Our Best Cupcake Recipes

Chilled cupcakes (aka poke cakes) get cheerful colors from gelatin poured over the cakes and swirled into the cream cheese frosting. The recipe makes two colors of cupcakes. If you like, simplify and use two boxes of a single flavor of gelatin.

Soda Fountain Cupcakes

These soda-shop-cute cupcakes are inspired by the whimsical treats served at Designer Desserts Bakery in Valparaiso, Indiana.

Root Beer Float Cupcakes

As cheerfully cute as an ice cream sundae, these showstopper cupcakes have a luscious and oh-so-easy frosting made of whipping cream, pudding mix and malted milk powder. The recipe comes from Designer Desserts Bakery in Valparaiso, Indiana.

Malt Shop Special Cupcakes

Graham cracker crumbs, cream cheese and blueberry pie filling turn yellow cake mix into a whimsical twist on a favorite dessert. The idea comes from Designer Desserts Bakery in Valparaiso, Indiana.

Blueberry Cheesecake Cupcakes

These moist cupcakes feature old-fashioned cream soda, a browned butter frosting and a crunchy toffee topping.

Cream Soda Toffee Cupcakes

Raspberry juice or raspberry liqueur flavors these cupcakes, while meringue adds a so-light topping. Press a raspberry into the meringue for a final touch.

Meringue-Topped Raspberry Cupcakes

Put some heart in your baking and fragrance in your kitchen with our easy, cake-mix cupcakes seasoned with chai spice. They mix up in 20 minutes. Can't find chai blend? Use 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice with 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom.

Chai Cupcakes

A surprise candy-bar center awaits those who bite into these fudgy delights. Based on a box of brownie mix, they're super-simple to bake--and easy to tote to potluck or tailgate parties.

Brownie Cupcakes

White cake mix and crushed chocolate sandwich cookies go together quickly for these scrumptious cupcakes.

Cookies and Cream Cupcakes

Vanilla cream oozes out of vanilla cupcakes. Top it all off with a rich chocolate ganache.

Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes

Swirls of sour cream frosting and sugar flowers decorate tender buttermilk cupcakes. You can add a dab of jam below the frosting, if you like. Look for sugar flowers among baking ingredients at the grocery store or at baking supply stores.

Buttermilk Cupcakes With Sour Cream Frosting

This sweet-salty bacon-topped cupcake was one of 11 finalists in our first Best of the Midwest® Recipe Contest. Its creator, pharmacist Jill Drury of Chicago, used a scientific-formula approach to name her cupcake based on its ingredients: bacon, maple syrup and cinnamon (squared).

The BMC 2

A chocolate-covered peanut butter cup tucks inside each of these treats. The tops will sink a bit as the cupcakes cool--creating a perfect spot for a dollop of jam.

Peanut Butter Cupcakes

Silicon flower-shape baking cups (such as Wilton's Fun Cups) and miniature candy-coated milk chocolate candies transform cupcakes into a flower bouquet. Marzipan bees add another fun touch. For edible stems, try green shoestring licorice.

Fun Flower Cupcakes

The Sunflower State's wheat crops and native state flower inspired this cupcake. Frosting piped into petals turns the individual Kansas Sunflower Cupcakes into pretty treats, while wheat germ adds a hearty touch to the buttermilk-vanilla cakes.

Kansas Sunflower Cupcakes

Top coconut cupcakes with bananas, butter, brown sugar and cinnamon for a tropical-flavor treat.

Islands Banana Foster Cupcakes

Italian flavors inspired this cupcake with its refreshing blend of fresh rosemary and lemon and topping of lemon glaze.

Fresh Rosemary & Lemon Cupcakes

Drizzle this chocolate cupcake with Powdered Sugar Glaze and then rolled in chocolate shavings if you want it to look like ours. Or top the glaze with nuts, hard candies, chopped chocolate or colored sugar.

Ebony and Ivory Cupcakes

Crown these cinnamon-spiced cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and a curl of finely shredded orange peel.

Sweet Potato Cupcakes

Cocktail meets cupcake with the tropical marriage of pineapple preserves, crunchy macaroon bits and toasted coconut. We bet you won't even miss the rum.

Pina Colada Cupcakes

Creamy chocolate-pecan ice cream, caramel sauce and toasted coconut top these showstopping cupcakes. For a shortcut, start with bakery cupcakes or use a cake mix.

German Chocolate Cupcakes

These special-occasion cupcakes have decadent white chocolate whipped cream centers and a rich mascarpone frosting.

Red Velvet Cupcakes with White Chocolate Filling and Mascarpone Frosting

Swirl coffee buttercream frosting on chocolate-coffee cupcakes; add a cream-filled cookie "straw" for a pretty finishing touch.

Mochaccino Cupcakes

Turn raspberry-filled cupcakes upside down before drizzling with a rich chocolate truffle icing.

Dark Chocolate-Raspberry Cupcakes

For this party-special cupcake, combine white cake mix, orange-flavor gelatin, orange juice, and cheesecake-flavor instant pudding and pie filling mix. Cream cheese frosting gets a flavor punch from orange gelatin and shredded orange peel.

Orange Cream Pop Cupcakes

A red, white and blue dessert stars at any patriotic potluck. Red velvet cake mix makes our moist and gooey Firecracker-Red Cupcakes extra easy to prepare.

Firecracker-Red Cupcakes with Coconut Filling

Fresh blueberries get baked into these vanilla-flavored cupcakes and scattered on top.

Blueberry Cupcakes

Transform vanilla cupcakes into a patriotic treat with a swirl of cream cheese frosting and a topping of fresh berries.

Easy Berry Cheesecakes

You can get creative with the finishing touches on these cupcakes, which are topped with seedless red raspberry or blackberry preserves, chocolate ganache, decorative icing and small decorative candies.

Black Tie Cupcakes

These crackly-topped low-calorie cupcakes will remind you of gingersnap cookies.

Gingerbread Cupcakes

You decide how easy you want these to be! We're partial to our homemade Pumpkin Cupcakes with Sweetened Whipped Cream Frosting, but you can substitute purchased plain cupcakes or purchased whipped white frosting to make this recipe even simpler.

Easy Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes

Shredded carrots and zucchini get equal billing in this cupcake. We added raisins, crystallized ginger and pecans for extra flavor and texture; fluffy cream cheese frosting tops it off.

Carrot-Zucchini Party Cupcakes

Lemon frosting tops a cupcake flavored with shredded lemon peel.

Delicious Lemon Cupcakes

Add seasonal color to the coconut topper by tossing coconut with liquid food coloring.

Coconut-Tangerine Snowball Cupcakes

Put together this cute cupcake and cookie combo with cake mix, refrigerated sugar cookie dough and canned frosting. For another shortcut, use red shoestring licorice for decoration instead of piped red frosting.

Catch-a-Baseball Cupcakes

A super-simple cupcake fix-up: Bake your favorite flavor of cupcake, slice cupcakes into thirds or halves, layer with pudding, frost.

Click to our slideshow to see easy ways to add pizzazz to your cupcakes!

Easy Cake and Brownie Mix Makeovers