Mini Football Cupcakes for Game Day!
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If you’re looking for an elevated game day dessert, then you need to make these mini football cupcakes! With team sprinkles and fluffy chocolate buttercream, they’re one of my favorite desserts for Super Bowl, watch parties, and tailgating. And since they’re mini, you get 60 servings for a big group!
I know next to zero things about football. But I know probably 1,000 things about snacking, drinking beer, throwing a theme party, and screaming at my TV. On paper, I’m a football girlie.
But, until they put out a high-drama reality show called Wives of the NFL or something, I’ll stick to the party part. And today, I’m starting off with these cupcakes which are cute enough to match the vibe but elevated for a grown-up party.
This recipe is based on my go-to cupcakes that I’ve been making since I was in pastry school. The cupcakes have an intense pop of vanilla and team color sprinkles for a funfetti-meets-yellow cake situation. And the frosting is deeply chocolatey and super fluffy. Ahhh they’re so good!
Pair these cupcakes with extra mini M&M cookies or brownie bites and you have a crowd-pleasing, super simple Super Bowl dessert table. Let’s get started!
My go-to game day dessert
What I don’t love about most themed desserts is that they’re way too time consuming or use weird ingredients for the sake of aesthetics. And, after covering hundreds of cakes in fondant during pastry school, I’m honestly a bit over it lol. But what I love about these cupcakes is that they’re low-effort, high-reward.
- The cupcakes are fluffy, chocolatey, and not-too-sweet.
- You can use any sprinkle colors to match different teams.
- The frosting football topper is so easy to do with basic piping tips.
- This recipe makes 60 bite-sized cupcakes so you have plenty for a crowd.
Tools & ingredients
The ingredients for this recipe are super basic! For the cupcakes, you just need all-purpose flour, baking powder, Morton’s Kosher salt, unsalted butter, sugar, eggs, sour cream, neutral oil, vanilla extract, whole milk, and sprinkles. The frosting is made up of unsalted butter, powdered sugar, cocoa powder, whole milk, vanilla extract, and a pinch of Kosher salt.
You also don’t need any super special tools. Just a mini cupcake pan, mini cupcake liners (I used green to mimic the football field!), a piping bag, and piping tips. You’ll want one small star tip for the footballs and one very small round tip for the white piping. I used Wilton tip #21 and Wilton tip #2.
Team sprinkles
For the sprinkles, you will want classic rods or “jimmies”. Any other sprinkles will muddy the batter. In this batch, I used Miami Dolphins colors (my husband’s team) and 49ers colors (the team closest to where I live). But obviously, you can use colors for the Super Bowl teams, your favorite team, etc. in these cupcakes!
If you’re looking for specific team colors, you can usually find them online. Or, go to a craft store like Michael’s and Joann Fabrics which usually have individual sprinkle colors for sale. I just bought teal, orange, red, and gold sprinkles from Michael’s and mixed them myself!
Bake the cupcakes
Don’t over-mix or the sprinkles will muddy the batter! You want to stir just until the sprinkles are well-combined and there are no more streaks of flour.
Make the chocolate frosting
How to decorate
- To start, pipe zigzag shapes over the tops of the cupcakes. You want the centers to be wider and the ends to be tapered for a football shape. The first few might feel awkward, but once you get the hang of it, it’s super easy!
- Then, use the vanilla frosting to pipe a horizontal line over the chocolate footballs. Make sure to apply even pressure, you want one consistent line!
- Lastly, pipe three vertical lines evenly across each horizontal line to mimic the laces. Don’t worry if it’s not perfect!
If you want the decorating to be even easier, you can just pipe one horizontal line across the footballs and skip the three vertical lines. They’ll still look super cute!
Recipe yield
The number of servings you get will depend on the size of your mini cupcake pan. With my pan, I got 60 servings, but you could end up with closer to 50 if the cups in your pan are bigger!
Green frosting
If you want to fill in any gaps, you can make a little extra vanilla frosting and dye it green for “grass”. Just use a small grass piping tip to pipe the green buttercream around the footballs. I’m not a huge frosting person so the footballs are enough for me, but it would be v cute!
Storage & freezing tips
- Store – place any leftover cupcakes in an airtight container in a single layer. They’ll stay good at room temperature for about 3 days before they dry out too much.
- Freeze – store the cupcakes in an airtight container and freeze until solid, 1-2 hours. Once they’re frozen, cover the tops with a layer of parchment paper to keep them from getting icy. Freeze for up to 3 months and defrost at room temp for 1 hour before serving.
Measure with a scale
I’ve said it before and I’ll keep saying it. If you want 100% amazing cupcakes every time, measure your ingredients with a kitchen scale! If you don’t have one, you can use measuring cups, but make sure you’re measuring the flour the right way. First, give it a nice fluff with a whisk. Spoon the fluffed flour into the measuring cup and level it off without packing the flour in.
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Mini Football Cupcakes
Ingredients
Sprinkle Cupcakes
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (210 grams)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened (114 grams)
- 1 cup granulated sugar (200 grams)
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1/4 cup sour cream (60 grams)
- 1/4 cup neutral oil (56 grams)
- 1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract (15 milliliters)
- 1/2 cup whole milk (120 milliliters)
- 1/2 cup rod sprinkles, 1/4 cup (40 grams) per team (80 grams total)
Vanilla & Chocolate Buttercream
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 4 cups powdered sugar, sifted (480 grams)
- Pinch of Kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 Tablespoons whole milk, plus more as needed (30 milliliters)
- 2/3 cup cocoa powder, sifted (54 grams)
Equipment
- Stand mixer or hand mixer
- Mini cupcake pan
- Mini cupcake liners
- 2 piping bags
- 1 small star tip (I used Wilton tip #21)
- 1 very small round tip (I used Wilton tip #2)
Instructions
Sprinkle Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Line a mini cupcake pan with paper liners. In a small bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- Using a stand mixer or hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar until the mixture is very light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time until thoroughly mixed. Then, mix in the sour cream, oil, and vanilla extract.
- Pour half the flour mixture into the wet ingredients, followed by half of the milk. Mix on low just until combined. Repeat with remaining flour mixture and milk, stirring just until the batter comes together.
- Evenly divide the batter between 2 bowls. Add 1/4 cup (40 grams) of sprinkles for Team 1 to one of the bowls of batter. Add 1/4 cup (40 grams) of Team 2 sprinkles to the other bowl of batter. Using separate rubber spatulas, fold the sprinkles into the batter just a few times until they're well-combined. Don't over-mix!
- Then, using a #60 scoop, divide the batter evenly between 60 cupcake liners. They'll be about 3/4 of the way full. (You will need to work in batches if you only have 1 mini cupcake pan). Bake the cupcakes for 11-12 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through. The cupcakes are ready when an inserted toothpick has a few moist crumbs on it.
- Remove the pan from the oven and let the cupcakes cool for about 5 minutes. Then, transfer the cupcakes to a wire rack to cool completely.
Vanilla & Chocolate Buttercream
- Add the butter and half of the powdered sugar to a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Using a hand mixer or stand mixer with a whip attachment, beat the butter and powdered sugar until it's well-mixed. Add the rest of the powdered sugar, beating the mixture until it's smooth and thick.
- Add the salt, vanilla extract, and whole milk. Whip the frosting on medium-high speed until it's very fluffy, 3-4 minutes. Then, scoop about 1/2 cup of vanilla buttercream into a small bowl and set aside for later.
- Sift the cocoa powder into the remaining frosting. Beat the mixture on high, adding more milk 1/2 Tablespoon (8 milliliters) at a time to thin the frosting, if needed. Whip the frosting until it's super light and fluffy, another 2-3 minutes. Fluffy frosting is so much easier to pipe!
Decorate the Cupcakes
- Fit one piping bag with a small star tip and one piping bag with a very small round tip. Add the chocolate buttercream to the bag with the star tip. Then, add the vanilla frosting to the piping bag with the round tip.
- To make the footballs, pipe zigzags over the tops of the cupcakes, creating a football shape. You want the centers to be wider and the ends to be a bit tapered. The first few might feel awkward, but once you get the hang of it, it's super easy!
- Then, use the vanilla frosting to pipe short, horizontal lines across the centers of the chocolate footballs. Make sure to apply even pressure. You want one consistent line.
- Lastly, pipe three short, vertical lines evenly across each horizontal line to mimic the laces of a football. Don't worry if it's not perfect! (See the photos in the post for visuals.) Serve the cupcakes immediately or store them in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Enjoy!
