There’s something magical about the holiday season, and what better way to celebrate than with some beautifully decorated Christmas cupcakes? 🎄
In this article, I’ll show you how to create three stunning Christmas cupcake designs that are both easy to recreate and guaranteed to impress. You’ll find all the tools you need listed for each design, plus links to all the recipes and of course a full video one how I made these Christmas holiday cupcakes.
Published: November 24, 2024 by Pamela. Updated on November 1, 2025.
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Tools you need to make Christmas cupcakes
- Cupcake Liners: you can go with whatever size and color you want, I used gold cupcake liners from www.nycake.com
- Piping bags: (you can also use ziplock bags if you don’t want to invest in piping bags)
- Gel Food coloring: (Green & Red), you can go with whatever colors you want. When working with buttercream, I prefer using oil based colors like Colourmill or gel based colors. Avoid using water based colors.
- Christmas Sprinkles: You can find affordable mixes at Walmart. I also recommend mixes by Fancy sprinkles and Sprinkle Pop.
- Totally optional, but I used edible gold glitter to decorate my cupcakes. All my tools and glitter are from www.nycake.com (you can use my code Butter10 for 10% off your order, it’s not affiliated, but also they usually have 20% sales going on).
Recipes you need to make Christmas holiday cupcakes
- A simple vanilla cupcakes recipe
- My favorite Swiss meringue buttercream (don’t worry, my recipe is really easy!)
- If you’re making this with your kids or grandkids, you can go for an easier buttercream recipe like my 2 ingrendients buttercream.
Design 1 ❄️
Christmas Cupcakes with Green Rosettes and Gold Snowflakes
Let’s start with something simple but elegant, the green rosette cupcake. A buttercream rosette is a timeless design that always looks pretty, and you can make it in any color you like. All you need is one piping tip, the Wilton 1M, a classic every baker should have in their decorating kit.
Let’s break down the tools:
- Wilton tip 1M
- Snowflake Plunger set: (I used the large one for this), you need this only if you’re planning on adding the snowflake on top.
- Gum Paste or Fondant, also used to make the snowflake on top. I recommend going with gum paste because of the details of the snowflake.
- Edible Gold Paint: totally optional, you can leave the snowflake white!
How to Make Green Rosette Christmas Cupcakes
Pipe the rosette using a 1M tip, starting from the center and swirling outward in one smooth motion. Add your favorite sprinkles, then decorate with any Christmas topper you like (all this while the buttercream is still soft). I used a gum paste snowflake painted with edible gold paint, if you’re going to make gum paste details, make sure you make them a day in advance.
Design 2 🎅🏼
Christmas Cupcakes with Red Border & Glitter Rosettes
This design is as fun to make as it is to look at! You need 2 different piping tips, and 2 different buttercream colors. Of course you can go with whichever colors you want.
Let’s break down the tools:
- Wilton tip 1M: the same tip we used for the first cupcake, we’re also going to use it for the 3rd design. The Wilton tip 1M is literally the first tip I bought and the one I use the most.
- Any petal tip: (go for a small to medium size one), it will be used to pipe the border, you can also cut the piping tip in a diagonal but keep in mind it will be thicker than using a piping tip.
- Edible Glitter: (this one has good reviews!), glitter is optional of course!
How to make these buttercream Christmas cupcakes:
Start by piping a red buttercream border with a petal tip to create a pretty floral edge. Add some Christmas sprinkles around the border for sparkle, then pipe a small green rosette in the center to bring the whole cupcake together. I also added some edible gold glitter.
Design 3 🎄
Christmas Tree Cupcakes
We’re ending with my favorite design from these three! Of course I had to include a Christmas tree cupcake design, this one also uses the same 1M tip, the base can be green or whichever color you want.
Let’s break down the tools:
- Wilton tip 1M: to pipe the tree.
- Edible Glitter: (this one has good reviews!) of course it is optional, I sprinkled a bit on the tree for a more festive look.
- Star plunger: to add the star on top, use fondant or gum paste to make the star and try to make any details a day in advance.
- Gum Paste or Fondant: to make the star. If you want to color it gold, you will need an edible gold paint. Keep in mind that you can also find gold fondant from Satin Ice.
How to make Christmas tree cupcakes
Cut any domes from the cupcake, it’s better to work with a flat base. Cover the base of the cupcake with red buttercream and dip the cupcake in some sprinkles to create a layer of colorful Christmas sprinkles. Then, using green buttercream and the tip 1M, pipe a towering Christmas tree on top. Add a touch of edible gold glitter to make the tree shimmer, and crown it with a gold sugar star.
💬 Tried these Christmas cupcakes? I’d love to know what you think! Leave a quick comment or tap the ⭐️ to rate, your feedback helps me keep improving my articles.
How to get bright buttercream without adding too much color
Before you check out the full tutorial, here’s a video you might find useful for this project and it’s on how to achieve bright buttercream without using a lot of food coloring. This is specially useful during the holiday so you can achieve bright red and green without using too much gel colors.
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