High Altitude White Chocolate Peppermint Christmas Sprinkle Cupcakes
Soft and fluffy peppermint cupcakes with red and green sprinkles, frosted with white chocolate buttercream and foil wrapped candy.
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- Stand Mixer with Paddle Attachment
- 2 Standard Muffin Pans with 12 Cups
- Piping Bag + Tip 1M
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 3 large egg whites, room temperature
- 1 ½ cups cake flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- ¾ cup whole or lowfat buttermilk
- ¼ cup full-fat sour cream
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp peppermint extract
- ¼ cup red and green confetti sprinkles (quins)
Buttercream
- 2 oz white chocolate chips
- 1 ¼ cups unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 2 ½ cups powdered sugar
- ½ tbsp meringue powder, optional
- ⅛ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1-2 tbsp milk, if needed for consistency
- sprinkles and Christmas candy
Instructions
Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Line your muffin pans with 18 paper cupcake liners. These cupcakes are sticky, so I also recommend lightly spraying the paper liners with non-stick baking spray.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the softened butter with the sugar for about 3-5 minutes on medium speed, scraping the bowl frequently, until light and fluffy.
- Beat in the egg whites, one at a time, until well combined.
- In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. In another bowl or liquid measuring cup, whisk together the buttermilk, sour cream, vanilla and peppermint extracts.
- With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the buttermilk mixture, starting and ending with the flour. Once you've added everything, mix well for about 15-30 seconds until the batter is well combined.
- Briefly fold in the sprinkles, just until evenly dispersed throughout the batter.
- Use a scant 1/4 measuring cup to fill the muffin cups, filling them no more than 2/3 full.
- Bake the cupcakes for about 15-18 minutes, just until the tops spring back when gently touched. Cool in the pan for several minutes, then gently transfer the cupcakes to a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.
Buttercream
- Place the white chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 2 minutes at 50% power, then stir, and microwave in 20 second increments at 50% power, stirring until smooth. Set aside to let the white chocolate cool for several minutes until no longer warm.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium for 1 minute until smooth.
- With the mixer on low, gradually add the powdered sugar, meringue powder, salt and vanilla. Increase speed to medium-high and whip for 4-5 minutes, scraping the bowl occasionally, until very light and fluffy, adding the milk only as needed for desired piping consistency. Beat in the cooled white chocolate for 1 minute.
- Pipe the buttercream onto the filled cupcakes. Decorate the cupcakes with sprinkles and candy.
Notes
Store leftover cupcakes in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.
https://curlygirlkitchen.com/