Actual conversation I had with my four-year-old a few weeks ago:
J: Mom, I like cupcakes, but I don’t like icing. Me: So you like muffins? J: Yeah! I like muffins!
She had me rolling with laughter! But it also got me thinking about what else I could top cupcakes with – and these cupcakes were born out of that experiment.
These rich chocolate cupcakes are topped off with a layer of marshmallow and then covered with a crunchy, chocolate-peanut butter topping. You won’t miss the icing with these candy-topped treats!
Celebrations these days are looking a bit different, aren’t they? Facetime play dates and Zoom birthday parties are the new, temporary norm as we all do our part and stay home.
But one of the things that makes celebrations so fun – the treats! – can be a challenge while social distancing. Making a cake for each virtual celebration can be a drag if you don’t have enough people to share it with – but so can skipping the cake completely.
In this case, small-batch desserts are an awesome answer.
I’ve rounded up eighteen awesome small batch dessert recipes for you today – perfect options for making for your next celebration during social distancing special without burying you in leftovers!
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Both kids got cookbooks for Christmas, so for the past several weeks, both kids have been obsessed with playing restaurant. They browse through their stack of cookbooks, deciding what to make, and then cook and serve it out of their play kitchen.
It’s adorable, and I’ve been eating up every second of it.
Note: I received complimentary product for this post. All opinions are my own.
Double, double toil and trouble, Fire burn and cauldron bubble…
What shall we add to the witch’s brew today? Essence of mummy? A pumpkin picked at midnight?
These adorable cupcakes are reminiscent of a witch’s cauldron, so of course, there’s a magic potion inside – courtesy of Sprinkle Pop! I used two of their sprinkle mixes in these cupcakes and they were so, so perfect for getting the desired effect.
I used the Lime Green Sprinkle Mix on top of the cupcakes to give the image of a bubbling cauldron. The cupcakes are stuffed with their Monster Mashup Sprinkle Mix. The kids had so much fun biting into the cupcakes to see what the witch had cooked up in her cauldron – ghosts, eyeballs, mummies, and pumpkins!
These were a quick from-scratch batch of cupcakes and buttercream, but you could always use a boxed mix and icing if you’re more comfortable – the sprinkles are the real stars here!
This is also the first recipe I’m sharing for this year’s #Choctoberfest – you can check out a TON of other chocolaty goodness from my fellow bloggers right here: An InLinkz Link-up
For the cupcakes:
1 cupgranulated sugar 1 cup all-purpose flour 6 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder 1tsp.baking powder 3/4 tsp.baking soda 1/2 tsp.salt 1/3cupvegetable oil 1/2 cupmilk 1egg,lightly beaten 1 tspvanilla extract 1/2cuphot coffee
For the icing:
1/2cupunsalted butter at room temperature 5cupspowdered sugar 2tsp.vanilla 1/4cupmilk
Green food coloring
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a cupcake pan with liners. Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. Whisk in the oil and milk until combined. Add the egg and stir to combine. Add the vanilla and stir to combine. Add the coffee and stir until evenly combined – it will be quite thin.
Pour the batter into the prepared cupcake pan, filling each well 2/3 of the way.
Bake for 20-24 minutes, until a knife inserted comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for a few minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
To make the buttercream, beat the butter until light and fluffy. Add the sugar 1 cup at a time and beat. Add in the vanilla, milk, and food coloring. Beat until fully incorporated.
After the cupcakes are cooled, use an apple corer or small knife to cut holes into the cupcakes. Fill the holes with sprinkles. Ice with the butter cream then dip each cupcake into the green sprinkles. Top with additional sprinkles if desired.
