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It’s officially football season, so it’s time to learn how to make these easy football cupcakes! A delicious cupcake is topped with green buttercream grass and a chocolate buttercream football, complete with white laces! Perfect for football watching, parties or a Super Bowl party!
Why You’ll Love These Easy Football Cupcakes
Whether you show up for the football watching or just for the food, you’ve gotta eat and you are going to love these cupcakes. They are delicious and fun for both kids and adults. The chocolate cupcakes are super simple to make. No mixer needed. Plus, the buttercream is very straightforward to make. And truth be told, you could really use any cupcake. These are really all about the frosting.
Speaking of frosting, they are also quick and easy to decorate. They look cute, but aren’t hard. You are making a glorified squiggle for the football, a few straight lines for the laces and a little grass, which really just requires the right piping tip. You could even get your kids involved!
What You’ll Need
Cupcakes
As mentioned above, you really could use any cupcake – even store-bought! I used my favorite homemade chocolate cupcakes, but if you aren’t feeling chocolate, you could switch it up. I have two vanilla cupcake options – one butter-based homemade vanilla cupcake and an oil-based moist vanilla cupcake. You could even make a marble cupcake! A couple other classics would be red velvet cupcakes or funfetti cupcakes. You could swap out the sprinkles for your favorite team’s colors. And for fall, why not pumpkin cupcakes?
If you go with my chocolate cupcakes, here’s what you’ll need.
- All-purpose flour – Be sure to measure this properly to get the right result. I always recommend a food scale, but the spoon and level method is fine as well.
- Sugar – Regular granulated sugar.
- Unsweetened cocoa powder – Regular unsweetened cocoa is used in these cupcakes. You can used Dutch cocoa, but they don’t rise quite as high, so you’d need to fill them a little more and you’d probably get one or two less cupcakes.
- Baking soda – This gives the cupcakes the most amazingly tender texture.
- Salt – This enhances the flavors already present in the cupcakes. Without it, your cupcakes would be bland.
- Egg – Large eggs, not medium or extra large.
- Milk – You can use regular milk (whole or 2%) or buttermilk. They all work! Buttermilk will make the cupcakes even more tender, but they don’t need it. They are so moist and tender even without it.
- Vegetable oil – The use of oil in this recipe makes these cupcakes extra moist. It also means we don’t need to cream any butter and therefore don’t need a mixer.
- Vanilla extract
- Hot water – The hot water allows the cocoa to “bloom”, which brings out a richer chocolate flavor in the cake. Cooler water will work just fine but the cocoa flavor will not be as strong in the finished product. The water also adds moisture without adding more fat that would weigh the cupcakes down and make them more dense.
Buttercream
- Unsalted butter – The butter must be at room temperature otherwise you run the risk of a lumpy frosting.
- Powdered sugar – For volume and consistency. Feel free to reduce the amount to your preference, if needed. Just keep in mind that you will be piping with it, so it needs to be thick enough to hold it’s shape.
- Vanilla Extract
- Heavy Whipping Cream – You could also use milk, it’s just not as creamy and you won’t need as much.
- Salt – You don’t have to add a touch of salt, but I do like the additional flavor it adds. Plus, it cuts down the sweetness a bit.
- Unsweetened cocoa powder – Regular unsweetened cocoa is what I use, but feel free to use a darker version as well.
- Green Gel Icing Color – I would recommend either Wilton gels or Americolor. One thing that’s nice about the Americolor is the squeeze bottle.
Supplies
Let’s talk about the supplies you need. In addition to some cupcakes and buttercream, you’ll need a few things.
- Piping Bags – There are lots of options out there and you can usually find them in stores like Walmart, Michaels and Hobby Lobby. I tend to use Wilton brand. I find that off brand bags on Amazon aren’t quite as sturdy.
- Couplers – Again, I tend to use Wilton, but you can certainly try another brand. You can usually find these in store.
- Wilton tip 21 – Piping tips can be hit or miss in stores. In general, the ones used for these cupcakes are usually available.
- Wilton tip 3 – You could also use number 2 or 4, your laces will just be a little thinner or wider.
- Wilton tip 233 – Also called the “grass tip”.
How To Make Football Cupcakes
Now that you have everything you need, let’s get those cupcakes decorated! Just a few simple steps and you’ll be ready to impress.
Add the chocolate buttercream to a piping bag with the Wilton 21 piping tip. Hold the piping bag at about a 45° angle just above the top of the cupcake. Pipe a zig-zag football onto the cupcake, starting with a smaller end, then gradually creating the wider part of the football in the middle, and then making it small again.
Add the green buttercream to a large piping bag fitted with the Wilton 233 piping tip. Pipe the grass around the footballs. Squeeze the piping bag until the “grass” adheres to the cupcake, then slowly lift the piping bag to let the grass get a taller, then release the pressure and lift up.
Add the white buttercream to a small piping bag fitted with the Wilton 3 piping tip. Pipe the white laces onto the footballs. Make one longer line down the middle of the football, with 3 shorter lines crossing the longer line perpendicularly.
And that’s it. You have beautiful, fun football cupcakes. Time for the party!
How to Store These Cupcakes
Store the cupcakes in an airtight cupcake carrier or in a single layer in an airtight container tall enough to accommodate the frosting. You can store them at room temperature for up to 24 hours, in the fridge for up to 4 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months. They are best enjoyed at room temperature so let them sit on the counter for a bit before biting in.
More Great Football Food
- Cookie Dough Footballs
- Football Game Day Dessert Board
- Buffalo Chicken Sliders
- Pepperoni Rolls
- Million Dollar Dip
- Pepperoni Pizza Dip
- Corn and Bacon Dip
Watch How To Make Football Cupcakes
Print
Football Cupcakes
- Prep Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 18 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 48 minutes
- Yield: 12-14 cupcakes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
It’s officially football season, so it’s time to learn how to make these easy football cupcakes! A delicious cupcake is topped with green buttercream grass and a chocolate buttercream football, complete with white laces! Perfect for football watching, parties or a Super Bowl party!
Ingredients
Chocolate Cupcakes
- 1 cup (130g) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (207g) sugar
- 6 tbsp (43g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup (120ml) milk
- 1/2 cup (120ml) vegetable oil
- 3/4 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (120ml) hot water
Vanilla and Chocolate Buttercream
- 1 ¼ cups (280g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 4 1/2 cups (518g) powdered sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 4–8 tbsp (60-120ml) heavy whipping cream
- Pinch of salt
- 1/2 cup (58g) natural unsweetened cocoa powder
- Green gel icing color
Tools Needed
Instructions
Make the cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 300°F (148°C) and prepare a cupcake pan with liners.
- Add the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt to a large mixing bowl and combine. Set aside.
- Add the egg, milk, vegetable oil and vanilla extract to another medium sized bowl and whisk together to combine.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until well combined.
- Add the water to the batter and mix until well combined. The batter will be very thin.
- Fill the cupcake liners about half way and bake for 18-23 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs.
- Remove the cupcakes from oven and allow to cool for 2 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack to finish cooling.
Make the buttercream
- To make the buttercream, beat the butter until smooth and creamy.
- Add half of the powdered sugar and mix until well combined and smooth.
- Add the vanilla extract, 4 tablespoons of heavy cream and salt and mix until well combined and smooth.
- Add the remaining powdered sugar and beat until smooth and well combined. Add additional heavy cream as needed to get the right consistency of frosting.
- Set aside ¼ cup of the vanilla buttercream to use for the white buttercream. Add about 1 ¼ cups of vanilla buttercream to another bowl and color with the green gel icing color.
- Add the cocoa powder to the remaining buttercream (about 1 ¾ cups) and mix until well combined.
Frost the cupcakes
- Add the chocolate buttercream to a large piping bag fitted with the Wilton 21 piping tip.
- Hold the piping bag at about a 45° angle just above the top of the cupcake. Pipe a zig-zag football onto the cupcake, starting with a smaller end, then gradually creating the wider part of the football in the middle, and then making it small again. Repeat this for every cupcake.
- Add the green buttercream to a large piping bag fitted with the Wilton 233 piping tip. Pipe the grass around the footballs. Squeeze the piping bag until the “grass” adheres to the cupcake, then slowly lift the piping bag to let the grass get a taller, then release the pressure and lift up. Repeat this for every cupcake.
- Add the white buttercream to a small piping bag fitted with the Wilton 3 piping tip. Pipe the white laces onto the footballs. Make one longer line down the middle of the football, with 3 shorter lines crossing the longer line perpendicularly.
- Serve the cupcakes. Store any leftovers in an air-tight container for up to 3-4 days.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 480
- Sugar: 52.7 g
- Sodium: 207.8 mg
- Fat: 26.2 g
- Carbohydrates: 63.3 g
- Protein: 2.9 g
- Cholesterol: 59.5 mg
