Easter Chicks Cupcakes

5 from 1 vote

A complete tutorial on how to make cute Easter chicks cupcakes for your spring party! Baby chicks are piped onto vegan chocolate cupcakes for a cute kids craft.

Prep Time30

Cook Time20

Total Time50

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: cupcake recipe, easter dessert, kid friendly recipe

Servings:

Calories: 480kcal

Author: Julie Clark

Ingredients

For the Cupcakes

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup water (room temperature)
1 tablespoon white vinegar

For the Frosting:

1 cup unsalted butter* (room temperature)
4 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
Yellow, orange, and black gel food color

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350ºF.
Whisk together flour, sugar, salt, cocoa powder, and baking powder until well combined.
In a separate bowl whisk together vegetable oil, vanilla, water, and vinegar.
Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined.
Fill lined muffin tins 3/4 full and bake at 350 degrees for 18-20 minutes or until a center cupcake springs back when lightly tapped.
While the cupcakes are cooling make the frosting by beating the butter until pale and fluffy. Add in the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time until it reaches a piping consistency. Mix in the vanilla.
Spoon 1/4 cup of frosting into a bowl. Add 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder and mix well. Add some black food coloring and mix until well combined.*
Add 1/4 cup of frosting into a 2nd bowl and color it orange, mixing well.
Color the remaining frosting yellow, mixing until well combined.
Make the chicks using a Wilton 1A piping tip. Frost the body to your desired size making sure to leave enough room on the cupcake for the feet, let it crust for about 5 minutes, and then frost the head.**
Add the black eyes with a small Wilton #1 piping tip.
Add the beak with a small Wilton #2 piping tip by applying more pressure at the base and pulling away to form a small triangle. Pipe the legs by drawing a line out from the bottom of the body and adding 3 toes.
The frosting tends to bleed the longer you let it sit so serve immediately or wait to add the eyes and feet until just before serving.

Notes

*Use vegan butter if you'd like.

**You can skip the cocoa powder in the black frosting but I found I needed less black food coloring when I added it

***I used a damp, food only paint brush to tap down the pointed top I got from pulling away the piping bag but feel free to skip this step.

The calories shown are based on the recipe making 12 cupcakes, with 1 serving being 1 frosted cupcake. Since different brands of ingredients have different nutritional information, the calories shown are just an estimate.

Nutrition