Gingerbread Cupcakes with Italian Buttercream Frosting

These easy gingerbread cupcakes start with a simple box cake mix and a few flavorful additions that transform it into soft, moist cupcakes filled with the warm flavor of classic gingerbread. The frosting is a silky Italian buttercream for a beautiful bakery style finish. Perfect for Christmas, holiday parties, or anytime you’re craving the cozy flavor of gingerbread without making everything completely from scratch. These easy gingerbread cupcakes are a simple and delicious holiday treat.

Oh, I just can’t get enough of these cute little gingerbread men!

They’re so easy to make and add the perfect finishing touch to these easy gingerbread cupcakes. The little gingerbread toppers make these cupcakes extra festive and fun, especially during the holiday season.

Gingerbread flavors are one of my favorites this time of year. I added molasses and pumpkin pie spice to a simple vanilla cake mix to give these cupcakes that warm, cozy gingerbread flavor. Then, I carried those same flavors into the Italian buttercream for a delicious combination in every bite.

Top them with little gingerbread men, and you have a holiday cupcake that’s as cute as it is delicious. These easy gingerbread cupcakes are just the thing to brighten up a dreary, cold, or rainy winter day!

 

For the gingerbread toppers, you’ll need:

• Royal Icing
• Brown Food Coloring
• Edible black marker

Prepare a batch of royal icing and tint it brown, with food coloring.

Next, find or create a simple gingerbread man template. I printed multiple gingerbread men onto a sheet of paper so I could make several toppers at once.

Place the template underneath a sheet of parchment paper. Transfer the royal icing to a piping bag fitted with a #2 piping tip. Then, trace the outline of each gingerbread man and fill in the center with icing.

Allow the gingerbread men to dry completely before carefully lifting them from the parchment paper. If you need more toppers, simply slide the template underneath a clean section of parchment paper and continue piping.

Why You’ll Love These Gingerbread Cupcakes

• They start with a box cake mix, so they’re easy to make.
• Molasses and pumpkin pie spice give them that classic gingerbread flavor.
• Italian buttercream makes them extra creamy and delicious.
• The little royal icing gingerbread men make adorable edible decorations.
• They’re perfect for Christmas parties, cookie exchanges, and holiday baking.

Tip: Make a few extra gingerbread men in case any break or you end up eating some! They’re small and delicate, but they make the cutest cupcake toppers!

You can also make the toppers several days ahead of time and store them somewhere dry until you’re ready to decorate the cupcakes.

I made lots of these little gingerbread men, and they are absolutely adorable! They’re such a fun and easy way to decorate these cupcakes and make them extra festive for the holidays.

Once the gingerbread men were completely dry, I let them dry overnight to make sure they were nice and firm. Then, I used an edible food marker to add their little faces. They turned out so cute!

Don’t miss my great Gingerbread Cookies too!

 

A Simple Cake Mix Shortcut

Starting with a box of vanilla cake mix makes these cupcakes especially easy. A few additions, including molasses and pumpkin pie spice, completely change the flavor and turn an ordinary cake mix into warm, cozy gingerbread cupcakes.

I think of that song every time I looked at these… You know the one. Run, run, as fast as you can.

Well, apparently they didn’t run fast enough and got stuck in the frosting.

Which by the way is a pretty good place to get stuck in, right… it beats being stuck in the mud!

 These easy gingerbread cupcakes are one of those holiday treats that are almost too cute to eat. Almost! The soft gingerbread cupcakes, creamy Italian buttercream, and little gingerbread men make such a fun combination. They’re festive, homemade tasting, and much easier to make than they look