Beach Cupcakes

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These Beach Cupcakes are fun to make during the summer for birthday parties, pool parties, any summer party, and kids can help assemble them! Made with your favorite cupcake flavor, ocean blue frosting, candy beach towels, crushed graham cracker sand, cute little Teddy Grahams and colorful paper umbrellas.

PIN these cute Summer Cupcakes to try later!

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beach cupcakes

Looking for fun and easy cupcakes to make this summer for your next birthday party, or beach or pool themed party? These summer themed Beach Cupcakes are so adorable and so much easier to make than they look. 

Bursting with vibrant colors, cute Teddy Graham crackers, and tons of fun. You can use your favorite boxed cake mix and decorate them however you want with the edible sand and candies. Kids can easily help assemble these cute little beach cupcakes and it will be a new family favorite especially during the summer.

If you have leftover Teddy Grahams from this recipe, try my S’mores Snack Mix! 

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key ingredients

• Cupcakes: You can use your favorite cupcake recipe whether it’s from a box or you make your own from scratch. I use vanilla cupcakes from white cake mix but you can also use chocolate cupcakes.
• Frosting: I used canned vanilla frosting but you can use homemade frosting. Other flavors are vanilla buttercream frosting, cream cheese frosting, or Swiss meringue frosting. If you didn’t want to use frosting, you could also use Marshmallow Fluff instead. 
• Crushed graham crackers: Used to make the sand.
• Candy: Gummy Life Savers and Sour candy Strips are used for the beach/pool floats and towels.
• Teddy Bear Graham Crackers: These are always my favorite, use any flavor. I used honey.
• Blue food coloring: Used to make the frosting blue for the ocean or pool color.
• Paper cocktail umbrellas: These are optional but make these cupcakes so cute! You can find these on Amazon.

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how to make beach cupcakes

Bake cupcakes: Prepare cake mix according to box instructions as you would to make cupcakes. I like to add more batter to each muffin tin divot, yielding to 18 cupcakes instead of 24. Bake according to box and allow to cool completely on a wire rack.

Make ocean frosting: In the meantime, in a medium bowl, mix together the frosting and add a few drops of blue food coloring gel until you reach your desired shade of blue- I usually only put 2-3 drops.

Make the graham cracker crumbs: Place the graham cracker sheets in a large heavy duty ziplock bag and roll with a rolling pin. Roll to crush into crumbs to make the sand.

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how to frost beach cupcakes

Frost cupcakes: Frost the cooled cupcakes with a frosting knife or pipe the frosting on with a pastry or piping bag. Sprinkle each half of the cupcakes with the graham crackers to make the sand to make a beach look.

Assemble and decorate: Decorate the cupcakes as you wish with the paper umbrellas, candy strip pieces for the towel, Life Saver gummies, and Teddy Grahams. I like to add a “towel” to the sand and a Teddy Graham on top, with a gummy Life Saver on the side. Get creative and feel free to decorate them differently for fun! Serve and enjoy!

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recipes tips & variations

• Most cupcake recipes yield 24, but I like to fill the cupcake liners almost to the top with cake batter to ensure the cupcakes can rise and get extra puffy on top. When I do this method, it usually yields about 16-18 cupcakes.
• Change up the cupcake liners. You can use any color of cupcake liners. You can find cupcake liners just about any grocery store, Target and Amazon.
• Cupcake flavor. It’s always easier to use box cake mix but homemade cupcakes from scratch are always delicious-like my Vanilla Cupcake recipe . Chocolate, yellow, Funfetti cupcakes, and devil’s food cake, and brownies will also work. 
• Gluten-free cupcakes: Use a gluten-free cupcake mix to bake the cupcakes and just decorate the cupcakes with sand, gummy bears, and umbrellas.
• Add ons: Goldfish, gum balls (for a beach ball), sprinkles, and edible sea creature decorations.
• Frosting: You could also top cupcakes with white frosting and add blue sugar to the tops to make the ocean.
• Candy: Peach Rings (for the floaty), gummy bears (to lay on the towels), and fruit stripe gum (for a towel or beach chair) could be used instead. 

make ahead

If you want to make these cupcakes ahead of time you can. Bake according to the recipe and let cool completely. Place them in an airtight container or large heavy-duty ziplock bag. Freeze for up to 3 months. You could also refrigerate for up to 5 days. Frost and decorate the top of the cupcakes when ready to serve. 

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leftovers & storage

To-store: Place leftover cupcakes in an airtight container or wrap the dish or platter with plastic wrap. Store in a cool area for up to 5 days.

To-freeze: You can freeze baked cupcakes that haven’t been decorated for up to 3 months. Place cooled unfrosted cupcakes in an airtight container or heavy-duty ziplock bags. When ready to frost, you can frost them frozen or you can let them thaw. 

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