Easy Candy Football Cupcakes are chocolate cake, topped with rich buttercream frosting. Decorated with candies, these cupcakes are perfect for game day parties and tailgating!
Watching college football is a given at our house every Fall. Other activities, birthday parties, you name it are all moved to Sunday once college ball starts. To go with football, you need great party food, To finish off your spread, cupcakes are an easy, no utensil needed dessert. These simply decorated candy football cupcakes are the icing on the cake at the end of the chow line.
If it’s an early game, we might start with Egg Sausage Breakfast Sliders, and later have Double Pepperoni Pizza Poppers or Cajun Honey Lime Chicken Wings. To satisfy the inevitable sweet tooth after all the spicy food, these cupcakes fit the bill. Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix Bars are another simple dessert everyone enjoys.
TIPS FOR MAKING THE BEST CANDY FOOTBALL CUPCAKES
- For the frosting, use unsalted butter. Unsalted butter gives you, the cook, complete control of the overall flavor.
- When called for, USE ROOM TEMPERATURE ingredients! Cold ingredients do not incorporate together easily, or at all! This can result in dense cakes and lumpy frosting, with butter streaks throughout. Also, when at room temperature, eggs and butter form an emulsion which traps air. While baking in the oven, that trapped air expands and produces a fluffy, well-crumbed baked good.
- Don’t over-bake them. I would start watching the cupcakes in the oven at the 15 minute mark. The cupcakes should spring back when pressed in the center, but not be hard on top when they are done.
- For best results, use a gel food coloring. Gel allows you to easily control the amount of color added and does not add more moisture to your frosting.
- When frosting, leave a little space not frosted at the edge of the cupcakes. It will be easier to peel down the cupcake liner without getting frosting all over your fingers.
- Where gloves when using food coloring if not using a squeeze bottle, or just to be sure. The first time I used gel color out of a lidded container, my fingers were green for a few days after.
- Using a pastry bag and tip will making the frosting look good, but you can improvise and use a plastic bag with the corner snipped.
Easy Candy Football Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 15.25 ounce Devils Food Chocolate Cake Mix
- 3 large eggs
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup butter (2 sticks) at room temperature
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 tbsp milk
- green gel food coloring
- 8 ounce Kit Kat Minis
- 24 pieces coated chocolate candies yellow
Instructions
For the cupcakes:
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line muffin tin with cupcake liners.
- Mix cake mix according to package directions. Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full.
- Bake in oven for 15 – 22 minutes. Cupcakes are done when top springs back when lightly pressed or insert tester comes out clean. Allow to cool for 5 minutes in pan, remove and allow to cool completely on rack.
For the frosting:
- In a medium bowl, using a hand mixer set to medium, beat the butter until light and smooth, about 1 minute.
- Slowly beat in powdered sugar, one cup at a time just until combined.
- Add vanilla and continue mixing until frosting is smooth.
- Add milk one tablespoon at a time until the desired consistency is reached.
To decorate:
- Remove 1/4 cup of frosting and place in a pastry bag fitted with a tip small enough to make small lines. Or use premixed tube of white frosting fitted with writing tip.
- Use frosting to draw lines on Kit Kat bars to resemble football laces.
- Into remaining frosting, stir in food coloring a few drops at a time until frosting is desired shade of green.
- Fill a pastry bag with green frosting fitted with decorative tip. Frost as desired.
- Place one Kit Kat football one one yellow candy on each cupcake.
Chef Tips
Nutrition Facts
© Copyright Christine Mello for Must Love Home. We would love for you to share a link to this recipe but please do not copy/paste the recipe instructions to websites or social media. We are happy for you to share a photo with a link back to this website instead.
