12 Easy and Fast Christmas Cupcakes

1. Red and Green Polka Dots: Put 5-6 Red and Green M&M's on top of the white frosting (or use green frosting and red M&M's). This is so easy but always looks great when serving on a plate or in a tower.
2. Wreath of M&M's: Use green M&M's on white frosting for a wreath and use red stripe candy or licorice to tie a bow.
3. Sprinkles and Candy Cane: Frost with white frosting and sprinkle with red sprinkles. Stick a mini candy cane on top.
4. Christmas Oreo: On a white cupcake, put on a Holiday Oreo and then put red and green M&M's around it.
5. Red and Green Sprinkles: Put sprinkles in a bowl and dip the cupcakes in them upside down. You can do half of your cupcakes red and the other green, or be fancier and try for 1/2 red and the other 1/2 green.
6. Blue and Silver: For a super easy fancy decorating, dip white frosting in blue sprinkles and top with a silver Hershey's Kiss. Or if you want silver on silver, get silver sprinkles.
7. Chocolate and Gold: Make everyone's mouth water by frosting with chocolate and putting on a Ferrero Rocher, Godiva, or Rolo on top.
8. Santa: Buy some miniature Santa chocolates or cookies and put those on top of the chocolate frosting, or on one frosted with Red or Green. You can either buy a mall whole Santa, or inexpensive Santa Faces that are round and are often available at Walmart or drugstores. Or make your own Santa face by using Red sprinkles at the top for the hat, with mini-marshmallows for the beard and around the hat and M&M's or chocolate chips for the eyes. Red hots make a great nose.
9. Ornament: Frost in Red, Green, Yellow, Blue, or other vibrant colors. Make these into ornaments by adding strips of fruit roll-up, licorice, mini M&M's, colored marshmallows, or other small candies, to make stripes and dots. Then make the top of the ornament by putting an upside-down Rolo candy, and upside-down mini Reese's, a Cheerio, or a strip of flavored licorice made into a loop.
10. Snowman: Frost with white, then dip in coconut (optional). Add chocolate chip or brown M&M's for eyes and mouth. Use an upside-down candy corn, orange M & M or slice of Orange gumdrop for the nose. You can also make a Snowman by putting two large marshmallows on top, using a Reese's for the hat and mini M&M's for the eyes, mouth, and nose (attach with frosting), and pretzels for arms (this takes a bit longer and is harder to keep together).
11. Reindeer: Frost with chocolate, use half a large pretzel, or a mini pretzel for the ears, and a red candy-like an M&M or cherry for the nose. Use squished marshmallow with a dark M&M inside for eye, or you can use upside-down chocolate chips.
12. Christmas Tree: Frost an ice cream cone green (you can use the dipping method). Put on some mini M&M's for ornaments. Stick the cone on top of white frosted cake, and you have a cute and impressive, but quick treat.

Here are some of the ingredients you can buy or maybe even have in your cupboard at Christmas time:

1. Canned icing
2. Food Coloring or Frosting Creations Color and Flavor by Duncan Hines
3. Christmas M&M's
4. Mini candy canes or crushed peppermints
5. Christmas themed Oreos and other cookies
6. Foil-wrapped candies like Rolos, Santas, or Hershey's Kisses
7. Red and green sprinkles
8. Mini marshmallows
9. Chocolate chips
10. Coconut
11. Ice cream cones
12. Red and green ribbon candy
13. Pretzels

This year, I discovered an even faster way to frost by dipping the tops into melted chocolate or warmed frosting. This cut down the time for all the decorating to about 15 minutes! Here is how you do it:

1. Take any flavor canned icing and put in the microwave for about 15 seconds on high.
2. If you want red, green or yellow icing, put in 3-5 drops of food coloring and stir, or for color and flavor, use the Duncan Hines Frosting Creations (my kids really loved the mint chocolate and strawberry).
3. Stir, and if melted enough, it should drip easily from your spoon. If not, put in for another 5-10 seconds.
4. Take cupcakes and turn upside down into the frosting. Turn until the whole top is covered.
5. Lift out and set down on a serving plate.
6. Place candies and cookies on top while frosting is still melted. As it cools, the frosting will set.

Start to finish, I can usually make a whole classroom of cupcakes in about 45 minutes to an hour. That's almost as fast as going to the store and buying them. Fast enough that you can make these in an emergency like when your kids tell you the night before you need to bring them to school!

Do you have any fast and easy decorating ideas? Please share them with us in the comments!