peppermint extract – I like adding this to give these Grinch cupcakes a holiday flavor but you can omit if you’d prefer no peppermint flavor (like my oldest).
How to Make Grinch Cupcakes
Okay so the most complicated part of these is really the frosting but that’s also pretty easy.
But let’s start with the cupcakes themselves.
Make the Cupcakes
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line 24 cupcake tins with cupcake liners. I used red to look like the Grinch’s Santa suit but you could really do any color.
Combine your dry ingredients – flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt – in a large bowl and mix together.
In another bowl, beat the eggs and sugar until they’re light and fluffy. I typically like to beat them together for at least a minute or two just to get them nice and fluffy.
Add your butter, vanilla bean paste, and peppermint extract to the sugar mixture and mix until combined.
After those are combined, add your milk and mix again.
Finally, add the flour mixture and stir that in by hand so you don’t mix it too much (equalling dry cupcakes). If you want to add in some fun Christmas sprinkles, you could add those in now as well!
Use a cupcake scoop to fill each of your cupcake tins 1/2 to 3/4 full with the batter, continuing until you’ve filled all 24 cupcake liners.
Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick poked in the center of your largest cupcake comes out clean.
Let the cupcakes cool completely before cooling.
Make the Peppermint Buttercream
Whip the softened butter in a stand mixer until the butter is smooth and fluffy.
With the mixer on low, gradually add in the powdered sugar, allowing it to mix in as you go. Keep mixing until the frosting is smooth.
Add your peppermint and vanilla extract and mix again.
Finally, add your milk or coffee creamer and mix again. If it’s still too stiff to pipe, you can add a little more and mix again. Keep adding a bit more until you get a good piping consistency.
Frost the Cupcakes
Divide the frosting into three cups – about 1/5 of the frosting should go in a piping bag with a small star tip of some sort and be left white. Then split the remaining frosting and divide it into two bowls.
Add green food coloring to one bowl and stir to make your green frosting. Then add the green frosting to a piping bag with either a round tip or no tip.
Add red food coloring to the other bowl and stir it in to make your red frosting. Once you get the red color you’d like, add it to a piping bag as well. You’ll want either a round tip or no tip for this as well.
Pipe two layers of green frosting on the top of each cupcake.
Then pipe two smaller layers of red frosting on top of the green cupcake, sticking to the center of the cupcake to give it a little Santa hat look.
Finish off the cupcakes by piping a star hat design with the white frosting to create the lining and the top of the hat.
Once the cupcakes are frosted, they’re ready to enjoy!
Expert Tips
Store covered in an airtight container like this cupcake holder for up to five days before trashing.
Freeze the cupcakes before frosting in a freezer safe container that’s airtight. Cupcakes will freeze for up to three months. Just allow cupcakes to come to room temperature before frosting and serving.
Bake your cupcakes in either two ovens or one after another for the most even baking. If you are out of time and have to bake them both at once, start one on the top rack and one of the lower rack and switch halfway through the baking time. They may still take a bit longer than normal with two tins in the oven, but the switching should help.
Recipe FAQs
If you want to make these even easier, you can use your favorite cake mix and just frost the cupcakes using my instructions above. This will still give you the look of Grinch cupcakes without having to make homemade cupcakes.
More Easy Cupcakes
If you like these Grinch cupcakes, you’ll love these other delicious cupcake recipes!
- Pumpkin cupcakes – these cupcakes combine a spice cake mix, pudding, and other ingredients for a decadent treat that tastes almost like pumpkin cheesecake!
- Lemon cupcakes with cream cheese frosting – these light and fluffy cupcakes are a lemon lover’s dream!
- Gingerbread cupcakes – these spice filled cupcakes are the ultimate holiday treat!
- Hot chocolate cupcakes – these decadent chocolate cupcakes get stuffed with chocolate and marshmallow filling then topped with a delicious marshmallow fluff!
- Banana pudding cupcakes – these yummy cupcakes start with a box mix, get stuffed with banana pudding, and topped with a yummy whipped cream frosting!
Grinch Cupcakes
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 4 large eggs
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 3 tsp vanilla bean paste
- 1 tsp peppermint extract
- 1 cup milk
Frosting
- 2 lbs powdered sugar
- 6 sticks butter softened
- 1 TBS peppermint extract
- 1/2 TBS vanilla extract
- 4-6 TBS milk
- neon green food coloring
- red food coloing
Instructions
Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line 24 cupcake tins with cupcake liners.
- Combine your dry ingredients – flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt – in a large bowl and mix together.2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp salt
- In another bowl, beat the eggs and sugar until they’re light and fluffy.4 large eggs, 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- Add your butter, vanilla bean paste, and peppermint extract to the sugar mixture and mix until combined.1 cup unsalted butter, 3 tsp vanilla bean paste, 1 TBS peppermint extract
- After those are combined, add your milk and mix again.1 cup milk
- Finally, add the flour mixture and stir that in by hand.
- Use a cupcake scoop to fill each of your cupcake tins 1/2 to 3/4 full with the batter, continuing until you’ve filled all 24 cupcake liners.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick poked in the center of your largest cupcake comes out clean.
Frosting
- Whip the softened butter in a stand mixer until the butter is smooth and fluffy.6 sticks butter
- With the mixer on low, gradually add in the powdered sugar, allowing it to mix in as you go. Keep mixing until the frosting is smooth.2 lbs powdered sugar
- Add your peppermint and vanilla extract and mix again.1 TBS peppermint extract, 1/2 TBS vanilla extract
- Finally, add the 4TBS of milk. If it’s still too stiff to pipe, you can add a little more and mix again. Keep adding a bit more until you get a good piping consistency.4-6 TBS milk
- Divide the frosting into three cups – about 1/5 of the frosting should go in a piping bag with a small star tip of some sort and be left white. Then split the remaining frosting and divide it into two bowls.Add green food coloring to one bowl and stir to make your green frosting. Then add the green frosting to a piping bag with either a round tip or no tip.Add red food coloring to the other bowl and stir it in to make your red frosting. Once you get the red color you’d like, add it to a piping bag as well. You’ll want either a round tip or no tip for this as well.neon green food coloring, red food coloing
- Once cupcakes are completely cooled, pipe two layers of green frosting on the top of each cupcake. Then pipe two smaller layers of red frosting on top of the green cupcake, sticking to the center of the cupcake to give it a little Santa hat look.
- Finish off the cupcakes by piping a star hat design with the white frosting to create the lining and the top of the hat.
Tips & Notes:
- Vanilla – I personally used vanilla bean paste in the cupcakes and vanilla extract in the frosting but you could use vanilla extract for both. Just substitute the same amount of the vanilla extract instead.
- Milk – I used milk for my cupcakes but if you want to add a little more flavor you can also use peppermint coffee creamer (no actual coffee of course, just the creamer).
- Food coloring – I used the green from this McCormick Neon food coloring to get a good Grinch green color and just a regular red for the red frosting.
- Butter – you’ll want to use unsalted butter in this recipe that’s soft. If you don’t have unsalted, I recommend reducing the amount of added salt to just 1/4 tsp instead of 1/2 tsp.
- Peppermint extract – I like adding this to give these Grinch cupcakes a holiday flavor but you can omit if you’d prefer no peppermint flavor (like my oldest).
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