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These Cotton Candy Cupcakes are fun, extremely delicious, and full of classic cotton candy flavor! Theyโre perfect for celebrations and your kids will love them!
If you like these candy themed cupcakes, you should also try my delicious Snickers Cupcakes!


Cotton Candy Cupcake Recipe
So itโs been a while since Iโve talked about football. Perhaps youโve even forgotten which team I root for. Well despite living in Atlanta, Iโm a massive Carolina Panthers fan. I grew up in Charlotte, NC and have been going to Panthers games since they started. Like literally since before they had a stadium and they played at Clemson stadium. My dad would pile us all in the car and drive us to South Carolina for every home game.
And my love goes even deeper. My first crush was a Panthers football player. I was in 5th grade. His name was Kerry Collins. Our very first quarterback. #truestory
In fact, just to get even more embarrassing, Iโll tell you that I met him once in a parking lot and got his autograph. And cried. Like ugly cried. Like I cried so hard all I could do was hand him the paper and pen and cry some more. Oh the joys of being 11. ๐
I canโt even count the number of games Iโve been too, the amount of rain Iโve been soaked while watching a game (donโt leave your seats!), the times Iโve screamed and banged on chairs until I couldnโt scream any more.
But guys, there have been a lot of bad seasons. Like, bad. Brutal as theyโve been, Iโve been watching them all. Which makes this season that much more fun to watch. In case you donโt follow football, the Panthers are now 6-0. They won again last night and it was a beautiful thing. I am super pumped that they are kicking butt, but also terrified more and more every week. Itโs so much pressure! Ahh!!
But itโs also exciting. Kind of like these cupcakes. I mean really, top a cupcake with cotton candy and who doesnโt get excited? In fact, when we lived in South Florida, one of our favorite places to get sushi was a restaurant where dessert was green cotton candy. It was kind of a swanky place, but they made cotton candy so glamorous in a super tall glass. Totally awesome.
So yea, cotton candy. Even sushi-loving adults love it.
How to Make Cotton Candy Cupcakes
These cupcakes get their cotton candy flavor from extract. You could also use cotton candy flavoring. The flavoring is more for candy and has more of a syrup-y consistency, but itโll do the job. I also tend to find that in stores more than the extract.
I actually tried to be super clever in my first version of these. You see, I like to try and find ways of using ingredients that arenโt going to be hard to find. Not only do I want to make your life easier, but I also want to make mine easier. And cotton candy extract and the powder you use to make cotton candy arenโt as easy to find as actual cotton candy. Actual cotton candy is in our grocery stores on the end of the checkout aisles. No doubt to tempt your kids as you wait in line.
So I actually added a bunch of cotton candy to milk to โmeltโ it into liquid form. It seemed totally brilliant in theory right? Had to be tried. But sadly the flavor just wasnโt strong enough and the color was not cute. Not at all.
So alas, the extract/flavoring had to be done. I tried to avoid it. If you can find it in stores โ yay!! If not, hereโs a link to the cotton candy extract or cotton candy flavoring. Take your pick. If you go with the flavoring, itโs fairly small so youโll probably want to get 3 of them.
The cupcakes are nice and easy to make. Once the batter is put together, youโll separate it into two bowls and die each one with some icing color to get pink and blue. You could also use some regular food die, if you prefer. I just like to using the icing color in both the cupcakes and the icing so that the shades more closely resemble each other. Youโll add a little bit of each color batter to each cupcake and bake them.
Youโll do something very similar with the icing. Make one batch of icing, then split it into two bowls to die it. To get the two-toned icing swirl, add the blue to one piping bag and the pink to another. Then put both piping bags inside another bag fitted with one tip, shown below.
To top the cupcakes off, you can use actual cotton candy or cotton candy flavored suckers. I kind of love them both. I actually got the suckers at CVS, but Iโve seen them at lots of stores. The cotton candy is perfect too. You could also do like I did and use both. ๐
I will note though that if you make the cupcakes ahead of time, Iโd recommend adding the suckers and cotton candy shortly before setting out or serving. After these sat in an air tight container for a few hours, the moisture from the cupcakes started to โmeltโ the cotton candy. And after a few more hours, it got the suckers all moist too. Seriously, donโt to try to tell me these cupcakes are moist. They melt suckers. #imnotkidding
More Cupcake Recipes
- Conversation Heart Cupcakes
- Funfetti Popcorn Marshmallow Treat Cupcakes
- Unicorn Cupcakes
- Lucky Charms Cupcakes with Cereal Milk
- Homemade Funfetti Cupcakes
Cotton Candy Cupcakes Recipe
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 18 minutes
- Total Time: 48 minutes
- Yield: 12-14 Cupcakes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
These Cotton Candy Cupcakes are fun, extremely delicious, and full of classic cotton candy flavor! Theyโre perfect for celebrations and your kids will love them!
Ingredients
CUPCAKES
- 1 2/3 cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 3 egg whites
- 1 1/2 tsp cotton candy extract or flavor
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup milk
- 3/4 cup salted butter, melted and cooled
- Pink/burgundy icing color
- Royal blue/cornflower blue icing color
FROSTING
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/2 cup shortening
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tsp cotton candy extract
- 2โ3 tbsp water or cream
- Pink/burgundy icing color
- Royal blue/cornflower blue icing color
- Cotton candy or cotton candy flavored suckers, for decorating
Instructions
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Cupcake
- Calories: 516
- Sugar: 53.4 g
- Sodium: 128.7 mg
- Fat: 27.2 g
- Carbohydrates: 66.1 g
- Protein: 3.4 g
- Cholesterol: 90.1 mg
Categories
Enjoy!
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I can not find any place that sells cotton candy extract! I have tried Walmart, Target, Shop Rite, Michaels, Hobby Lobby, Party City and Haars. The only place is on line. Why is this so hard to find? Is it very expensive? Is it hard to make? Can anyone help me with this? I would like to buy it in person but it is impossible to find.
Yea, specialty ones like that I usually have to get online. You can find the cotton candy extract on Amazon.
These cupcakes look amazing! Iโd love to try them sometime. Just wondering, have you ever considered using actual cotton candy sugar (the type of sugar used to make cotton candy in a cotton candy machine), like maybe you could substitute it for regular sugar? I donโt know how that would make them taste, but Iโm curious if it would give them that cotton candy flavor without having to go to the trouble of buying an extract. Just a suggestion! I think I might try that sometime, and see if it gives them enough flavor.
I didnโt test it. You could certainly try it. Hard to know how itโd do without trying it.
Do u add the dry ingredients to the wet? It jus says add egg ect โฆIโm just assuming you add the dry after you mix the wet but wanted to make sure
The ingredients are combined to the steps two through four. The dry ingredients first, then all the wet except for the butter, then the butter.
Can this be used as cake instead?
You could. Youโd probably want to double it for a full layer cake. Keep in mind that itโll also be on the denser side.
Can you replace the shortening in the frosting with something else or leave it out?
Yes, more butter.
I only need 12 cupcakes, can i just add cotton candy extract to my base โwhiteโ cake?
I would think so. Should be ok.
Can you make these ahead of time and freeze (the cupcakes only)
That should be fine. I always recommend defrosting things in the fridge.
Well thatโs strange because I tried it and was more worth than waiting so long to get an extract. I love the method I used! And I love your recipe!
Thanks and keep posting
Cupcakes and lots of cotton candy
How do I powder the cotton candy? And how much did you use?
Hi tthere, I am a volunteer editor at wikiHow, which is a website where volunteers from around the world are building the worldโs largest, free how-to manual. You can learn more at https://wikiHow.com.
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Hi can I just add normal cotton candy into both the frosting and batter I searched everywhere for the extract and flavoring and I canโt find it anywhere and I donโt order online one more thing can I powder cotton candy?
Thanks reply asap
Hi tried so hard to find cotton candy flavoring but I just couldnโt.????. Instead can I just well Iโm not sure about this but can I powder normal cotton candy and then add it in?
Iโm not the person that wants to pay online for it!! But anywayโฆ.
Thanks for the WOW cupcakes.
Iโm not sure how the powder would do. You could definitely try it.
So if I just add cotton candy into the mixture would that work without the powdering
I donโt think so. I tried dissolving cotton candy into the milk before adding to the batter and the result wasnโt great.
These cupcakes are just perfection But is there any possible replacement for the sour cream wouldnโt it make the cupcake sour if we added that?
Please reply ASAP
No, it doesnโt make the cupcake sour, it adds moisture. You could try replacing it will additional milk if you prefer though.
Plain greek yogurt is another great substitute for sour cream!
these cupcakes look so fantastic with the candies, I love them, and surely my kids will ask me to make them if they see this post
Oh my goodness! These cupcakes are insane! I love the pretty swirls of frosting and cotton candy flavor.
Where did you find cotton candy extract?
I ordered it on amazon.
I canโt let my kids see these pics. They would totally lose it. I mean, Iโm an adult and these are crazy exciting, so how would a kid react? Probably like you when you met that football dude. Theyโd just stand there and cry until I gave them a cupcake!
These are so pretty. I love cotton candy, so much that I was given a table top cotton candy machine one time for Christmas, I was sooo happy, I always wanted to make it on my own.