Watermelon Cupcakes

Watermelon Cupcakes are perfect for summer gatherings and pool parties. They are colorful, fun and easy to make! Decorated with buttercream frosting and topped with mini chocolate chips for watermelon “seeds”.

You can make these delicious cupcakes for any event, but they are particularly great for summer parties. This recipe is vegetarian and kid friendly. Check out my Red Velvet Cupcakes and Apple Cinnamon Muffins for other ideas.

Why This Recipe Works

• Easy to make: You’ll get fancy bakery quality cupcakes following this easy to make, step by step recipe.
• Flavorful: This recipe uses a packet of watermelon kool-aid for the frosting, which gives the fresh sweet taste of watermelon for the buttercream frosting.
• Right Buttercream Texture: Using Kool-Aid in the frosting gives it desired watermelon taste while keeping the texture smooth.

Ingredients

For this recipe, you’ll need the following ingredients:

• Sugar – for this recipe, use granulated sugar. It adds flavor and sweetness to the recipe.
• Unsalted butter – I always use unsalted butter for desserts to control the amount of salt in them. It helps with leavening and makes the cupcakes tender.
• Eggs – they should be at room temperature to blend thoroughly in the mixture.
• Yogurt – both plain yogurt and Greek yogurt work here. It adds moisture and a nice tangy flavor that balances the overall taste.
• Heavy cream – for frosting.
• Pure Vanilla Extract – try to choose the highest quality of vanilla extract that you can afford, as this results in a more delicious cupcakes.
• Dry ingredients – flour, baking powder and salt: simple ingredients that you’ll find in the pantry.
• Green and red food coloring – to brighten the green for cake batter and the red for frosting.
• Watermelon frosting – for the buttercream cupcake frosting, use a packet of watermelon Kool-Aid. Mix it with butter, powdered sugar, vanilla and heavy cream.
• Mini Chocolate Chips – They are added to look like black seeds of a watermelon.

Complete list of ingredients with amounts and instructions can be found in the recipe card below.

How To Make Watermelon Cupcakes

1. Preheat the oven. Start by preheating the oven to 350°F/180°C. In the meantime, line the muffin pan with green cupcake liners.
2. Mix dry ingredients. Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl and set aside.
3. Cream wet ingredients. Cream the butter with sugar in a large bowl, until it becomes smooth and lighter in color, about 1-2 minutes. Add eggs one at a time to make sure they are well incorporated in the batter. Add vanilla extract and yogurt to the mixture and mix well, then set aside.
4. Combine. Add about ⅓ of dry ingredients into wet ingredients and mix using electric mixer. Add the remaining of dry ingredients and mix until flour is incorporated in the mixture. Do not overmix.
5. Add food coloring. Add green food coloring to get the desired green color.
6. Bake. Fill the muffin liners ½ – ⅔ full with batter and bake in the preheated oven for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before starting decorating.

1. Frosting. Prepare watermelon buttercream cupcake frosting by creaming butter in a bowl, then gradually adding powdered sugar and kool-Aid powder. Mix till the frosting is smooth. Add vanilla, heavy cream and salt. Mix till smooth. As watermelon kool aid will not add much color to the frosting, add one drop of red food coloring to get the desired watermelon shade.
2. Decorate. Put the frosting into a piping bag fitted with a large star tip. Make a swirl on the top of each cupcake starting at the center until you reach the edge of the cupcake. Then tip more frosting on the base layer in a swirling motion till you reach the center again. Finally, decorate with mini chocolate chips to look like watermelon “seeds”.

Tips For Making Watermelon Cupcakes

• Do not overmix the cupcakes batter so they turn out fluffy and moist.
• Add more heavy cream to the frosting if needed, to get the right consistency for piping.
• Decorate cupcakes with frosting after they have completely cooled down, to avoid the frosting from melting.
• You can add any flavor of Kool aid powder to the buttercream frosting that suits your taste or theme better. You can chose raspberry, cherry, pink lemonade and strawberry, to mention a few.
• Store cupcakes on the counter for up to 3-4 days.

Frequently Asked Questions

More Summer Recipes

Here you can find more recipes that you can enjoy during summer. For main dishes, try these Grilled Chicken Tenders and Veggie Kabobs with Halloumi. This Pasta Salad is amazing with Avocado Cilantro Dressing. As for dessert, the Strawberry Rhubarb Pie and this Chocolate Cheesecake will make your summer gathering an unforgettable one.

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