These 4th of July cupcakes are perfect for your Patriotic Party. The red, white, and blue, cupcakes start with a boxed cake and taste amazing. Then you will make a delicious homemade vanilla buttercream frosting! 

Tip –> You can also make these DIY Fireworks with your kids! 

I love to bring festive recipes to parties! Cupcakes are so fun and so easy to eat. So I wanted to share my recipe for Patriotic Cupcakes with you. I love this white cake mix because it starts with a box cake but adds so many ingredients that it’s delicious. It’s moist and dense just like a cupcake is supposed to taste. Plus it’s full of flavor.

When you add this easy vanilla buttercream icing to the cupcakes you have a dessert that everyone will love.

It’s easy to make these and you can add as much or as little red, white and blue to them. You can color the icing, use plain red or blue cupcake liners or even use gold sprinkles on top. No matter what you do – all these cupcakes will be gone and everyone will be asking for the recipe!

Here is the printable recipe for Patriotic Cupcakes. 

Patriotic Cupcakes

Almost From Scratch White Cake Ingredients

• 1 box White Cake Mix (do not use the directions on the box)
• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 1/3 cup water
• 2 Tablespoons oil
• 4 egg whites
• red dye
• blue dye
• patriotic cupcake liners

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350*. Line the cupcake tins with liners and set aside.
2. In a mixer add the cake mix, flour, sugar, sour cream, water and oil. Mix until combined. Then add 1 egg white at a time. Once all the eggs are in, mix for about 90 seconds.
3. Add 2 cups of batter to 2 bowls. Add some red food coloring to one bowl and blue food coloring to another bowl until you get the right colors. Place about 1 Tablespoon of each color into the cupcake liner. I did red on the bottom, then the white batter, then the blue batter.
4. Bake for about 15 minutes.
5. Let cool completely before you apply the icing and sprinkles.

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting Ingredients

• 3/4 cup butter softened (1 stick + 1/2 stick)
• 6 cups powdered sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2-4 Tablespoons half & half
• Optional – star sprinkles

Instructions:

1. Add the butter to a mixer and beat for about 3 minutes. It will become whiter and fluffier. Slowly add in the powdered sugar while also adding the vanilla and half and half. Once you have added all the ingredients, scrape the sides and mix for about a minute. If the frosting seems a little too thick you can add a little more half and half until you get the desired consistency.
2. Add to a piping bag and if you are using the 1M star piping tip start not he outside of the cupcake and swirl it towards the center to make it look like an ice cream cone swirl.
3. Top with sprinkles and enjoy! This recipe makes about 24 cupcakes.

Amazon affiliate links for items used in the recipe:

• Wilton 402-2110 1M Open Star Piping Tip
• Wilton Piping bags
• Red White and Blue star sprinkles
• 12 cup regular muffin pan
• Patriotic Cupcake liners

Yield: 24

4th Of July Cupcakes

Print

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Additional Time 20 minutes

Total Time 45 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 box White Cake Mix (do not use the directions on the box)
• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 1/3 cup water
• 2 Tablespoons oil
• 4 egg whites
• red dye
• blue dye
• patriotic cupcake liners

Vanilla Buttercream Icing

• 3/4 cup butter softened (1 stick + 1/2 stick)
• 6 cups powdered sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2-4 Tablespoons half & half
• Optional – star sprinkles

Instructions

Instructions for the cake:
Preheat oven to 350*. Line the cupcake tins with liners and set aside.
In a mixer add the cake mix, flour, sugar, sour cream, water and oil. Mix until combined. Then add 1 egg white at a time. Once all the eggs are in, mix for about 90 seconds.
Add 2 cups of batter to 2 bowls. Add some red food coloring to one bowl and blue food coloring to another bowl until you get the right colors. Place about 1 Tablespoon of each color into the cupcake liner. I did red batter on the bottom, then the white batter, then the blue batter.
Bake for about 15 minutes.
Let cool completely before you apply the icing and sprinkles.

Instructions for the Buttercream Frosting

Add the butter to a mixer and beat for about 3 minutes. It will become whiter and fluffier. Slowly add in the powdered sugar while also adding the vanilla and half and half. Once you have added all the ingredients, scrape the sides and mix for about a minute. If the frosting seems a little too thick you can add a little more half and half until you get the desired consistency.

Add to a piping bag and if you are using the 1M star piping tip start not he outside of the cupcake and swirl it towards the center to make it look like an ice cream cone swirl.

Top with sprinkles and enjoy! This recipe makes about 24 cupcakes.

Did you make this recipe?

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