Easy Cupcakes

This sweet Easter bunny cupcake is my twist on a design by Betty Crocker. I just use whatever candies I have on hand, which cuts down on costs and trips to the store.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; pink frosting (I just used strawberry in a can); white frosting; 1 marshmallow; 2 brown mini M&Ms; 1 small pink candy or jellybean; chocolate sprinkles; pink sugar.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake pink. Drop a scoop (for uniform size, use a cookie scoop, melon baller or similar implement) of white frosting in center of cupcake. Cut marshmallow in half crosswise. Dip sticky part in pink sugar. Stick into back of white frosting for ears. Add eyes and nose. Choose longest sprinkles for whiskers.

Easter cupcakes don’t get much easier than this! You can make a whole flock of chicks in minutes.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; white frosting; frosting tinted yellow; 2 orange mini M&Ms; 1 candy corn.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake with white icing. Drop a spoonful or scoop of yellow icing in the center of the cupcake. (For more uniform chick sizes, use a cookie scoop, melon baller or similar implement.) Add M&M eyes and candy corn nose.

These bunnies are all worn out from delivering eggs, so they’re taking a rest on a bench made of sugar wafer cookies.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; 2 sugar wafer cookies; white frosting; shaved coconut; green food coloring; 2 gummy bunnies; small pastel candies.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake white. Use some frosting to attach one sugar wafer cookie to the other in an L shape to make a bench. Let set and place on cupcake. Use dabs of icing to position bunnies on bench. Add small candies or any other decor you would like. Tint coconut green and sprinkle on cupcake for grass.

For Easter or anytime, try these fuzzy sheep (or lamb) cupcakes. Or, alter them to make a white dog!

What You Need: 1 cupcake; white frosting; shaved coconut (optional); white, black and pink jelly beans (we used Jelly Bellys); 2 blue mini M&Ms.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake white. Add dollop or scoop (we used a cookie scoop) to add head near center of cupcake. For sturdier head, you could frost a mini cupcake. Sprinkle with coconut. Add black jelly beans for ears, pink for nose and cover the back with white jelly beans for fleece. Add blue M&M eyes.

For a fun Easter cupcake, perch a Peep among a patch of cute carrots. I got the idea for the carrots from a Wilton design, but swapped out the candy bunny for a marshmallow Peep.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; green frosting; 1 marshmallow Peep bunny; 5 to 7 candy corn pieces; green icing in tube with leaf tip attachment, or pastry bag with leaf tip and coupler attached.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake green. It’s easiest to arrange the candy corn first. Then, use leaf tip to squeeze small amount of green icing on wide part of candy corn for stems. Cut Peep at about the neckline (ouch!) and place near front of cupcake as shown.

I combined ideas from a few different Easter bunny cupcake designs I’d seen online and in magazines to make this cupcake, who has two unusual features: pretzel whiskers and paper ears. For best results, insert the paper ears just before serving.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; pink frosting; 4 stick pretzels; 1 red jellybean; mini blue M&Ms; pink cardstock; scissors.

How to Make It: frost cupcake. Place red jellybean in center for nose. Add blue eyes directly above nose. Break or cut off a bit of pretzel ends if you think they’re too long (I did). Cut ear shapes, both at once, from pink cardstock, fold slightly and insert between cupcake and paper liner.

I got this Easter cupcake idea from the Reynolds company’s Web site (Besides foil, they make cupcake liners). Try it with carrot cake!

What You Need: 1 cupcake; white (or cream cheese) frosting; 6 orange jelly beans; shredded coconut; green food coloring.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. In bowl or cup, use food coloring to tint coconut green. Arrange jellybeans in triangle shape to form carrot. Sprinkle coconut at the wide top for leaves.