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How to Make Mini Cupcakes from a Cake Mix

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Here are the instructions for making cute mini cupcakes from a cake mix, because they never seem to put them on the box. Check out a couple of simple ways to decorate them while you’re here!

Collage of various images of mini cupcakes.

Little cupcakes are so much fun! They are a perfect way satisfy your sweet tooth with just a little something or a fabulous way to get to taste multiple mini desserts.

You can dress them up for special events or make the cute for birthday parties. The great thing is they are so easy to make and the bake time is really short.

Today I’ll share how to make them quick and easy from a cake mix.  Plus I’ll show you a couple super cute and fast ways to decorate them.

Mini cupcake pan filled with paper liners.

Little Dude’s birthday has really been a drawn out affair this year.  He had a socially distant parade on the day of and several rounds of birthday treats along the way.

We were finally able to have his birthday party at the gymnastics center recently. We kept it small to close friends and family… but of course that meant more birthday treats.

He requested mini cupcakes for this adventure, lemon and vanilla.  Usually I would have whipped something up from scratch but with everything going on it seemed simpler to reach for a cake mix.

They never think to put the mini cupcake bake times on the box! It’s really a shame too, because they are super cute and perfect for so many reasons!

Small cookie scoop scooping cake batter into mini cupcake liners in pan.

So I thought I would share the directions with you to make it easier for you to whip some up. Plus I’ll show you how I decorated them.

What you’ll need

Pan filled with freshly baked mini cupcakes.

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 350 F
  • Line your mini muffin tin with cupcake papers
  • Make the cake mix according to the directions on the box
  • Use a small cookie scoop to transfer 1 Tablespoon of cupcake batter into each liner. Each well should be about 2/3 full.
  • Bake for 15 minutes. (If you are baking multiple trays at once or you have a hotspot in your oven, you’ll want to rotate them half way through.) The tops should spring back when lightly touched with a finger.
  • If you don’t have enough trays to bake them all at once, cover the remaining batter with plastic wrap and refrigerate until you’re ready to use it.
  • Cool completely before frosting. You can decorate them as soon as they are cool, or store them in an airtight container at room temperature until you are ready to finish them.
Hand holding mini cupcake topped with white buttercream coated in little colorful sprinkles.

Decorating Your Mini Cupcakes

The sprinkle filled mini vanilla cupcakes needed a fun colorful finish. So I whipped up some simple crusting buttercream and went to work.

You can either scoop or pipe the frosting on and then dunk them in nonpareils. The final look is super cute and it doesn’t take very long to whip through the whole batch.

For the mini lemon cupcakes I used lemon sweetened condensed milk buttercream. That lemon frosting recipe is super popular so I knew it would be a hit.

Hand holding mini lemon cupcake topped with ruffled swirl of lemon frosting.

You can easily use these instructions to make red velvet cupcakes topped with cream cheese frosting. Or make mini chocolate cupcakes with a dollop of peanut butter buttercream.

I just used a large open star tip and let it do the work for me. Hold the tip straight up and down over the cupcake with about a half inch of clearance between the cake and the tip.

Apply even pressure until the frosting blob is the size you want.  Release pressure before pulling up on the piping bag. Easy peasy!

tray of mini cupcakes with lemon frosting swirls or sprinkle coated white frosting

Frequently Asked Questions

How many mini cupcakes does a box make?

A box of cake mix makes about 72 mini cupcakes.

What is the baking time for mini cupcakes?

These mini cupcakes take about 15 minutes to bake. You may want to check them a minute or two earlier because all ovens are different. They are done when the tops spring back after being lightly touched with a finger.

If you are looking for another fun bite sized cupcake recipe, try making mini apple butter cupcakes as well!

Love this easy recipe for delicious cupcakes? Give it a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ review in the recipe card below!

Collage of various images of mini cupcakes.

How to Make Mini Cupcakes from a Cake Mix

Carlee
Here are the instructions for making cute mini cupcakes from a cake mix, because they never seem to put them on the box. Check out a couple of simple ways to decorate them while you're here!
4.82 from 37 ratings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 72 mini cupcakes
Calories 77 kcal

Ingredients
 

  • 1 cake mix and the ingredients called for on box

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350°F
  • Line your mini cupcake pan with cupcake papers
  • Make the cake mix according to the directions on the box
  • Use a small cookie scoop to transfer 1 Tablespoon of batter into each liner. Each well should be about ⅔ full.
  • Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes. (If you are baking multiple trays at once or you have a hotspot in your oven, you'll want to rotate them half way through.) The tops should spring back when lightly touched with a finger.
  • If you don't have enough trays to bake them all at once, cover the remaining batter with plastic wrap and refrigerate until you're ready to use it.
  • Cool completely before frosting.

Video

Nutrition

Serving: 1servingCalories: 77kcalCarbohydrates: 6gSodium: 53mgSugar: 3g
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Recipe Rating




Jean T

Wednesday 23rd of August 2023

What piping tip did you use to make the swirl?

Carlee

Thursday 24th of August 2023

I used a multi-point star like a Wilton 8b.

Mary Ann Tortorich

Saturday 22nd of July 2023

These were easy and only having one mini cup cake pan, I felt I could make enough for church and save the leftover batter for some volunteers the next day. Unless I missed it, I wonder how long to keep the batter in the refrigerator. Second, how do you store the cupcakes. Best site to keep on mini cup cakes.

Carlee

Saturday 22nd of July 2023

Both are great questions. Cake batter is best used fresh, but you can store it in the refrigerator for up to 48 hours. I've heard you can freeze cake batter as well, but I have not tried it. Baked cupcakes can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 4-5 days or you can freeze them for longer storage.

Giovannia

Saturday 22nd of April 2023

These are amazing, thank u for showing how much time to cook them. Taking them to my Sunday School Class.❤️

Carlee

Saturday 22nd of April 2023

How fun, I'm sure they'll love them!

Jo Goedert

Saturday 3rd of December 2022

Thank you so much for posting this. I was desperate.

Carlee

Saturday 3rd of December 2022

I am so glad it helped!

Anna

Sunday 13th of November 2022

Thank you for posting this because like you said, bake tunes are not on the cake mix box! ♥️

Carlee

Sunday 13th of November 2022

I am so glad it helped!