Monkey Cupcakes are such a cute dessert idea, you may not want to eat them! These delicious homemade chocolate cupcakes are made with chocolate sanding sugar and vanilla wafer ears! Perfect for a monkey themed birthday party!
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Even though I haven’t eaten any (real) animals in the last few months, I seem to enjoy making really cute animal cupcakes (like penguins & pandas) and eating their faces.
Our nephew had his 3rd birthday party on Saturday and I used that as my excuse to bake them.
MONKEY CUPCAKES
I used the same chocolate cupcake recipe I used in the pandas but this time, I filled the centers with fluffy buttercream. I’ve never said this before, but I think I found an amazing buttercream I like.
Most recipes call for unsalted butter but I like to use salted to balance the sugar.
Total personal preference.
You could also make this with a box cake mix & store bought frosting.
Again, up to you.
Things I learned while making these easy cupcakes:
- Chocolate Sanding Sugar is not super easy to find. I had to go to three Michaels before I found it. I recommend ordering it on Amazon.
- Cutting mini Nilla wafers in half is not easy to do without crushing them. Using a butter knife & even pressure ended up working best for me.
SUPPLIES YOU’LL NEED FOR DECORATING MONKEY CUPCAKES:
- Mini Nilla wafers
- Chocolate Sanding Sugar – I had to try 3 Michaels before I found this so call first if you’re not ordering it
- Candy Eyeballs – I actually think they’re kinda creepy as they come, so I flip them upside down & use black gel icing to make pupils.
- Black gel icing – You could also use melted chocolate, if you prefer.
- Piping bag & tip – Or you could just frost them with a knife – you’re going to cover the frosting with the sanding sugar so it doesn’t need to be perfect, but it does need to be thick enough for you to be able to stick the Nilla wafers into.
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Easy Monkey Cupcakes
Ingredients
For the Chocolate Cupcakes
For the Vanilla Buttercream
- 1.5 sticks salted butter softened
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 3 Tablespoons heavy cream
- 1.5 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
For the Chocolate Cupcakes
- Line your cupcake pans with liners and set aside (I made 24 minis & 10 full size).
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large bowl, mix together the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt with a whisk.
- Add the eggs, oil, vanilla and milk and mix until combined. It will be very thick at this point.
- I switched to a wooden spoon and added the hot water. Mix until fully incorporated. Now batter will be thin.
- Fill the liners about 3/4 full and bake for full size – 12-15 minutes, minis – around 10 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Cool completely before you start decorating.
For the Buttercream
- Make sure you start with softened butter. I used my stand mixer but a hand mixer will work fine, too.
- With the paddle attachment, whip the butter until it starts to get smooth.
- Add the powdered sugar, one cup at a time, on medium speed for 1 to 2 minutes.
- Add the heavy cream and vanilla extract and mix on high for 3 to 4 minutes.
- If you use UNsalted butter, you’ll want to add a pinch of salt. I started with salted butter so there’s no need.
For the Decorating
- Once cooled, core out the center of your cupcakes (if you want to fill them with buttercream). I used some type of apple corer to do this (I’m not sure exactly what it’s intended use is, I just found it in my drawer).
- Using a piping bag (or ziploc bag with a tip), fill the center with some frosting then replace the top. Frost with the buttercream. It doesn’t have to be particularly pretty, you’re going to cover it up with sprinkles anyway.
- Fill a bowl with the sanding sugar, flip the cupcake over and gently smush into the sprinkles to fully coat.
- Cut some vanilla wafers in half for the ears (gently! this part is tricky. they were shooting all over when I was cutting them) and stick on each side of the cupcake.
- Add a whole vanilla wafer for the mouth and use gel icing (or melted chocolate) to draw on the mouth & nose. I gave mine different faces & personalities.
- I bought pre-made eyeballs, but I didn’t like them, so I flipped them over and drew on my own pupils with the icing.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimate and provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying/pasting and/or screenshots of full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Content and photographs are copyright protected.
Or maybe you’ll like…
Panda Cupcakes
Need more ideas? Here are 112 Birthday Cake Ideas for Boys
Oh my goodness these are too cute!! 🙂 Thanks for linking up! 🙂
WOW! These are just too cute! Love the different expressions 🙂
Melissa, holy crap these are cute!! 🙂
Those are the most adorable things EVER. 🙂
So friggin CUTE!!
These are so cute! Love the cute faces. 🙂
These are the cutest little things ever! My sister made some similar for her co-workers at Christmas that looked like reindeers. Love it.
These are so incredibly cute!!! Love the one with the sideways-smirking mouth!
These are so cute! My youngest son loves the Little Monkey books and I know he would get a kick out of these cupcakes! Thanks so much for such a great idea 🙂
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These are just adorable! My 2 year old is really into monkeys right now because she loves Curious George:) These would be great for a birthday party too. Thanks for sharing! So creative:)
Shannon {Cozy Country Living}
http://www.cozycountryliving.com
Okay, pinning!! I found you over at Watch Out Martha!
Want a chance to win a $25 Amazon giftcard? I am cohosting a giveaway! Enter here: http://thefirstyearblog.wordpress.com/2013/03/12/giveaway-with-raising-reagan/
Beth @ The First Year Blog
These are so cute! I am very impressed that you took the time to give them all different expressions. The one with the surprised look would be hard to eat, because I’d keep expecting it to say “NooooooOOOOOOOO”! LOL
I wanted to invite you to join my How To Tuesday link party, if you haven’t already joined . It would be wonderful to have you!
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These are so darn cute! Pinned them. Thanks
These are adorable! How fun!
These are so so cute! I love them! I’ve seen Monkey’s before, but these are so adorable!
Kara
http://www.simplisticallysassy.com
These are just too adorable. I know kids would go crazy over these – me too! I am your newest follower.
Have a great week,
Bev
@http://eclecticredbarn.blogspot.com
Congratulations! You’ve been featured on this week’s Martha Mondays! 🙂 Swing by to pick up a “Featured” button and do a little bragging! 🙂
http://www.watchoutmartha.net/2013/03/martha-mondays-features-318.html
Amanda
http://www.watchoutmartha.net
How do the ears stay in place? Since they are halves doesnt look like they can poked in. They dont slide off? Appreciate your help, planning on making these this wk! Thanks! tinahingorani24@gmail.com
Where do you find candy eyeballs?
Just about anywhere. I’m not sure what area you’re in but I’ve seen them at Meijer, a lot of grocery stores, Michaels, even Five Below. Or Amazon if all else fails =)