Easy Cupcakes

These are super-easy St. Patrick’s Day cupcakes. Just assemble the toppers and kids can help make a batch quickly (for school parties) by adding Lucky Charms cereal.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; green frosting; Lucky Charms cereal; cupcake topper; large circle punch; printable cupcake toppers (I used Lucky You cupcake toppers from Chickabug, offered free via HowDoesShe.com); glue; toothpick.

How to Make It: Download, print, punch, and assemble cupcake toppers (glue two facing toppers onto a toothpick). Stick into top of cupcake. Surround with Lucky Charms.

Here’s my take on the rainbow and pot of gold cupcakes that have been circulating around Pinterest St. Patrick’s Day boards. The key is getting your hands on those sour belt candies — I’ve seen them at drugstores such as CVS, but I was able to buy them singly at a candy shop. Yum! My belts were on the soft side; I had to prop up the middle with a toothpick. If you use this, make sure you take them out before serving to little kids.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; green frosting (I used canned Christmas frosting already tinted); rainbow-colored sour belt; mini marshmallows; Rolo candy (if you don’t buy the bag of individual wrapped ones, you can fashion a pot of gold out of a Rolo and the long, gold wrapper the regular rolls are wrapped in.)

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Arch rainbow and secure at one end by sticking a Rolo to it with frosting “glue.” Surround each end with mini marshmallow clouds.

This rattle cupcake, perfect for a baby shower, is a variation of a design seen in a Betty Crocker publication. Change colors and candies for a less feminine look, or for variety. These rattles would also be cute with a baby’s name written on them in icing.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; pink frosting; lollipop stick; large yellow gumdrop; 5 small gummy candies; 5 purple candy-covered sunflower seeds; 1 small white candy; 1 white jellybean; length of pink gingham ribbon.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Insert lollipop stick into one side of cupcake, piercing through the wrapper. Stick other end into rounded part of gumdrop. Decorate with candies as shown, or use your imagination!

This happy green turtle cupcake is topped with tasty Tootsie Rolls and chocolate-covered raisins. Wearing plastic gloves, you can mold Tootsie Rolls, caramels, Starbursts, Airheads and other candies into all kinds of fun shapes. This design is similar to one I saw in a Betty Crocker publication.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; frosting tinted green; chocolate-covered raisins such as Raisinets; Tootsie Rolls (any size); toothpick.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake green. Add 6 to 10 Raisinets to top for turtle shell “spots.” Wearing gloves, shape chunks of Tootsie roll into four legs, a tail and a head. Use toothpick to draw eyes and a mouth. Add to cupcake.

Mmmm… What could be more delicious than a chocolate monkey cupcake? Certainly not monkey brains; that’s gross. Seriously, though, kids can easily make these pretty primates.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; chocolate frosting; black writing icing; 2 chocolate candy “melts”; 2 brown mini M&Ms or other brown candy such as Raisinettes; chocolate sprinkles.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Position chocolate melts as ears on left and right side. Sprinkle chocolate jimmies near top for “hair.” Using writing icing in a tube to draw nostrils and mouth. Add chocolate eyes.

Here’s a cute little white mouse cupcake for any party, Christmas time, etc. Make a bunch of mice in different colors! The fuzzy look comes from “pulling” the frosting up with the edge of a butter knife or spatula. Also, get your melts from the supermarket bulk bin to save money while buying only what you need.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; white frosting; 2 white chocolate “melts”; 2 mini chocolate chips; pink jelly bean or other pink candy; black string licorice.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake with a thick layer of white icing (canned is fine). Use a butter knife or spatula edge and press lightly onto frosting and then pull up to create little peaks for a fuzzy appearance. Add wafer candies for ears as well as candy eyes and nose. Stick one end of licorice into back of mouse for tail.

For Easter or anything, these bright pink bunny cupcakes will be a hit with the kids.

What You Need: cupcake; pink frosting (strawberry in a can works well); 1 pink Mentos candy; 2 mini marshmallows; 2 pink Jordan almonds; 2 mini chocolate chips; 2 Tic Tacs.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Frost 3 sides of each mini marshmallow and place on cupcake for bunny cheeks. Add Mentos nose, Tic Tac teeth, mini chocolate chip eyes, and 2 Jordan almond ears.