Santa is the star of the holiday season. These Santa Hat Cupcakes will make you feel like you won the festive lottery. They are delicious, easy to assemble, and will make anyone extremely happy that bites into them!
You don’t need to have a baking degree to enjoy these Santa Hat Cupcakes. The recipe is easy to follow. Using ice cream cones and red candy melts, these cupcakes are PERFECT! Take the time to make these cupcakes this upcoming holiday season. You’ll love how fun the Santa hat turns out on top.
Christmas Santa Hat Cupcakes
These Christmas Santa Hat Cupcakes are just the cupcakes that you need to make your holiday season complete! They are easy to follow, delicious, and will leave you wanting more. Gather around your family and enjoy this holiday baking cupcake recipe.
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Why You’ll Love This Christams Cupcakes Recipe
Santa Cupcakes – Want to change up the tradition this year? Leave these cupcakes for Santa instead of cookies on Christmas Eve.
Easy to Make – They are easy to make and the kids will enjoy the festive baking day with you.
Perfect for Holiday Baking – This festive cupcake recipe is perfect for Christmas Eve or your next holiday party.
Santa Hat Cupcakes Ingredients
You only need a few ingredients to help you make this super cute cupcakes recipe for your Christmas party.
- ice cream cones
- red candy melts
- white candy melts or white almond bark
- coconut oil or vegetable shortening
- marshmallows
- frosted cupcakes, homemade from your favorite cake mix or store-bought
See the recipe card for quantities.
How to Make Santa Hat Cupcakes
Once the Santa Hat cupcakes are completely cool Prepare a baking sheet with waxed paper.
In a microwave-safe bowl, place the red candy melts. Heat in the microwave for 30 seconds and stir. Continuing heating in 30-second increments, stirring well after each. If the candy melts overheat or are not smooth enough to pour, add 1 to 2 teaspoons of coconut oil or vegetable shortening and stir well.
With your hand inside the ice cream cone, spoon the red over the cone but not overlap the bottom of the cone. Tap gently to allow the excess to drip back into the bowl.
While the red candy melts are still wet, top the cone with a marshmallow. Repeat with remaining cupcakes.
In a microwave-safe bowl, place the white candy melts. Heat in the microwave for 30 seconds and stir. Continuing heating in 30-second increments, stirring well after each. If the candy melts overheat or are not smooth enough to pour, add 1 to 2 teaspoons of coconut oil or vegetable shortening and stir well.
Holding the cone, spoon the white around the rim of the ice cream cone. Tap gently to allow the excess to drip back into the bowl Dip the cone into mini marshmallows. Allow the cones to dry completely.
Place on the prepared baking sheet to dry. When ready, place one Santa hat on each cupcake.
Substitutions
Don’t have everything you need on hand to make this Easy Christmas Cupcakes recipe? Here are some of my favorite tried and true.
- Make your own homemade cupcakes – if you don’t want to use store-bought donuts, then you can totally make your own!
- Waffle cones – use waffle cones if you can’t get your hands on regular ice cream cones.
- Chocolate – if you don’t have candy melts or can’t find them, then you can use regular chocolate. You’ll want to mix 1 tablespoon vegetable oil for every 1 cup of chocolate chips.
Perhaps you are looking for a substitute for one of these ingredients. Hopefully, these tips help you out.
Variations
Do you want to change up this Christmas dessert recipe and make it your own? Here are some ways that you can do that!
- Change up the frosting – Santa does have a red hat, but you can switch things up! Make the red as you want!
- Marshmallows – if you’d like to not use marshmallows, then you could always use Fondant on top of the cupcakes. You could also use a little Reddi whip on top to complete the Santa hat look.
- Kid-friendly – let the kids go crazy with decorating how they’d like! This kind of cupcake decorating is fun for kids, so let them go to town.
Check out these Grinch Cookies for a little more holiday fun!
Equipment
Here is a list of the kitchen tools that you need to make this Christmas Cupcake recipe.
- microwave-safe bowls
- baking sheet
- parchment paper
- spoon
Storage
Do not attempt to freeze the cupcakes with the ice cream cones on top. Instead, wait until you are ready to serve them before you decorate them.
If you are making homemade cupcakes for this recipe, feel free to freeze the cupcakes ahead of time and unthaw them when ready.
Be sure to store your cupcakes in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Tips
- If you want to have a “healthier” Santa Hat Cupcake, you can always use a strawberry for the hat and then add whipped cream on top! This is a fun little variation that kids will also love.
- Another way to make these cupcakes festive is to use different colors of candy melts. You could do all red, all green, or a mix! The possibilities are endless when it comes to these Easy Christmas Cupcakes.
- Be sure to allow your cupcakes to cool completely before you frost them with your favorite homemade or store-bought frosting.
- Remove your cooled cupcakes carefully from the muffin tin.
FAQ
Do you have questions about this recipe? Here are the answers to the most commonly asked questions.
Since this is a festive holiday recipe, feel free to use Santa cupcake liners. These make the recipe a little more fun.
Yes, you can! You can use icing for the top of the Santa hat. Just pipe the icing directly on top.
The answer is yes! If you’re using store-bought cupcakes, this will be a super easy recipe for the kids to do on their own.
Yes! You certainly can use cream cheese frosting on these Santa Hat Cupcakes.
You can use chocolate cupcakes or vanilla cupcakes. Whichever your family prefers.
Yes, making your cupcakes ahead is a great idea and the best way to save on time in the kitchen this year.
More Holiday Recipes
Do you holiday-themed recipes? Try these delicious recipes:
Santa Hat Cupcakes
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Santa Hat Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 12 ice cream cones
- 1 bag red candy melts
- 1 bag white candy melts or white almond bark
- 2 to 4 teaspoons coconut oil or vegetable shortening
- 12 marshmallows
- 12 frosted cupcakes homemade from your favorite recipe or store-bought
Instructions
- Once the Santa Hat cupcakes are completely cool Prepare a baking sheet with waxed paper.
- In a microwave-safe bowl, place the red candy melts. Heat in the microwave for 30 seconds and stir. Continuing heating in 30-second increments, stirring well after each. If the candy melts overheat or are not smooth enough to pour, add 1 to 2 teaspoons of coconut oil or vegetable shortening and stir well.
- With your hand inside the ice cream cone, spoon the red over the cone but not overlap the bottom of the cone. Tap gently to allow the excess to drip back into the bowl.
- While the red candy melts are still wet, top the cone with a marshmallow. Repeat with remaining cupcakes.
- In a microwave-safe bowl, place the white candy melts. Heat in the microwave for 30 seconds and stir. Continuing heating in 30-second increments, stirring well after each. If the candy melts overheat or are not smooth enough to pour, add 1 to 2 teaspoons of coconut oil or vegetable shortening and stir well.
- Holding the cone, spoon the white around the rim of the ice cream cone. Tap gently to allow the excess to drip back into the bowl Dip the cone into mini marshmallows. Allow the cones to dry completely.
- Place on the prepared baking sheet to dry. When ready, place one Santa hat on each cupcake.
Nutrition
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