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Spread Your Wings with These Easy Butterfly Cupcakes

Spread Your Wings with These Easy Butterfly Cupcakes

Butterfly Cupcakes

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Create adorable Butterfly Cupcakes with this cute and simple recipe perfect for spring or summer. Using colorful candies, green frosting, and chocolate pretzels for wings, these treats are visually enchanting and tasty! 

Cupcake Art is one of my favorite things to do. Not only is it a great way to introduce creativity to the kids, but it can be done in a way that shows them how to appreciate and enjoy food as well. Just because the kids are playing with their food doesn’t mean that it has to be messy. Giving them a bit of space to create and make fun food desserts and recipes will show them that it’s easy to think outside the box! The fun part about this cupcake recipe is that it’s more decorating than actual baking or cooking.

While you can make homemade cupcakes for this recipe, you can also purchase them already baked and ready to go. Decorating these cupcakes is a great way for the kids to work on concentration skills, as well as hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills, too!

Butterfly Cupcakes

Butterfly Cupcakes

Butterfly Cupcakes

Butterfly Cupcakes

Can I make cupcakes using muffin mix?

I love this idea! If you’ve ever looked in the bakery aisle at the grocery store, you’ve probably noticed the muffin pouches that are there. The fun thing about using those muffin pouches to make these cupcakes is that you just have to add milk and maybe one or two other simple ingredients to make them. Plus, you can get some really fun flavors of muffins to make! There are blueberry, chocolate, strawberry, berry, and more! This means that the more times you want to make these muffins into cupcakes, the more experience the kids can get in decorating them!

Butterfly Cupcakes – Ingredients

Are you ready to see how simple it is to make these cupcakes that look like butterflies? All you need are the following ingredients to get started.

  • Baked cupcakes/muffins
  • Frosting (store bought or make your own)
  • Green gel food coloring
  • Piping tip for making grass designs (Wilton #233) 
  • White chocolate pretzels
  • M&M’s or colored candies
  • Thin chocolate sticks for the antennas (make your own by melting chocolate and refrigerating so it hardens) or you can use pretzel sticks as a substitute 

Butterfly Cupcakes

Butterfly Cupcakes

What is the best way to frost cupcakes?

If you’re making the cupcakes from scratch and baking them, you want to be sure that you let them cool down all the way so that the frosting doesn’t melt. If you try and add frosting while the cupcakes are warm, the frosting will melt and slide right off the cupcakes, causing a big mess. If you are going to use already-baked cupcakes, then you just need to add some green frosting to a piping bag with a tip. You can then frost the cupcakes that way to add a fun look and texture.

Can I make homemade frosting?

Absolutely. If you want to make your own frosting, go for it! This is a great way to have the kids help out and learn how to make another thing in the kitchen. If you want to save time, just buy some vanilla frosting at the store and then add some green food coloring to it. Stir well, and just like that, you have your green frosting needed to look like the grass. Just make sure to use green gel food coloring for the most vibrant color without diluting the frosting. 

When should I serve these butterfly-decorated cupcakes?

Anytime you want! You can make and serve these at a spring party, a birthday party, or just as a simple surprise snack for the kids. This would also be a really great activity for the kids to do at a party! They’ll love being able to decorate their own cupcake and then eat it after they’re done. Being able to add as much green frosting as they want is part of the fun!

Butterfly Cupcakes

Butterfly Cupcakes

How do I store the cupcakes?

If you’re making these cupcakes ahead of time, you can leave them sitting out in an airtight container for a short amount of time. As long as it’s not super hot, they should be fine. However, the best way to store these cupcakes until you are serving them is to place them in the fridge, stored in an airtight container. This will keep them fresh and delicious until everyone is ready to eat.

How far in advance should I decorate the cupcakes?

I wouldn’t decorate the cupcakes until the kids are ready to eat them. That way, the frosting doesn’t get hardened by the air, and the cupcakes don’t get stale from sitting out.

What other toppings can I add?

Any type of round or cylinder candy can be used to make the body of the butterfly. You can use Mike & Ike candies or even Skittles! The options are endless. If you don’t have any candy, marshmallows would do that trick as well. If you want to add some texture, adding some shredded coconut around the edges could be a fun look and flavor, too. For the antennas you can use pretzel sticks cut in half.

Let the kids be as creative as they want, and have some different topping suggestions sitting out on the table. They can grab and create – and who knows – they might find a new combination that is better!

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    Butterfly Cupcakes

    Agnes Hsu
    You'll love how fast and simple it is to make these Butterfly Cupcakes!
    Prep Time 15 minutes
    Servings 0

    Ingredients
      

    • Baked cupcakes/muffins
    • Frosting (store bought or make your own)
    • Green gel food coloring
    • Piping tip for making grass designs (Wilton #233) 
    • White chocolate pretzels
    • M&M's or colored candies
    • Thin chocolate sticks for the antennas (make your own by melting chocolate and refrigerating so it hardens) or you can use pretzel sticks as a substitute 

    Instructions
     

    • Put the green frosting into a piping bag with a tip for making grass design (similar to Wilton #233). Dot the frosting on top of the baked cupcake to make it look like green grass.
    • Add the candy chocolates in the middle of the cupcake, to make the butterfly body.
    • Add one white choclate pretzel on each side of the candies, and then add another candy at the top for the head.
    • Add chocolate sticks for the antennas or use pretzel sticks cut in half.

    Video

    Keyword butterfly cupcakes
    Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Agnes Hsu is a mom of three and has been inspiring parents and kids to get creative with easy activities and family friendly recipes for over 10 years. She shares her love for creative play and kids food to her 2MM+ followers online. Agnes' commitment to playful learning and kindness has not only raised funds for charity but also earned features in prestigious nationwide publications.