Cutest Rudolph Reindeer Cupcakes

Rudolph Cupcakes – easy, cute, kid-friendly and delicious. Adorable reindeer-decorated cupcakes made with chocolate buttercream, M&M’s, candy eyes, Nilla wafers, and pretzels.

Can’t wait for Christmas yet? You don’t have to, because by making these super cute chocolate Rudolf cupcakes you already get the Christmas feeling at home. Besides that they look so lovely, these reindeer cupcakes are also delicious and super easy to make!

Kids will absolutely love making and eating these cute reindeer cupcakes. The cupcakes will always turn out great and even kids can decorate them. They will be a real eyecatcher at your Christmas party.

For the cupcakes, I used my basic recipe for chocolate cupcakes, and for the buttercream of cupcakes, I used my chocolate buttercream recipe. The chocolate buttercream also fits perfectly with the taste of the chocolate cupcakes.

If you don’t feel like baking the cupcakes yourself, you can also buy 12 cupcakes and decorate them yourself. Perfect as a Christmas snack or Christmas dessert.

Ingredient notes and substitutions

• Sunflower oil: in the chocolate cupcakes recipe, sunflower oil is used instead of butter, because sunflower oil makes the cupcakes creamier and less dry.
• Chocolate: these cupcakes have a really intense chocolate taste, this is because both cocoa powder and pure melting chocolate have been used in the recipe. Use dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate, as it gives a more intense chocolate flavor. Grab good dark melting chocolate (from the baking department), so that the chocolate melts well in the oven when baking and makes the cupcakes extra creamy.
• Coffee powder: coffee powder is also added to the recipe. Coffee ensures that the chocolate flavor comes into its own even more. In the end, you can’t taste the coffee in the muffins.
• Baking Powder and Baking Soda: The recipe uses both baking powder and baking soda so the cupcakes can travel up perfectly. Note: baking powder is different from self-rising flour.
• Buttermilk: Also used in this recipe, because buttermilk reacts with baking soda, making the cupcakes fluffier. In addition, buttermilk provides an extra soft and creamy taste.

🔪 Step-by-step instructions

Let’s walk through how to make these Holiday Cupcakes. For full ingredients and instructions, scroll down to the recipe card. 

Cupcakes

The recipe that I used for these reindeer cupcakes is my chocolate cupcake recipe. In my opinion, the best chocolate cupcakes ever. They are moist, fluffy, and delicious. But if you want to make it yourself easier during the Holidays.. you can also buy 12 chocolate cupcakes or make a cupcake bake mix.

Buttercream

The combination of the chocolate cupcakes with the chocolate buttercream is amazing. This will be the perfect Christmas frosting for these Rudolph cupcakes.

Decorate reindeer cupcakes

Now it’s time to make your most beautiful reindeer cupcakes. Look at the video on the recipe card to see exactly how to decorate the cupcakes.

Place a Nilla Wafer at the bottom of the cupcake. Place two sugar eyes on top and place them next to each other so that it becomes a face. Place two mini pretzels above the sugar eyes. Grab a red or a brown M&M. Spread a little chocolate buttercream on top and place it in the middle on top of the Nilla Wafer.

🍽 Equipment

The equipment you need for making Rudolph cupcakes.

• Whisk, hand mixer, or a stand mixer
• Mixing bowl
• Cupcake pan (optional)
• Cupcake baking cups
• Kitchen scale

👩🏼‍🍳 Expert tips

• Bake in grams – Use a kitchen scale to weigh your ingredients instead of using measurement cups. A kitchen scale is more accurate.
• Don’t overmix the batter – If you overmix the batter it will result in a gummy and unpleasantly chewy cupcake instead of a light and airy cupcake.
• Don’t overfill your cupcakes – Fill the cupcake lines for a maximum of 2/3. It is no problem to underfill your cupcakes.
• Don’t overbake the cupcakes – If you put the cupcakes in the oven for a longer time than needed. They will dry out. 
• Don’t open the oven door while baking. You can only do that at the end of the baking time to check the doneness of the cupcakes.
• Use room temperature ingredients 
• Use an ice scoop to divide the batter into cupcake tins. Make the ice scoop wet under cold water before using it. Or use two spoons.
• Cool down – Make sure your bakings are completely cooled before you can put the topping on them. Otherwise, everything will collapse.
• Use a kitchen scale to properly measure your baked goods.

🍞 Storage

Out of the refrigerator

Homemade chocolate cupcakes without topping or decoration can be stored for 4-5 days in an airtight container outside the refrigerator. Don’t refrigerate them, because they dry out in the fridge. The best way to store them is to store the cupcakes in a cool place. 

You can keep cupcakes with a topping for a maximum of 2 days, but it is best that you decorate and eat them on the same day and eat them. Store the cupcakes in a cool place.

Refrigerator 

If you’re not using the frosting straightaway, you can cover it and refrigerate it for up to a week. Allow it to come back up to room temperature and beat again if necessary before using. It will take about 1 hour to come to room temperature.

Freezer

Undecorated cupcakes can be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months. Then pack them airtight and possibly in small portions. Unfortunately, you cannot freeze homemade chocolate cupcakes with a topping. You can freeze a covered buttercream for up to six months.

⚖️ Baking in grams

The most accurate way to bake is by baking by weight. Measuring cups are very inaccurate and can lead to baking failures. Therefore all of my recipes are posted in grams. I always bake with a scale, so I have a recipe card that automatically converts metrics to US customary, but it can have errors. So I advise you to bake with a digital scale. You can find them on Amazon for a small price.

⭐️ Did you make this? Please leave a star rating below or a review in the comments section.

📖 Recipe

👉🏻 Recommended

• Best Chocolate Cupcakes From Scratch
• Churro Cupcakes with cinnamon buttercream
• Moist red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting
• Cute Chocolate Halloween Monster Brownies
• Fudgy Nutella Brownies
• Easter Lemon Bundt Cake

This post may contain affiliate links. You can read my affiliate policy here.