Ice Cream Cupcakes

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These festive Ice Cream Cupcakes are calling your name. Made of moist chocolate cupcakes stuffed with ice cream, topped with fluffy whipped cream, and dipped in chocolate, they are a summer dessert dream.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• So festive. These are some of the most celebratory cupcakes I have ever seen (except for maybe my Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes). They’re perfect for a summer birthday, baby shower, or [insert another warm weather soiree here]. Cheers!
• Great textures. Between the crunch of the chocolate shell, the fluffy whipped cream, the moist cupcakes, and the smooth ice cream, there are so many different, pleasing textures in each of these little desserts. A sensory sensation.
• Highly customizable. There are about a zillion different ways to make these cakes your own. Different cupcake flavors, ice cream flavors, whipped cream flavors, and more. Check out the section below titled “Variation Ideas” for inspiration.

Ingredient Notes

Here’s what you’ll need to make these ice cream-filled cupcakes. Have a look at the recipe card below for exact measurements.

Chocolate Cupcakes

• All-purpose flour – Or a quality 1:1 gluten-free flour.
• Natural unsweetened cocoa – Dutch-processed cocoa powder will also work. You’ll get a slightly richer chocolate flavor.
• Baking soda – For the perfect rise.
• Salt – You need a little salt to balance out the sweetness of the cupcakes.
• Unsalted butter – The butter should be at room temperature. If it is too cold, it won’t cream properly with the oil, vanilla, and sugar.
• Vegetable oil – I used a little vegetable oil in addition to the butter because it adds some extra moisture to the cupcakes that the butter alone can’t provide.
• Sugar
• Vanilla extract
• Eggs
• Milk – I generally use whole milk, but 2% will also do the trick.

Filling and Whipped Cream

• Ice Cream – Pick your favorite flavor and let it sit out at room temperature for a while until softened (but not totally melted).
• Heavy whipping cream – The whipping cream should be cold. Otherwise, it won’t whip up and hold volume properly.
• Powdered sugar – The powdered sugar adds sweetness to the whipped cream and stabilizes it so it holds volume.
• Natural unsweetened cocoa powder (optional) – If you want to make chocolate whipped cream, replace half of the powdered sugar with natural unsweetened cocoa powder.
• Vanilla extract
• Pink gel icing color – You don’t have to color your whipped cream, but I think it makes for a fun little twist. I went with pink, but use any color you’d like.

Chocolate Coating

• Semi-sweet chocolate – You’ll want to chop the chocolate pretty fine for optimal melting. Milk chocolate or dark chocolate would also work.
• Vegetable oil – The vegetable oil makes the melted chocolate perfect for dipping.
• Sprinkles – The sprinkles are optional, but they make these cupcakes feel extra festive.

How to Make Ice Cream Cupcakes

Time to tie on your apron! Here’s a quick look at how to make these fun, festive cupcakes. Be sure to scroll to the recipe card below for more detailed instructions.

• Prep. Preheat the oven to 350°F and prepare a cupcake pan with cupcake liners.
• Combine the dry ingredients. Whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.
• Combine the wet ingredients. Beat the butter, oil, sugar, and vanilla extract until light in color and fluffy. Mix in the eggs, one at a time.
• Put it all together. Mix half of the dry ingredients into the batter, followed by the milk and then the remaining dry ingredients.
• Bake. Fill each cupcake liner 3/4 full with batter and bake for 15-17 minutes.
• Cool. Allow the cupcakes to cool for a couple of minutes in the pan before transferring them to a cooling rack.
• Core. Use a knife or a cupcake corer to remove the centers from the fully cooled cupcakes.
• Fill. Fill each cupcake with 2-3 tablespoons of softened ice cream.
• Chill. Allow the cupcakes to chill in the freezer while you make the whipped cream.
• Make the whipped cream. Beat the heavy whipping cream, powdered sugar, vanilla, cocoa powder (if you want chocolate whipped cream), and gel icing (if using) on high speeds until stiff peaks form.
• Decorate. Pipe the whipped cream onto the cupcakes.
• Freeze. Freeze the cupcakes until the ice cream and whipped cream are very firm.
• Melt. Combine the chocolate and vegetable oil and microwave in 15-second intervals, stirring between each, until smooth. Cool for a few minutes.
• Dip. Dip the whipped cream portion of the cupcakes into the chocolate and garnish with sprinkles.
• Freeze. Keep the cupcakes in the freezer until they are ready to serve.
• Serve. Remove the cupcakes from the freezer ~15 minutes before serving so they can soften a bit.

Tips for Success

• Room temperature butter. Allow your butter to soften at room temperature before using. If it is too cold or too melted, it won’t cream properly with the oil, sugar, and vanilla (see my next point).
• Don’t skimp on the creaming time. When creaming together the butter, oil, sugar, and vanilla, do so until the mixture has significantly lightened in color and become fluffy. This process incorporates air into the batter, helping to ensure your cupcakes don’t turn out overly dense.
• Don’t over-mix. When mixing the dry ingredients into the batter, mix just until combined and no more. Mixing past this point will cause the glutens in the flour to overdevelop, ending you with tough cupcakes.
• Scrape down the sides of the bowl. When mixing ingredients into the cupcake batter (and also the whipped cream), scrape down the sides of the bowl intermittently to ensure all of the ingredients make it in.
• Cool completely. Allow the cupcakes to cool completely before coring and filling them with ice cream. If they are still warm, they are more likely to fall apart when you core them AND they are certain to melt the ice cream.
• Let the ice cream soften. Let the ice cream sit out for a bit before using it to fill the cupcakes. It’ll be much easier to scoop it into the cored cupcakes if it’s had a chance to soften a bit.
• Cold heavy cream. The heavy cream should be cold. Otherwise, it won’t hold volume properly and you’ll end up with flat whipped cream.
• Let things firm up. Before dipping the cupcakes in chocolate, let them chill in the freezer until the whipped cream is totally firm. Otherwise, it will melt and lose its shape when you dip them in the warm chocolate.
• Chill. Chill. Chill. Keep these cupcakes as cold as possible from the moment you fill them with ice cream. Pop them in the freezer after filling them with ice cream, after adding the whipped cream, and again after dipping them in chocolate. You don’t want that ice cream to melt!
• Choose your cup wisely. For the cup you pour your chocolate dipping sauce into, choose something small that’s relatively deep. You don’t want the whipped cream to hit the bottom when you dip it. I used a juice glass, and it was the perfect size.
• Work quickly. If you’re adding sprinkles to your chocolate-dipped cupcakes, add them immediately after dipping. The chocolate hardens fast and, once it hardens, the sprinkles won’t stick.

Variation Ideas

• Try a different cupcake batter. Not a chocolate person? You can easily make these ice cream cupcakes with a different cupcake batter. Try using the batter for my Red Velvet Cupcakes, these White Cupcakes, or even my Peanut Butter Cupcakes!
• Play with whipped cream. I used pink gel icing color for my whipped cream, but you can use any color you’d like. You could also swap half of the powdered sugar out for natural unsweetened cocoa powder, as mentioned above, to make chocolate whipped cream. My Strawberry Whipped Cream would also be fun.
• Frosting instead of whipped cream. I love using light, fluffy whipped cream for these cupcakes, but you could totally switch things up and use Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting, this Strawberry Frosting, or a simple Vanilla Buttercream.
• Ice cream fun. You can use any flavor of ice cream you’d like to fill the cupcakes. Grab some from the store or make your own. My No Churn Birthday Cake Ice Cream or this No-Churn Strawberry Ice Cream would be awesome!

How to Store

Seal any leftover cupcakes in a single layer in an airtight cupcake carrier or another airtight container that’s tall enough to accommodate them. You can store them in the freezer for up to 3 months.

More Ice Cream Desserts

• Ice Cream Cake Recipe
• No Churn Cake Batter Ice Cream Pie
• Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches
• Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream Pie
• Peanut Butter Chocolate Ice Cream Cone Cake
• Oreo Brookie Ice Cream Cake

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