Baby, it’s cold outside! We can’t think of a better way to welcome the first snow of the season than with these adorable snowman cupcakes. Marshmallow snowmen sit atop sweet, frosted coconut cupcakes to create a dessert guaranteed to put you in a festive mood. In keeping with the snowy scene, shredded coconut flakes are used in two ways—incorporated into the batter for added sweetness and sprinkled on top of the buttercream frosting.
This recipe is super-simple, so it’s a great way to get the kids involved in the kitchen. An easy cake batter is paired with an equally simple buttercream frosting that gets swooped atop each cupcake. Everything is elegantly adorned with coconut “snow.”
When it comes to the decorations, we kept those simple as well. Tint some of the frosting with black and orange food coloring, then transfer the colorful frostings to separate piping or resealable bags. Snip a very small hole in the tip of each bag, then pipe two black button eyes and an orange carrot nose onto each marshmallow. These cupcakes wouldn’t be complete without giving each snowman some holiday party-ready accessories. Use some leftover buttercream to secure a mini peanut butter cup “hat" (widest-side facing down) to the top of each snowman. For a final pop of color, we like to craft various colors of fruit leather into long, thin strips and wrap them around the bases of the marshmallows. Have fun with it!
Made these? Let us know how it went in the comments below!
(180 g.) all-purpose flour
baking powder
baking soda
kosher salt
(200 g.) granulated sugar
(1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
large eggs, room temperature
pure vanilla extract
whole milk
(85 g.) sweetened shredded coconut
(1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
(225 g.) powdered sugar
pure vanilla extract
kosher salt
Black and orange food coloring
marshmallows
(170 g.) sweetened shredded coconut
Mini peanut butter cups or M&M’s and fruit leather (optional), for decorating
Riley Wofford is a recipe developer, food stylist, and writer. Outside of the kitchen, she enjoys drinking gimlets and sour beer, spending time with her foster dogs, and going on road trips.
