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5 from 1 vote

Santa Hat Cupcakes are made with cake mix chocolate cupcakes, homemade buttercream frosting, and bright red strawberries for the hat. They make a fun and festive dessert for Christmas parties that both kids and adults will love!

PIN these easy Santa Hat Cupcakes to try later!

santa hat cupcakes

If you’r looking for a cute, festive, and easy Christmas cupcake recipe to make, these Santa Hat Cupcakes are perfect! Made with doctored up cake mix cupcakes, an easy homemade buttercream frosting, and fresh strawberries for the Santa Hats. Christmas time is made for baking and enjoying your favorite treats so be sure to add this recipe to your list this year.

These cute cupcakes are perfect for your next holiday party, December birthday parties, Santa themed parties, a Christmas dessert, or to leave out for Santa on Christmas Eve (Santa would LOVE this treat 😉 along with these Santa cookies).

Another adorable Christmas cupcake idea to make this holiday season are these Snowman Cupcakes. If super cute cupcakes are your thing, you’ll love these cute Witch Hat Cupcakes too!

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Easy Christmas dessert: This cupcake recipe is made with boxed cake mix and it only takes minutes to assemble the Santa hats.

Portable: These cupcakes can easily be transferred if you are bringing them to a Christmas party, classroom party, work, or pack them for a lunch box treat. Place cupcakes in an airtight container or cupcake carrying tray to bring them anywhere.

Kid-friendly: These festive cupcakes are so much fun for kids to make. They can help make the cupcakes or assemble the Santa hats.

Fun Christmas cupcake: The Santa hats on top of these cupcakes make these so adorable, fun, and festive. Who wouldn’t love a festive treat on Christmas?

Customizable: Use your favorite cupcake and frosting for this recipe.

Chocolate cupcakes with strawberries on top.

key ingredients

Chocolate cupcakes: Use your favorite brand or make your own homemade cupcakes from scratch. We use cake mix and doctor it up with a few extra cupcake ingredients.
Buttercream frosting: We make our own homemade frosting from scratch with a super easy recipe made with softened butter, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and milk. You can also use canned frosting if you prefer or any other type of white frosting, vanilla frosting, or cream cheese frosting.
Fresh strawberries: Used to make Santa’s hat on top of the cupcakes.

how to make santa hat cupcakes

Prepare cupcake batter: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Combine the cake mix, eggs, oil, milk, sour cream, and vanilla in a large bowl. Beat with a hand mixer for about 2 minutes.

Bake cupcakes: Place cupcake liners in a muffin tin and fill your cupcake liners about 3⁄4 the way full with the batter. Bake for about 18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean then place cupcakes on a wire rack.

Make buttercream frosting: While cupcakes are baking, prepare the frosting. In a separate bowl with an electric mixer or stand mixer beat together softened butter with the vanilla for 5 minutes. The longer you mix, the smoother and fluffier your frosting will be. Add the powdered sugar and mix. Add milk as needed if the frosting is too dry.

how to frost santa hat cupcakes

Add the frosting to a piping bag fitted with a metal tip or add to a large ziplock and cut off a corner. Once the cupcakes have cooled completely, pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes.

Place the strawberry with the stem cut off upside down onto the frosted cupcakes. Top the tip of the strawberry with a small dot of frosting to complete the Santa hat look. Enjoy!

recipe tips & variations

You can make your cupcakes any way you wish: It’s always easier to use box cake mix but homemade cupcakes from scratch are always delicious. I like to use chocolate cake mix to get a dark look but white, yellow, funfetti, and devil’s food cake red velvet cupcakes, and brownies will also work.
Change up the cupcake liners: You can use any color of cupcake paper liners. They have cute Christmas themed cupcake liners that would be perfect.
Santa Hat Brownies: You can also use brownies instead of cupcakes. Cut brownies into squares as the base and decorate as you normally would for the cupcakes.
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 to assemble Santa hats when ready to serve.
If you use canned frosting, I recommend letting the frosting chill after you color it for 20 minutes in the refrigerator before piping onto cupcakes. This will make the frosting easier to pipe and swirl when it’s a little more firm.
Gluten-free cupcakes: Use a gluten-free cupcake mix to bake the cupcakes.
Mini marshmallow pom pom: Make these extra festive by adding mini marshmallows to the top of the hat with frosting.
Make snow: Add white sprinkles to the tops of the Santa hats to make it look like snow. This would be fun for kids to do!

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. Just be sure they are completely thawed before decorating.