Description

These Easy Reindeer Cupcakes are a delightful and festive holiday treat, perfect for Christmas parties or fun family baking activities. Made from classic chocolate cupcakes topped with chocolate frosting, decorated with candy eyes, mini pretzel antlers, and colorful candy noses, they bring a whimsical reindeer theme to your dessert table. This recipe is simple, kid-friendly, and can be customized with gluten-free options.

Ingredients

Scale

Cake Ingredients

1 box chocolate cake mix (plus eggs, oil, and water as listed on the box)

Frosting and Decorations

1 tub chocolate frosting
24 mini pretzels
12 Nilla wafers or round vanilla cookies
12 red or brown chocolate candies (like M&Ms)
24 candy eyes
cupcake liners

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Instructions

Preheat oven and prepare pans. Preheat your oven to the temperature indicated on your chocolate cake mix box and line a muffin tin with cupcake liners to prepare for baking.
Mix and bake cupcakes. Prepare the chocolate cake mix according to package directions, typically combining cake mix with eggs, oil, and water. Divide the batter evenly into the lined muffin cups and bake for 18–22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Cool cupcakes. Remove the cupcakes from the oven and let them cool completely on a wire rack to ensure the frosting won’t melt when applied.
Frost the cupcakes. Once cooled, spread a generous layer of chocolate frosting on the top of each cupcake, creating a smooth surface for decoration.
Decorate the reindeer faces. Place one Nilla wafer near the bottom center of each frosted cupcake as the reindeer’s snout. Press a red or brown candy into the center of the wafer to form the nose. Above the snout, attach two candy eyes. Break the mini pretzels in half and insert one half on each side at the top of the cupcake to represent antlers.
Serve or store. Serve the cupcakes immediately for the freshest taste or store them in an airtight container to maintain moisture and freshness.

Notes

These cupcakes are perfect for holiday parties and great for children to help decorate.
You can substitute homemade chocolate cupcakes and frosting if desired.
For a gluten-free version, use gluten-free cake mix and gluten-free vanilla cookies.
Store cupcakes in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.