Christmas Lights Cupcakes

Dress up your cupcakes to transform them into Christmas light cupcakes!

Take store-bought cupcakes and add a twist of Christmas spirit!

Even kids will love to help decorate and make these Christmas tree light cupcakes- a quick and straightforward holiday dessert that is so festive, creative, and tasty. 

How to make Christmas Lights Cupcakes| easy recipe idea

The holiday season is here, and we’re ready to bake some Christmas cookies and Christmas treats.

If you’re like me, I love easy ideas and baking hacks to save time, especially on cute ideas like these fun cupcakes.

The best part of this recipe is using a box mix to make the cupcakes and spend your time decorating the top.

If preferred, you can go the extra step and make homemade cupcakes. Or if you want to skip some of the work, buy premade cupcakes, and then all you have to do is decorate, then serve! 

What You Need For These Holiday Cupcakes 

Chocolate Cupcakes. Grab any flavor or style of cupcakes you want. Or make your favorite homemade cupcakes if you wish.

You could even do gingerbread cupcakes or peppermint cupcakes. The flavor ideas are endless. You could also make cupcakes using a cake mix box; follow the directions on the package.

Try my peanut butter cupcakes if you want to try a different flavor. 

Frosting. I used white frosting, but green frosting would work well for the cupcakes! Again, if you wanted to do a themed idea for a Christmas party (such as The Nightmare Before Christmas), you would use black frosting.

Black Icing. You will find this in the baking aisle. It is a small tube and is perfect for creating the string of lights on these cupcakes. 

M&M’s. I used full-size M&M’s. If you want, you could even do mini M&M’s for a twist of looks on these cupcakes. 

How to make Christmas Lights Cupcakes

Prep: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• Premade cupcakes
• White frosting
• Small tube of black icing
• M&M’s

Directions:

1. Add the white frosting to a piping bag fitted with a large round tip—pipe frosting into a swirl on the cupcakes.
2. Use the black icing to draw a thin line around the swirled frosting, working from top to bottom.
3. Press M&M’s into the black-lined frosting area on top of each cupcake. Repeat this process with all remaining cupcakes.

Pro-tip:

Are you taking these Christmas cupcakes to a party? Use muffin tins or cupcake pans to carry them from the car to the party.

These adorable cupcakes are just what you need to bake during this Christmas season. Paired with a cup of hot cocoa and movies, this is a family activity everyone can do.

Storing Cupcakes 

If your frosting can be left out, these cupcakes can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature. If you are using buttercream frosting or even cream cheese, it needs to be refrigerated not to spoil. 

Freezing cupcakes is another option. If you don’t plan to eat them all right away, place them in the proper container and freeze them for 2-3 months. When you want one thaw on the counter at room temperature or in the fridge for a slower thaw. 

Can I Make These Christmas Light Cupcakes With Mini Cupcakes 

Go right ahead and do mini cupcakes if you want. I would recommend buying mini M&M’s for this, as the cupcakes will be a lot smaller, and the full-size M&M’s might be a bit big. 

Variations to Recipe 

• You could use pull apart black licorice to replace the black icing. It just takes a bit more work to shape the licorice around the top of the cupcake. 
• Buy Christmas light sprinkles, and use that to place on the cupcakes for the holiday lights. 
• Change up the frosting color; you could do green to mimic a Christmas tree. 

Common Questions 

Can I make these cupcakes in advance? 

Go right ahead and make these cupcakes a day in advance if you want. However, making these cupcakes too far in advance can begin to dry them out a bit. 

What piping tip to use for Christmas cupcakes? 

I used a large round tip for piping on the frosting. Since you are decorating the cupcakes, it will hide some imperfections if you are not a pro at working with a piping bag and tip. 

Homemade Chocolate Cupcakes

Here’s a recipe for a homemade chocolate cupcake mix using several dry ingredients, including cocoa powder, butter, and white sugar. Be sure you have baking essentials on hand, such as a large bowl, muffin pan, and hand mixer.

More Christmas Cupcakes 

• Christmas Tree Topped Cupcakes 
• Elf On The Shelf Cupcakes 

More great recipes to try are below:

Ghost Cupcakes | Halloween Cupcake Recipe

M&M Holiday Cookie