Easy Christmas Tree Cupcakes
These Christmas tree cupcakes are the easiest and cutest way to make your store bought cupcakes (or homemade, you overachievers 😉) look more festive for Christmas!
We're making edible Christmas tree cake toppers with some candy wafers, pretzels and sprinkles!
These cupcakes would be perfect for class parties, treats to give to your neighbors, or any holiday event you may be hosting. Plus, I know they may look complicated but TRUST ME these are crazy easy to make!
Supplies & Ingredients Needed
In order to make these festive cupcakes, you’ll need these items:
- Vanilla Candy Wafers (you can usually find these in the color you need OR grab white ones and food coloring to fit your theme)
- Parchment paper
- Piping bags (If you don’t have these, you could use a Ziploc bag!)
- Pretzel sticks
- Sprinkles
- Cupcakes (I bought the cupcakes to make it easier on myself, but you could definitely make your own if you're feeling ambitious!)
How to make Christmas Tree Cupcakes using Pretzels
To get started with this treat, you’ll need to melt the candy wafers in your microwave. Make sure to follow the package instructions for cooking times.
I melted the candy wafers directly in the piping bags instead of a bowl to save a step and I will NEVER do it any other way again! 😂 just pour the wafers into the bag and twist closed, making sure to not overfill. You can also stand the bag in a microwave safe glass or bowl to avoid spillage.
Lay out your pretzel sticks on the parchment paper with enough room to pipe the trees.
With a back and forth motion, pipe the candy onto the pretzel, in the triangle shape of a tree. Make sure to save uncovered space on the bottom of the pretzel for the “trunk” of your tree. This takes a little bit of practice to get the motion just right so that it’s larger at the bottom and smaller at the top to look like a little Christmas tree, so don't get discouraged if it's not perfect!
Then, I added a little snowflake sprinkle at the top of the tree and more sprinkles all over! Make sure to do this soon after piping while it is still soft. If you don't, the candy will start to harden and the sprinkles won’t stick to the trees.
Finally, let everything harden on the parchment paper! My trees only took about 20 minutes before they were hardened.
Carefully remove the trees from the parchment paper and stick the pretzel “tree trunk” into your cupcake icing for a festive, edible cupcake topper!
There are so many different ways to customize these cupcakes! You could buy different colors of candy wafers, add edible glitter, marshmallows, or crushed up candy canes! Make them your own. The pink and green ones I made could totally go with a “Grinch-mas” party but I'd love to see your theme if you make these.
If you're looking to do some more Christmas baking, make sure to join us for our annual Christmas Baking Challenge! We're gathering for 5 days of Christmas goodies (all from the Celebration Menu Plan) that you can keep all to yourself or gift to friends, family, and neighbors. It's the sweetest time (literally 😉) with the yummiest treats!
Tammy Thomas says
These Christmas tree decorations for cupcakes, or whatever you want to put them in, are adorable! I will definitely make them with my grandchildren! Thank y’all so much!! Merry Christmas
Bethany - PPP Team says
So glad you like them! We would love to see the finished product when you make them. Merry Christmas! 🙂
Deb Compson says
Everything looks amazing you are so talented!
Bethany - PPP Team says
So glad you like them, Deb! I’ll be sure to pass that compliment on to the rest of the PPP team. 🙂