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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.

hands holding 2 mini cupcakes decorated differently.

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.

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.

mini cupcake tray filled with paper liners

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!

tray of mini cupcake tins filled with batter

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

tray of mini cupcakes fresh from the oven

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 with frosting coated in small 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.

hand holding mini lemon cupcake with swirl of lemon frosting

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.

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 some with sprinkle topping and some with frosting swirls

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!

Yield: 72 mini cupcakes

How to Make Mini Cupcakes from a Cake Mix

Collage of various images of mini cupcakes.

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!

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 cake mix and the ingredients called for on box

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F
  2. Line your mini cupcake pan with cupcake papers
  3. Make the cake mix according to the directions on the box
  4. Use a small cookie scoop to transfer 1 Tablespoon of batter into each liner. Each well should be about 2/3 full.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. Cool completely before frosting.

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Nutrition Information:

Yield:

72

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 77Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 53mgCarbohydrates: 6gFiber: 0gSugar: 3gProtein: 0g

All nutritional information is estimated and will depend on the exact ingredients you use.

Did you make this recipe?

I'd love to see it! Share a picture on Instagram or Pinterest and tag me @carleecooks to let me know how it went!

Little cupcakes are so much fun! They are a perfect way to get just a little something sweet or a great way to have one and still have room to try something else. 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.

Thanks for sharing!

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!

mommar6

Monday 22nd of June 2020

I love all of your “scratch” cake recipes, but sometimes it is nice to fall back on a box mix. These sure turned out cute.

Carlee

Thursday 2nd of July 2020

Sometimes you just have to grab the box!

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