Easy Cupcakes

This acorn cupcake idea was first seen in the hit book Hello, Cupcake!: Irresistibly Playful Creations Anyone Can Make. I made some for my kid’s autumn-themed bake sale and they were a big hit. They’d be great for Thanksgiving, a nut (or Nutella!) cupcake recipe or any fall festivity.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; white or off-white frosting; chocolate frosting; 2 Hershey’s kisses; 2 mini Nilla Wafers; pastry bag and round tip (No. 2 or 3, or just use premade icing in a tube or bag).

How to Make It: Frost cupcake white. Use bit of chocolate frosting to attach mini vanilla wafer cookie to base of unwrapped Hershey’s Kiss. Use pastry bag or tube to add chocolate “stem” to wafer.

I saw in a magazine where someone had used one of those waffle-looking pretzels as a scarecrow’s hat and just had to try it. The hair is crumbled-up shredded wheat. Great for Halloween or fall parties.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; white frosting; 1 square pretzel; spoon-size shredded wheat; 2 orange jellybeans (or M&Ms or other oval or round candy); red mini M&M or red hot or similar candy; 4 chocolate chips or 7-8 mini chocolate chips; black writing icing (optional).

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Stick pretzel into top of cupcake for hat. Crumble up shredded wheat and place under “hat” for hair. Add jellybean eyes, red candy nose and curve of upside-down chocolate chips for mouth. Add pupils to eyes using black writing icing if you’d like.