4th of July Cupcakes are the ultimate dessert to serve at your holiday BBQ. With a red, white and blue cake base and sweet, creamy frosting.
This Cake Recipe is perfect to serve friends and family over the holiday weekend. The simple Classic Vanilla Cupcakes and Buttercream Frosting are traditional flavors that you can easily transform into the perfect patriotic dessert.
Sabrina’s 4th of July Cupcakes
The delicious cupcakes are made with red, white, and blue colors that take the simple vanilla cupcake to the next level. When you remove the cupcake liner, you’ll be able to see the splashes of color through the classic cupcake, making them perfect for a 4th of July party. You can top them off with red, white, and blue sprinkles to make even more patriotic cupcakes.
Recipe Card
Ingredients
Vanilla Cupcakes:
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter , softened
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2/3 cup whole milk
- 1 1/4 cups flour
- 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3-6 drops red food coloring
- 3-6 drops blue food coloring
Red Vanilla Buttercream Frosting:
- 1 cup unsalted butter , softened
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
Instructions
Vanilla Cupcakes:
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and line a 12 cup muffin tray with cupcake liners.
- To a stand mixer add the butter and sugar and beat on medium speed until light and fluffy.
- Add in eggs, vanilla, and milk until smooth.
- Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt and add it to the stand mixer on the lowest speed setting until just combined.
- Separate the batter into three bowls.
- Add blue food coloring to one of the bowls until it reaches the desired color, then add red food coloring to another bowl until it reaches the desired color.
- Using an ice cream scoop fill the cups ¼ full with white batter, add another ¼ of the depth of the cup with blue batter, and add another ¼ full of red batter (cups should be around ¾ full.)
- Bake for 18-20 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool completely.
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting:
- To your stand mixer on low-speed cream the butter then start adding in the powdered sugar in ½ cup increments until fully combined then raise the speed to medium-high for 1 additional minute.
- Add in the vanilla and heavy cream and beat until light and fluffy for 30 seconds.
- Add frosting to piping bag and frost cupcakes.
- Top with desired sprinkles.
Nutrition
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Serving Ideas
These cupcakes are great party-friendly food because they’re already made into serving sizes, so they’re easy to share without extra effort. You can serve them at an Independence day party along with classic Summer dishes like Grilled Cilantro Lime Chicken, Burgers, macaroni salad, and Coleslaw.
How to Store
- Serve: You can keep 4th of July Cupcakes at room temperature for up to 2 days. Just cover them in plastic wrap so that they stay moist.
- Store: You can also put the recipe in an airtight container to store in the fridge for up to 1 week.
- Freeze: For extended storage, seal the cupcakes and freeze them for up to 3 months.
Variations
- Cream cheese frosting: An easy way to change up the flavors of the recipe is by replacing the yummy buttercream frosting with tangy cream cheese frosting.
- Berries: Instead of topping the cupcakes off with sprinkles, you can use raspberries, strawberries, and blueberries. The red and blue colors are still on theme and they’ll add a nice fresh taste to the recipe.
- Cake mix: If you’re in a hurry, you can use a boxed cake mix for the vanilla cake recipe. To make the boxed cake taste as good as from scratch, use 1 more egg than the ingredients listed on the back, and replace the water with milk.
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Photos used in previous versions of this post.
These 4th of July cupcakes are awesome and easy to make. A perfect festive dessert for the holiday!
Made these cupcakes last year and they were a hit! I can still remember how my family was satisfied with its taste and texture. So I can’t wait to make them again!
These cupcakes are so fun and festive! They taste super good too. Plan to make these every holiday season.