St. Patrick’s Day Cupcakes

Name: St. Patrick’s Day Cupcakes
Prep time: 30 min
Total time: 1 h 30 min
Yield: 12 serving(s)
Ingredients: 1 2/3 c. (200 g.) all-purpose flour; 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder; 1/4 tsp. baking soda; 1/4 tsp. kosher salt; 1 c. (200 g.) granulated sugar; 3/4 c. (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened; 3 large egg whites, room temperature; 1 tbsp. pure vanilla extract; 1/2 c. full-fat sour cream, room temperature; 1/2 c. whole milk, room temperature; 1 c. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened; 4 c. (460 g.) confectioners' sugar; 3 to 4 tbsp. heavy cream; 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract; 1/8 tsp. kosher salt; Green food coloring, Airheads Xtremes Rainbow Sour Candy, cut into 3" pieces, and gold sprinkles, for decorating

By Mary RuppUpdated: Feb 7, 2024

1 Rating

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preview for These Festive St. Patrick's Day Cupcakes Are As Good As Gold

Don’t just make plain old cupcakes for your next St. Patty’s Day bash—make these adorable rainbow-topped cupcakes that taste as good as they look! They’re nothing more complicated than a moist, vanilla cupcake with a rich buttercream frosting, but with some green food coloring, a rainbow candy belt, and clever piping, you can turn these into a super-festive treat. Here's everything you need to know:

The cupcakes:
We love this cupcake recipe and think it’s worth the extra effort, but feel free to save some time and use your favorite boxed cake mix (any flavor works!) instead. Here we use egg whites for a whiter cake, but you can use the whole egg—just reduce the sour cream by 1/4 cup. If you do go with just the whites, check out our best recipes for the leftover yolks so they don’t go to waste. Tip: As with most baked goods, room-temperature ingredients will go a long way. Set your eggs, sour cream, butter, and milk on the counter before you preheat your oven to ensure your batter comes together nicely.

How to decorate your St. Patrick's Day cupcakes:
When it comes to the decorations, we admittedly went a little fancy by using a few different piping tips and colors. You’re welcome to spread the green frosting on top of the cupcakes with a knife and leave out the piping if you want to keep things simple. As for the decorations, you can always use a resealable bag with the corner cut to pipe clouds, or skip the piping altogether and use mini marshmallows instead. For a final pop of color, we use rainbow candy and gold sprinkles for a pot of gold effect, but feel free to have fun with these and make them your own.

Storage & make ahead:
You can make the cupcakes and frosting up to one day ahead of time and store separately in the fridge. When ready to serve, pipe your cupcakes and decorate. If you have leftovers, store them in an airtight container in the fridge or at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Made these? Let us know how it went in the comments below!

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Yields:: 12 serving(s)
Prep Time:: 30 mins
Total Time:: 1 hr 30 mins
Cal/Serv:: 561

Ingredients

Cupcakes

1 2/3 c.
(200 g.) all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp.
baking powder
1/4 tsp.
baking soda
1/4 tsp.
kosher salt
1 c.
(200 g.) granulated sugar
3/4 c.
(1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3
large egg whites, room temperature
1 tbsp.
pure vanilla extract
1/2 c.
full-fat sour cream, room temperature
1/2 c.
whole milk, room temperature

Frosting & Assembly

1 c.
(2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
4 c.
(460 g.) confectioners' sugar
3
to 4 tbsp. heavy cream
2 tsp.
pure vanilla extract
1/8 tsp.
kosher salt
Green food coloring, Airheads Xtremes Rainbow Sour Candy, cut into 3" pieces, and gold sprinkles, for decorating

Directions

Cupcakes
1. Step 1Arrange a rack in center of oven; preheat to 350°. Line a standard 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners. In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
2. Step 2In a large bowl, using a handheld mixer on medium-high speed (or in the large bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment), beat granulated sugar and butter until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add egg whites and vanilla and beat until smooth and combined, about 2 minutes. Add sour cream and beat until just combined.
3. Step 3Add half of dry ingredients and beat on low speed until just incorporated. Add milk and beat to combine. Add remaining dry ingredients and beat until just combined.
4. Step 4Fill liners three-quarters full with batter. Bake cupcakes until slightly golden on top and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 19 to 22 minutes.
5. Step 5Remove cupcakes from pan and let cool completely.
Frosting & Assembly
1. Step 1In a large bowl, using handheld mixer on medium-high speed (or in the large bowl of stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment), beat butter until fluffy. Add confectioners' sugar and beat until combined, then add cream, vanilla, and salt and beat until combined.
2. Step 2Transfer 1 cup frosting to a piping bag fitted with a star tip. Add green food coloring to remaining frosting and stir until desired color is reached. Transfer to another piping bag fitted with a large round tip.
3. Step 3Pipe green frosting onto cupcakes. Stand rainbow candy upright in frosting. Using white frosting, pipe clouds at bottom of rainbow. Decorate with gold sprinkles.