New Year’s Eve Champagne Yogurt Cupcakes with Sparklers | Natural

Champagne Cupcakes made with Greek Yogurt – sparkling with naturally colored frosting and sprinkles for your New Year celebration!

MAKES: 12 CUPCAKES
Prep Time: 35 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients 

CUPCAKES
1 ¾ cups all purpose flour
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
½ cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
½ cup Greek yogurt, room temperature
½ cup Champagne

FROSTING
Color Kitchen Plain Frosting Mix
Color Kitchen Blue, Pink & Green Color Packets
Color Kitchen Nonpareils
OR Color Kitchen Frosting Mixes with Sprinkles (colors of your choosing)
½ cup butter, softened
1 ½ tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla

DECORATION
12 small sparklers

Directions

CUPCAKES
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a cupcake tin with cupcake liners.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until combined.

In a separate large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar for 2-3 minutes, until light and fluffy.  Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until combined.  Add the sour cream and beat until incorporated.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and beat together until you have a thick batter.  Add the champagne to the batter and beat on low speed until all ingredients are combined in a smooth batter.

Scoop the batter into the cupcake liners, filling each liner about ⅔ of the way.  Bake for 20 minutes, and allow to cool before frosting.

FROSTING
In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat together the confectioner’s sugar from the frosting mix and the butter until combined. Add the vanilla and milk and continue to beat until you have a smooth frosting.

Divide the frosting between 4 bowls. In the first bowl, add ¼ or ½ teaspoon of pink color (Note:¼ teaspoon will give you a pastel color, ½ teaspoon will give you a more vibrant color). In the second bowl, add ¼ or ½ teaspoon of blue color. In the third bowl, add ¼ or ½ teaspoon of green color. In the third bowl, add ¼ teaspoon of pink color and ¼ of teaspoon of blue color (this will make purple). Stir the color into the frostings until you have an even color.

Pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes and top with nonpareil sprinkles.Top with small sparklers and light them at midnight for a fun New Year’s Eve celebration!

ANIMAL CRACKERS WITH MARBLED ICING | GLUTEN-FREE | ALLERGEN-FRIENDLY | VEGAN-FRIENDLY

Animal Cracker cookies are a childhood favorite, but not easily found with allergen-friendly or gluten-free options.

Here are a couple brands that make gluten-free and allergen-friendly animal crackers, but you’ll have to decorate them yourself to get those colorful cookies with nonpareil sprinkles: Glutino Animal Crackers (gluten and soy-free) and Kinnikinnick Gluten-free Animal Cookies (gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free).

ICING

MAKES: About 5 dozen cookies

INGREDIENTS

1 Color Kitchen Frosting Mix (choose your color!) with sprinkles
1 additional Color Kitchen color packet
milk or substitute
vanilla
coconut oil (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Put powdered sugar in medium sized mixing bowl and add 3 tbsp milk and ½ tsp vanilla. Stir with spoon or hand mixer on low. Add 1-2 more tsp milk depending on desired thickness.

Mix until smooth. Pour ⅓ cup icing (each) into 2 small bowls. Set aside remaining icing for white.

Open color packets and add ½ tsp of color to each icing bowl and stir. Add more color to get deeper shades. Stir until all the powder color is dissolved. Keep unused color airtight in packets.

If icing is still too thick, add ½ tsp milk at a time and stir until desired consistency is reached. Add ½ tsp melted coconut oil for sheen.

Dip cookie half way in one color of icing and then in a second color and twist, to get a marbled effect. Or colors can be combined into one larger bowl. If combining, do not mix colors together, but swirl once with a spoon, so when dipping cookies get coated by multiple colors.

While still wet, add a pinch of sprinkles over cookies. Allow to dry overnight.

Halloween Cupcakes | Artificial Dye-free

These sweet treats will WOW every party table! Get creative with your decorating and let the kids join the fun!

MAKES: 2 ½ CUPS FROSTING

INGREDIENTS

BUTTERCREAM
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
1 lb confectioners’ sugar
Pinch salt
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 tbsp milk, at room temp

 COLOR
1 Orange Color Kitchen Color packet
1 Green Color Kitchen Color packet
1 tbsp Black cocoa

DECORATE
Cadbury’s chocolate fingers, or mini peanut butter cups
Mini chocolate chips
Piping tips: medium closed star tip (Ateco 845) , medium flat tip (Wilton 45), size 1 round tip
Candy eyeballs

DIRECTIONS

Start with your favorite cupcake recipe.

Make buttercream. Using an electric mixer or stand mixer (with paddle attachment), in a large bowl, beat butter, sugar, and salt on low speed until incorporated. Increase speed to medium and beat to dissolve the sugar, 2 minutes. Add vanilla and milk mix until just combined. The buttercream should be soft but firm enough to pipe.

To make black buttercream, place black cocoa in a small bowl and combine with water (about 2 tsp) to make a smooth paste. Mix with ½ cup buttercream and transfer to a piping bag fitted with a small round tip.

To make Frankenstein, spread cupcakes with green buttercream. Holding the cupcake at an angle, dip the top ⅓ of cupcake in a bowl of mini chocolate chips to coat. Fit a piping bag with a small round tip and fill with black buttercream to pipe eyes, nose, mouth and scars. Use small pieces of chocolate finger cookies or mini peanut buttercups and gently press into sides of face for the bolts.

To make pumpkins, fill a piping bag fitted with a medium closed star tip (such as Ateco 845) with orange buttercream. Pipe four curved lines the length of the cupcake, finishing in a point at one end. Place chocolate cookie or peanut butter cup for the pumpkin stem. Fit a piping bag with a small round tip and fill with green buttercream. Pipe pumpkin vines around the stem.

To make a mummy pumpkin, spread cupcakes with orange buttercream. Place a chocolate cookie or mini peanut butter cup for a stem. Fit a piping bag with a small round tip and fill with black buttercream to pipe triangular, nose and zig-zag mouth. Fit a new piping bag with a flat tip (Wilton 45) and fill with white buttercream. Pipe over the cupcake in a zigzag pattern, leaving gaps so you can see underneath. Place two candy eyeballs for the eyes on top. 

To make skeleton, spread cupcakes with white buttercream. Fit a piping bag with a small round tip and fill with black buttercream to pipe a mouth, heart-shaped nose, slanted eyes and eyebrows.

 ~Anna Helm Baxter