Our bite-sized Santa hat cupcakes are the cat’s pajamas! They’re made using pre-packaged red velvet cake mix—we love a good shortcut—and the red velvet is so festive we can hardly stand the excitement.

This recipe yields 24 bite-sized treats, making them perfect for your holiday party crowd or you child’s classroom celebration. Assembly is oodles of fun and you can even enlist your little ones (or your wine-loving cohorts) for assistance.

The miniature pearls in this recipe can be found in the baking section at your local supermarket. Also, we know from experience—if you prepare these without liners, you’ll have to serve them same day or the cake will dry out. Happy snacking!

A batch of bite-sized cupcakes decorated to look like Santa hats.

Bite-sized Santa hat cupcakes recipe

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Our bite-sized Santa hat cupcakes are perfect for your holiday party crowd or you child’s classroom celebration. Assembly is oodles of fun!
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Ingredients
 

Yield: 24 mini cupcakes
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  • 1 red velvet cake mix, (you will need eggs and oil; check the box)
  • white frosting
  • red frosting
  • mini marshmallows
  • miniature white pearls, optional
  • shredded coconut, optional
  • 12 in mini marshmallows, cuthalf

Instructions
 

  • Prepare the cake mix according to box directions. Spray the cups of a mini muffin pan liberally with cooking spray. Using a 1 oz cookie scoop, fill the cups ¾ of the way full. Since the cupcakes are so small, the cooking time will be much shorter, probably only 7–9 minutes. Remove when a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove cupcakes and cool completely on a rack.
  • You will have enough batter left over to make more hats, or make a 9" cake layer and freeze it for an emergency. (Honey, the boss is coming home for dinner in an hour!)
  • Remove cupcakes from the pan and allow to cool completely.
  • To decorate, have ready a piping bag of white frosting and a piping bag of red frosting. If using, pour the mini pearls or the coconut onto a plate or shallow bowl.
  • First, use the white frosting. Make a ring all the way around the cupcake near the edge. Now roll the frosting in the pearls (or coconut) until covered. Place back on the table and with the red frosting, pipe a spiral from the center around to meet the white frosting then keep going up in smaller and smaller spirals until you get to the tip. You may need to stop and cool the frosting occasionally to prevent it from collapsing. Cut a mini marshmallow in two and place on the tip.
  • Ho Ho Ho!

Notes

If you like our bite-sized Santa hat cupcakes, then you’ll love our festive chocolate reindeer cupcakes!
Author: Cheryl Najafi
Calories: 131kcal, Carbohydrates: 21g, Protein: 2g, Fat: 4g, Saturated Fat: 2g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 1g, Trans Fat: 0.1g, Cholesterol: 28mg, Sodium: 147mg, Potassium: 11mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 14g
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Bite-sized Santa hat cupcakes recipe