Easy Cupcakes

You can make an easy Hanukkah menorah cupcake with a little blue icing and yellow mini M&Ms!

What You Need: 1 cupcake; white frosting; frosting tinted blue; pastry bag and #1 metal tip (or buy writing icing in a tube); 9 yellow mini M&Ms.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. “Draw” a triangle for the menorah base and a line going up from that. Then draw four semi-circles, progressively large, as shown. “Light” each of the 9 candles by placing a mini M&M sideways at the top of the blue lines.

A heart-shaped muffin cup or cupcake liner makes the perfect shape for Santa’s face!

What You Need: Aluminum (such as by Reynolds), silicon or other heart-shaped muffin tin or cupcake liner; white frosting; red sprinkles; 5 mini marshmallows; shaved coconut; 2 blue mini M&Ms; 1 black M&M; 1 round or tear-shaped red candy.

How to Make It: Turn heart shape upside down and frost curved part white for beard base. Sprinkle with coconut. Frost very top of heart point for hat. Sprinkle with red sugar or sprinkles. Add marshmallows to bottom of hat, plus one at the top. Add candy eyes, nose and mouth.

Counter a winter cold snap with a tasty, cute s’mores cupcake. These are especially delicious with chocolate cupcakes, or get really adventuresome and try a rocky road cupcake. Scouts would love them, too.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; white frosting; snowflake-shaped sprinkles; 2 squares Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal; 1 mini marshmallow; 1 chocolate chip.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake and sprinkle with snowflakes. Carefully sandwich the chocolate chip and marshmallow between the 2 cereal squares and microwave, on a safe plate, for a very short time — maybe 5 seconds. Press top square down a bit so the chocolate melts more and the marshmallow oozes out a bit. Place on top of cupcake.

A mint hat adds the finishing touch to this snowman cupcake.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; white frosting; 1 thin mint (such as by Necco); 1 Junior Mint; 2 black M&Ms; candy orange slice; 5 mini chocolate chips.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Use dab of icing to stick Junior Mint to center of thin mint for hat and place at top of cupcake. Add M&M eyes. Cut piece off candy orange and add for nose. Place 5 mini chocolate in a smile shape.

Kids will love making these easy mouse cupcakes for Christmas or anytime. All you need are red candies and mini Nilla Wafers.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; white frosting; 2 mini Nilla Wafer cookies; red strand licorice (not the floppy kind); 2 red hots (cinnamon imperials); 1 red gumdrop; scissors.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Stick cookies into top of cupcake for ears. Add nose and eyes. Cut licorice strand into six equal pieces and insert for whiskers.

There’s no shame in using premade cupcake decorations such as those sold on a cardboard sheet by Wilton or CakeMate. But you can always dress them up by lining the cupcake with sprinkles or even peppermint bits.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; white frosting; candy reindeer decoration; peppermint bits (sold in a shaker, or you can break up candy canes or Starlight Mints).

How To Make It: Frost cupcake. Place reindeer in center. Sprinkle peppermint around edges. That’s it!

Who needs fondant and fancy piping techniques when you have fruit rolls and mini M&Ms? These red poinsettia cupcakes will brighten up your Christmas cupcake array.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; white frosting; red fruit roll; 3 yellow mini M&Ms; knife.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Using knife, cut fruit roll into 6 long triangle shapes for poinsettia petals. Arrange with wide ends toward center as shown. Place mini M&Ms in center.