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Close up of reindeer cupcake.
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5 from 11 votes

Christmas Reindeer Cupcakes

These Christmas reindeer cupcakes look like Rudolph. It is a moist chocolate cupcake topped with hot chocolate frosting. It is topped with candy eyes, red candy for the nose, and pretzels for the ears.
Prep Time1 hour
Cook Time25 minutes
Total Time1 hour 25 minutes
Servings: 12 cupcakes
Calories: 289kcal

Ingredients

Chocolate Cupcakes

  • 1 cup All-purpose flour
  • ½ cup Unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon Baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon Baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon Salt
  • ¾ cup Wholesome Organic Fair Trade Cane Sugar
  • ¼ cup Oil canola or vegetable
  • 1 teaspoon Pure vanilla extract
  • ½ cup Buttermilk room temperature
  • 2 Large eggs room temperature
  • ½ cup Hot water

Hot Chocolate Frosting

  • 1 cup Unsalted butter room temperature
  • 2 cups Wholesome Organic Fair Trade Powdered sugar sifted
  • ¼ cup Unsweetened cocoa powder sifted
  • 1 teaspoon Pure vanilla extract
  • ½ teaspoon Salt
  • ½ cup Heavy cream
  • cup Hot chocolate mix
  • 12 Red candies for nose
  • 24 Eye Sprinkles for eyes
  • 12 Pretzels cut in half for the antlers.

Instructions

Chocolate Cupcakes

  • Preheat oven to 350°F Line a 12 cup muffin tin with muffin liners. Set aside
  • In a large mixing bowl, mix the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
    1 cup All-purpose flour, ½ cup Unsweetened cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon Baking powder, ½ teaspoon Baking soda, ½ teaspoon Salt
  • Heat ½ cup hot water on the stove in a sauce pan until steaming. Mix the cane sugar, oil, vanilla, buttermilk, and eggs in a separate mixing bowl. Slowly whisk in the hot water.
    ¼ cup Oil, 1 teaspoon Pure vanilla extract, ½ cup Buttermilk, 2 Large eggs, ½ cup Hot water, ¾ cup Wholesome Organic Fair Trade Cane Sugar
  • Slowly pour in the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk until just combined.
  • Use a cookie scoop to scoop the cupcake batter into the pan. Fill the liners about ¾ full.
  • Bake for 16-20 minutes. The cupcakes are done baking when a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let the cupcakes sit in the pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Allow the cupcakes to cool completely.

Hot Chocolate Frosting

  • In a saucepan over medium heat, heat the heavy cream until steaming. Add the hot chocolate mix and mix until sugar is melted. Cool completely. In a large bowl, sift the powdered sugar and cocoa powder together.
    2 cups Wholesome Organic Fair Trade Powdered sugar, ½ cup Heavy cream, ⅓ cup Hot chocolate mix, ¼ cup Unsweetened cocoa powder
  • Using a mixer, beat the butter on high speed for 3 minutes. Then, add in half of the powdered sugar/ cocoa powder and mix on low speed until combined. Add the rest of the powdered sugar.
    1 cup Unsalted butter
  • Add the vanilla, salt, and hot chocolate cream. Mix on low until combined, then switch to high speed and beat until fluffy.
    1 teaspoon Pure vanilla extract, ½ teaspoon Salt
  • Use a cookie scoop and top the cupcakes with a scoop of frosting. Use a spoon to smooth the frosting on the top of the cupcake.
  • Top the cupcakes with the candy eyes, red candy, and 1 pretzel cut in half for the antlers.
    12 Red candies, 24 Eye Sprinkles, 12 Pretzels

Notes

Flour- Make sure flour is spooned and leveled or use a kitchen scale. Compacted flour can dry out the cupcakes.
High altitude baking- Add an extra 1 tablespoon of flour.
Pull out dairy ingredients 2 hours before baking.

Nutrition

Calories: 289kcal | Carbohydrates: 16g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 25g | Saturated Fat: 13g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 53mg | Sodium: 332mg | Potassium: 124mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 635IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 54mg | Iron: 1mg