Adorable Back to School Cupcakes

July 25, 2021June 5, 2021 Tracy Knutsen

The first day of school is always a crazy time. When I considered sending cupcakes on the first day, my “mommy-sense” emphatically told me not to on so many levels. Most important, it really is just too chaotic to add one more thing to the day. We want to make a good impression, not establish ourselves as “that mom.” Next, with all new classmates, nobody knows yet about allergies, dyes, gluten, dairy, whatever. Again, don’t want to be the mom that sends half the class to the nurse on the first day…or the first week…or at all, right?

On the other hand, the first day of school is a celebration! Basically, it’s a great excuse to have cake…sweet, adorable cupcakes. Brighten the day of your small people and tuck one of these cuties into their lunchbox. Or maybe you could welcome them home with a special plateful of Back to School cupcakes!

Start with a basic cupcake recipe. Make your favorite flavor, whether from scratch or from a boxed mix. (It’s totally ok!) I used a Vanilla Cupcake recipe for mine. Here it is:

Vanilla Cupcakes

Ingredients

1/2 cup softened butter
3/4 to 1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
2/3 cup cold milk

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F.Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating after each addition. Stir in vanilla.In a separate bowl, stir together all dry ingredients. Add to butter mixture; stir in milk.Scoop into a lined cupcake pan and bake 18-24 minutes (12-16 minutes for minis.) Allow to cool on a wire rack.

Yields 12 regular or 24 mini cupcakes.

Back to School Apple Cupcakes

Ingredients

Cooled cupcakes you’ve pre-made

Filling (if desired)

Pretzel sticks

Green jelly candy or green fruit snacks

Directions

I filled my Apple Cupcakes with pudding! You don’t have to, but I had some pudding cups in the fridge, so I tossed them in a bag, scooped out the center of my cupcakes and filled them with the pudding. (I did the same thing for the other cupcakes, but used Nutella!)

The rest is very simple. Make (or buy) some red or green icing – the recipe for Basic Frosting is here:

Basic Frosting

1 pound (1 box) confectioners’ sugar, sifted if lumpy
2 egg whites
1/2 cup butter
1 teaspoon pure vanilla

In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients and beat for 5 minutes or until very light and creamy. If the mixture is too dry and too thick, add a few drops of milk. Frosting should still be thick. If mixture is too thin add a few more tablespoons of confectioners’ sugar. Color as desired.To make chocolate butter frosting: Beat 1 ounce unsweetened chocolate (1 square) that has been melted, into the recipe above.

Next, pipe a mound of frosting on top of each cupcake. Add a pretzel stick for the stem and a slice of green jelly candy makes the leaf. Whether regular sized or minis, these are so cute!

Back to School Chalkboard Cupcakes

Ingredients

Cooled cupcakes you’ve pre-made

Filling (if desired) – I used Nutella for these

Chocolate covered graham cookies

Alpha Bits cereal

Directions

I scooped out the centers and filled the Chalkboard Cupcakes with Nutella! Not necessary, but I am of the belief that Nutella makes everything taste better. You could also use caramel, chocolate or butterscotch ice cream topping. A fresh strawberry stuffed in the middle of this cupcake (after it cools) is yummy, too!

Using store-bought or homemade chocolate frosting, pipe a pretty good amount on top of each cupcake.

Prepare the chalkboards by gathering the letters you’d like to use from the box of Alpha Bits cereal. I used “ABC”, “XYZ” and found my name “Tracy”. It’s a little challenging, but what a good job for the kids! Using a little bit of icing or melted chocolate chips, glue the letters to the graham cookies to make little chalkboards. Once they’re cooled, push them into the icing on each cupcake.