Easy Christmas Tree Cupcakes

These Christmas Tree Cupcakes are easier than they look and are such a fun and festive dessert for holiday parties! Made with boxed cake mix, you can whip the cupcakes up quick and get decorating in no time!

If you love these Christmas Cupcakes, you might also enjoy making my Santa Hat Brownies and Reindeer Cookies for the holidays!

GUYS!!! Seriously, how fun is this Christmas Tree Cupcakes recipe?! You’re probably thinking they take forever to make and a bunch of special tools that you don’t have… totally wrong!

They’re so easy, and the recipe is actually made with a box mix and frosting! There’s no need to put ourselves out on every recipe this holiday season.

Christmas Tree Cupcakes Flavor Alternatives

But if you do feel like making a batch from scratch, use my Funfetti Cupcakes and Vanilla Buttercream recipes! And if vanilla isn’t your favorite, you could use Chocolate Cake instead!

How To Make Christmas Tree Cupcakes

Step 1: Preheat oven to 350°F and line the cupcake pan with liners.

Step 2: Beat together cake mix ingredients and sprinkles until fully combined.

Step 3: Fill cupcake liners halfway with batter and bake for 19 to 22 minutes. After baking, remove from oven and transfer cupcakes to a cooling rack to cool completely, and bake the next batch.

Step 4: Once the cupcakes have all cooled, add green frosting to a frosting bag fitted with a large star tip.

Step 5: Pipe the frosting onto cupcakes, starting in the middle and working around the starting point once, and then begin working up to create your tree.

Step 6: Sprinkle with green sprinkles and nonpareils and top frosted cupcakes with a Sixlet. You could also use these large Star Shaped Sprinkles for the tree topper. If you wanted a flocked tree, lightly dust the trees with powdered sugar.

Step 7: Add vanilla frosting to a frosting bag fitted with a small round writing tip. Draw ribbon lines on the starburst and gently press them onto the frosted cupcakes.

Some recipes are more than worth the extra effort and time, but when it comes to easy and cute food to make with the kiddos, the fun is in the decorating!

There’s nothing quite like a light and fluffy cupcake piled high with frosting. But it’s even better when it’s super cute. I love making cute desserts, and decorating with sprinkles relaxes me.

My husband sometimes jokes about how long it takes me to frost and decorate a cupcake, but I just like to take my time and get in the zone, you know? And these Christmas Tree Cupcakes are just so adorable it’s worth the extra bit of effort.

We all love cute things, and around the holidays, cute = impressive, and we want to impress those holiday guests, right?

But here’s the thing, don’t go overboard. I highly recommend doing a couple of things that “look” or maybe even are over the top, but keep the rest simple. Your guests won’t mind, and you won’t have holiday burnout by December 10th! These Christmas Wreath Cookies and Snow Globe Oreos are super adorable and easy to make too!

Christmas Cupcakes Are Easy!

These Christmas Tree Cupcakes take less than an hour to make, and you can make them up way ahead of time, so you’re not trying to vacuum up runaway nonpareils as guests are walking up the front steps.

I’m speaking from experience here!

I really loved how these cupcakes turned out! The cupcakes themselves are so moist and fluffy. The frosting is sweet and rich with vanilla flavor, and aren’t those presents just the cutest!

The sprinkles and nonpareils just bring them to life as the needles and lights on the tree-shaped cupcakes.

If you’ve tried this recipe, please let me know how you liked it in the comments below and leave a review. I love hearing from you!

Don’t forget to tag me – @sugarandsoulco – on Instagram and Pinterest with your photos or join our Sugar & Soul Show-offs Community and share them there, where you can join our recipe challenges!

This post was originally published in December 2015 and was updated in December 2019.