4th of July Cupcakes
These easy 4th of July Cupcakes start with a simple white cake mix and are layered with red, white, and blue batter for a festive patriotic surprise inside. Finished with fluffy frosting and colorful sprinkles, they're the perfect dessert for barbecues, cookouts, and Independence Day celebrations.
Servings 24
Equipment
Ingredients
For the Cupcakes
- 1 box white cake mix
- Ingredients called for on the box typically eggs, oil, and water
- Red food coloring
- Blue food coloring
For Decorating
- 1 container vanilla frosting or about 2 cups homemade frosting
- Red white, and blue sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat the oven according to the cake mix package directions. Line a standard muffin tin with 24 cupcake liners.
- Prepare the cake batter according to the package instructions.
- Divide the batter evenly among three bowls.
- Leave one bowl white. Tint one bowl red and the remaining bowl blue, stirring each just until the color is evenly distributed.
- Spoon a small amount of blue batter into each cupcake liner.
- Add a layer of white batter on top of the blue.
- Finish with a layer of red batter. Fill each liner about 2/3 full.
- Bake according to the package directions, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Allow the cupcakes to cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and cool completely.
- Frost the cooled cupcakes with vanilla frosting and decorate with patriotic sprinkles.
Notes
For the cleanest layers:
- Use separate spoons for each color.
- Avoid stirring or swirling the batter once it's layered.
- Fill each cupcake liner with similar amounts of each color.