M&M cupcakes
M&M cupcakes are a great, fun, colourful bake for kids. They take our really easy cupcake recipe, and add some M&Ms to the batter as well as more M&Ms on top.
M&M cupcakes are a simple and colourful twist on a simple vanilla cupcake. With colourful icing on top, and lots of M&Ms to decorate, they’re a great bake for kids to enjoy.
Plain vanilla cupcakes are one of the easiest things you can bake with children, and these M&M cupcakes add a fun but simple twist. Filled with M&Ms with buttercream icing, and even more M&Ms on top they’re colourful, fun, simple and real firm favourite with kids.
How can kids help to make M&M cupcakes?
Cupcakes always make really great bakes for kids as they’re so easy and these M&M cupcakes are no exception. There are loads of steps for children to get involved with, and with this recipe in particular it all gets mixed together in one bowl which means there’s less mess and less washing up to do!
As with most bakes, children can get involved in measuring out all the ingredients and mixing them together. And with 3 eggs in the recipe, there’s also a great chance to practice their egg cracking skills – an important skill for any young baker.
If you use an ice-cream scoop or soup spoon to add the cupcake batter to the cases, your kids should be able to do that without making too much mess. If they don’t do it very evenly, you can always help even it up before they go in the oven.
Finally, my kids always enjoy helping to decorate the cupcakes. The coloured icing we’ve used looks great, but isn’t any more difficult to pipe than regular icing so a still a job kids can do. You can always use plain icing if you want to skip a step though.
Younger children might need help with the piping bag if you’re using one, but it’s a fun job to try. If a piping bag is too tricky for your kids, or you don’t have one, you can spread the buttercream icing on with a spoon or blunt knife.
If your children are very young, they can certainly help add the M&M decorations at the end.
How long do M&M cupcakes keep?
These cupcakes will keep for a few days in an airtight container at room temperature.
If you want to keep them for longer or make them ahead of time, you can freeze the undecorated cupcakes for up to three months. To freeze them, wrap each cupcake in cling film / glad wrap, and pop them in a freezer bag. Make sure you defrost them fully before you decorate them.
What can I use instead of self raising flour?
If you don’t have self raising flour, swap it for an equal amount of plain or all-purpose flour and put in an extra 1 ½ teaspoons of baking powder.
What is baking spread/baking margarine?
Baking spread, (things like Stork), is just a non dairy margarine that’s perfect for baking. It makes cupcakes and cakes lighter and fluffier than butter, which means it’s a great, cheaper alternative.
I still like the taste of butter in buttercream icing so I wouldn’t swap the butter for baking spread in that but it’s great for the sponge.
Other fun cupcake ideas for kids
If you liked these M&M cupcakes, why not try some of these other easy cupcake recipes for kids:
Lemon cupcakes
Chocolate chip cupcakes
Funfetti cupcakes
Vanilla cupcakes
Rainbow cupcakes
Monster cupcakes
Chocolate cupcakes
Raspberry cupcakes
Eton mess cupcakes
Ice cream cone cupcakes
Victoria sponge cupcakes
Chocolate caramel cupcakes
Blackberry cupcakes
Useful equipment
You might need the following baking tools/gadgets to make these M&M cupcakes
Digital scales
Mixing bowl
Wooden spoons
Measuring cup
Measuring spoons
Muffin tin
Cupcake cases
Wire rack
Piping bag
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Ingredients
For the M&M cupcakes
150g (2/3 cup) butter or baking margarine
150g (¾ cup) caster sugar
150g (1 ¾ cups) self raising flour
½ teaspoon of baking powder
½ teaspoon of vanilla extract
3 eggs
125g M&Ms (approx)
For the buttercream icing
150g (2/3 cup) butter, softened
300g (2 cups) icing / confectioners sugar
25ml milk
A few drops of vanilla extract
M&Ms to decorate
* If you don’t have any self raising flour, swap it for an equal amount of plain or all-purpose flour and add an extra teaspoon of baking powder.
How to make M&M cupcakes
Preheat your oven to 180C / 160C Fan / 350F and get your kids to line a muffin tin with paper or silicone cupcake cases.
Measure all the cupcake ingredients out
Get your kids to measure out all the cupcake ingredients and add them to a free-standing mixer or a large mixing bowl.
The thing I love the most about this easy cupcake recipe is that you just add everything to one bowl which means that you can add them in any order. We like to stick to the order the ingredients are listed however, so we don’t miss anything out.
Start by getting your kids to add the butter or baking margarine, caster sugar and flour. You can either use a baking spread like we did here or butter. If you’re using butter it needs to be soft enough to mix in. So if you haven’t left yours out of the fridge and its a bit hard soften it by cutting it into a few pieces and put it in the microwave for a few seconds. Don’t do it long enough for it to melt. If you’re using baking margarine/Stork, you can add it straight in.
Measure out the baking powder and add it to your bowl. Make sure your kids use their finger to level the half teaspoon before it goes in so that they add just the right amount.
Add the vanilla extract. Older children should be able to do this themselves but if your children are younger, you might need to pour in the vanilla while they hold the teaspoon level or vice versa.
Finally, get your kids to crack the eggs into a small bowl before adding them to your mixing bowl. We tend never to crack eggs straight in to our mixing bowl just in case any shell goes in. If/when it does, simply fish it out with a larger piece of shell or teaspoon – it should stick to that much better than it will your finger and it saves getting messy hands. We also find it a good idea to have a spare bowl or food bin nearby to put the egg shells in – it saves a lot of mess if the kids know where to put the shells.
Mix the cupcake batter together
Using a hand held mixer, the k-paddle of your free-standing mixer, or even wooden spoons, beat everything together until the batter is nice and smooth. Just do it for a minute or so until it comes together and no lumps of flour or butter is visible. Be sure not to over mix it. If you need to, get your kids to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula to make sure no unmixed ingredients are left at the bottom of your bowl.
Add the M&Ms
Get your kids to measure out the M&Ms and pour them into your mixing bowl. Stir them in with a spatula or a wooden spoon so they are nice and evenly dispersed.
Bake the M&M cupcakes
Get your kids to divide the cupcake batter among your cupcake cases. An ice-cream scoop, if you have one, dishes out a good amount of batter which makes this job a little easier and less messy. If you don’t have one, soup spoons are a good alternative. Try to make sure they add roughly the same amount to each case so they bake evenly (if they don’t you can always even it up before they go in the oven). The cases should be about ¾ full.
Bake the cupcakes for 20 – 25 minutes. They’re ready when they have risen and turned nice and golden brown. If you press down gently on the top they should spring back up. You can also check they’re fully baked by inserting a skewer, cocktail stick or sharp knife into the middle of the cupcake. If they’re baked it should come out clean. If it’s not, pop the cupcakes back in the oven for a few more minutes.
Remove the cupcakes from the oven and leave them to cool in the muffin tin for a few minutes before removing them and putting them on a wire rack to cool completely.
Make the buttercream icing
Start by making the buttercream icing. Get your kids to measure the, icing/confectioners sugar, butter and milk out and add them to your free-standing mixer or a large mixing bowl. Again, if your butter isn’t soft chop it up and pop it in the microwave for a few seconds to make it easier to mix.
Cover your bowl or mixer with the lid, or a clean tea towel to save a bit of mess (icing sugar has a tendency to go everywhere!) Use the k-paddle of your mixer or hand held mixers and start mixing the icing.
Start on a slow setting and once the icing sugar has mixed in, you can turn the speed up and keep beating it for at least 5 minutes. The longer you beat it the softer and more delicious it will become.
We added a bit of colour to our icing, but whether you do or not is up to you. You can either add a drop or two of colour to your icing and stir it in so it’s one colour.
For something a bit different we just added a few spots of food colouring to our piping bag which gives the pops of colour in amongst the swirls of icing. For the same effect – either paint a stripe of colour on the inside of your piping bag, or if you’ve got gel colours mix them with a tablespoon of milk first then paint the stripe.
Add the buttercream icing to your piping bag, with a large star shaped nozzle.
Decorate the M&M cupcakes
Help your kids to swirl the icing on top of the cupcakes. Older children might manage this themselves. We find the easiest way to pipe the icing is to hold the piping bag at the top with our right hand to squeeze the icing out and use our left hand to guide the bag round. Start at the outside and go round in circles until you get to the middle. If you have icing leftover once you’ve iced all the cupcakes, add another swirl on top.
Finally, get your kids to add some more M&Ms on top to decorate.
Serve and enjoy!
M&M cupcakes
Equipment
- Digital scales
- Mixing bowl
- Wooden spoons
- Measuring cup
- measuring spoons
- Muffin tin
- Cupcake cases
- Wire rack
- Piping bag
Ingredients
For the M&M cupcakes
- 150 g (⅔ cup) butter or baking margarine
- 150 g (¾ cup) caster sugar
- 150 g (1 ¾ cups) self raising flour
- ½ teaspoon of baking powder
- ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 3 eggs
- 125 g M&Ms approx
For the buttercream icing
- 150 g (2/3 cup) butter, softened
- 300 g (2 cups) icing / confectioners sugar
- 25 ml milk
- A few drops of vanilla extract
- M&Ms to decorate
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180C / 160C Fan / 350F and get your kids to line a muffin tin with paper or silicone cupcake cases.
MEASURE ALL THE CUPCAKE INGREDIENTS OUT
- Measure out all the cupcake ingredients and add them to a free-standing mixer or a large mixing bowl.
- Start by getting your kids to add the butter or baking margarine, caster sugar and flour. Measure out the baking powder and add it to your bowl. Make sure you use your finger to level the half teaspoon before it goes in so that you add just the right amount.Add the vanilla extract.Finally, add the eggs.
MIX THE CUPCAKE BATTER TOGETHER
- Using a hand held mixer, the k-paddle of your free-standing mixer, or even wooden spoons, beat everything together until the batter is nice and smooth.
ADD THE M&MS
- Measure out the M&Ms and pour them into your mixing bowl. Stir them in with a spatula or a wooden spoon so they are nice and evenly dispersed.
BAKE THE M&M CUPCAKES
- Divide the cupcake batter among your cupcake cases. The cases should be about ¾ full.
- Bake the cupcakes for 20 – 25 minutes. They're ready when they have risen and turned nice and golden brown. You can check they're fully baked by inserting a skewer, cocktail stick or sharp knife into the middle of the cupcake. If they're baked it should come out clean. If it's not, pop the cupcakes back in the oven for a few more minutes.Remove the cupcakes from the oven and leave them to cool in the muffin tin for a few minutes before removing them and putting them on a wire rack to cool completely.
MAKE THE BUTTERCREAM ICING
- Measure the, icing/confectioners sugar, butter and milk out and add them to your free-standing mixer or a large mixing bowl.Cover your bowl or mixer with the lid, or a clean tea towel to save a bit of mess (icing sugar has a tendency to go everywhere!) Use the k-paddle of your mixer or hand held mixers and start mixing the icing.Start on a slow setting and once the icing sugar has mixed in, turn the speed up and keep beating it for at least 5 minutes. The longer you beat it the softer and more delicious it will become.
- We added a bit of colour to our icing, but whether you do or not is up to you. You can either add a drop or two of colour to your icing and stir it in so it's one colour.Or, for something a bit different add a few spots of food colouring to your piping bag which gives the pops of colour in amongst the swirls of icing. Add the buttercream icing to your piping bag, with a large star shaped nozzle.
DECORATE THE M&M CUPCAKES
- Swirl the icing on top of the cupcakes.Add some more M&Ms on top to decorate.
Notes
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