How to Make Reindeer Cupcakes For Christmas

I don’t know about you, but every year, I struggle with cute (and easy) festive treats to bring to the annual classroom or family parties.  I almost reverted to store bought cookies, when I discovered a quick way to make Reindeer Cupcakes for Christmas!

These cupcakes take less than 5 minutes to decorate (after baking, of course) and can be complete with just a few steps.

 
Reindeer Cupcakes

Start by baking cupcakes according to package directions.  Let cool.

Frosting Ingredients:  or use a tub of pre-packaged frosting.  No one will know. Trust me!

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup cocoa powder
3 cup powder sugar
3/4 cup heavy cream

To decorate, you will need:

1 bag  pretzels
1 bag small/mini vanilla wafers
1 container Large candy eyes
1 bag of red M&M’s

Frosting Directions:

– Beat the softened butter in a medium bowl until smooth.
– Alternate adding the cocoa and powder sugar with heavy cream into the creamed butter until it becomes a smooth and thick texture.
  * If the frosting is too thick, add more heavy cream, if too thin, add more powder sugar.

To Decorate:
Step 1.  Frost each cupcake. (I like to work with 8-10 cupcakes at a time so the frosting doesn’t set.)
 
Step 2.  Add a mini vanilla wafer for the nose.

Step 3.  Add 2 pretzels for the ears.
Step 4.   Using a dot of frosting, glue two candy eyes over the bottom corner of the pretzels.
Step 5.  Using more frosting as glue, add the red M&M on the wafer for his nose.