Last winter when Kate posted her darling Candy Penguin Cupcakes, my favorite part were the cute little beaks. I started thinking about what other sorts of animals you could make with beaks like that (not that there are tons of choices) and remembered doing these cute little chickies when I was a kid. I sort of have a love-hate relationship with fancy cupcakes. They’re so fun to look at, but some of them are SO labor intensive that when you’re all finished creating your little pieces of art it almost hurts to see people bite into them. So I LOVE projects like these Spring Chick Cupcakes that literally take an extra 2 minutes of your time, but look totally adorable.
Ingredients Needed
This is just a preview of ingredients and method, keep scrolling for full printable recipe.
- Cupcakes – Store bought, from a box, or homemade. This recipe will make enough toppings for 12 standard sized cupcakes, but is very flexible for more or less, mini vs. standard size, etc.
- Frosting – Store bought or home made. We love this Buttercream Frosting.
- Shredded coconut – Like you find on the baking aisle. Sweetened or unsweetened will work.
- Yellow food coloring – This is used to tint the coconut. I like adding just a little to the frosting to make it a nice pale yellow as well!
- Mini M&Ms – For the eyes. I like to just grab a tube of mini M&M’s, but you can find them in larger bags on the candy aisle or sometimes by the chocolate chips as well. Chocolate chips would also work.
- Orange Starburst candy – Or other pliable orange candies, like orange Tootsie rolls. The bulk bins at Winco make it easy to grab a few of what you need without getting all of the other flavors. For Starbursts, you can get about 6 beaks per candy.
How to Make Spring Chick Cupcakes
- Mix up some coconut flakes with a few drops of yellow food coloring. It may look weird at first, but keep stirring and eventually the color will be evenly distributed.
- Cut your orange candy into small pieces and mold each piece into a triangle.
- If desired, tint your frosting with yellow food coloring. Frost your cupcakes and cover with coconut.
- Place two M&M’s on for eyes and add a candy beak.
Storing and Other Tips
- Store finished cupcakes at room temperature, tightly covered, and enjoy in 2-3 days for best results.
- These make darling mini cupcakes, too! Use mini M&M’s or mini chocolate chips for eyes.
{Easy} Spring Chick Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 12 cupcakes
- frosting of your choice we love this one
- ¾ cup shredded coconut
- 2-3 drops yellow food coloring
- mini M&M’s
- orange starburst tootsie rolls, or other soft moldable candy
Instructions
- Mix coconut and food coloring with a fork until color is evenly distributed.
- Cut orange candy into small pieces and mold into beak shapes.
- Frost cupcakes (tint frosting yellow if desired) and cover with coconut. Place 2 M&M's on for eyes and a candy beak.
Notes
- Store finished cupcakes at room temperature, tightly covered, and enjoy in 2-3 days for best results.
- These make darling mini cupcakes, too! Use mini M&M’s or mini chocolate chips for eyes.
Questions & Reviews
I see a snowman variation for winter… bigger orange for a carrot nose and if we want raisins for the eyes?? Maybe chocolate covered raisins? Surely they make good coal!
I made these for my son’s farm birthday last year!! They were really easy and turned out soo cute:)!!
My family has a traditions Easter cake – simply white or yellow cake with a vanilla pudding/crushed pineapple frosting that is naturally a pale yellow color and looks kind of downy. I’m thinking it would work wonderfully with these, and how cute would they be for an Easter Dinner centerpiece?? Darling idea, thanks for posting!
vanilla pudding/crushed pineapple frosting???? Please share the recipe, it sounds sooooooo yummy!
Those are adorable. I wish my family enjoyed coconut!! I have a random question. I am looking for a yummy hot pastrami sandwich recipe for my husband’s birthday this Thurs. I told him I have no idea where to get a good one, so I thought that I would try you guys. Let me know if you have one. Thanks!
hmm….. do you think these would be just as cute without the coconut and just tinting the icing yellow? these would be great for my son’s birthday cupcakes (for school) this Friday …… granted it’s not very boyish or cool but it’s springy!! 🙂
I ask because no treenuts or peanuts in the classroom and some consider coconut a tree nut
Cute cupcakes! I love using coconut but wished my kids liked it more. I end up eating everything myself 🙂
These are so easy and so cute! I feel the same way about cake decorating. I hate when I spend tons of time and energy decorating a cake, for people to look at it only a few minutes before devouring my beautiful cake.
CRAZY CUTE! I can totally see myself getting stuck with one of the freak packs with one orange. Isn’t that just how life goes? haha! I love your blog! 🙂
The mini M&Ms are in Winco’s bulk section too if you don’t want to buy a whole tube, or if you want to just pick out one color or not eat the rest of the tube. I like the mini m&ms for cookies.
ooh, are they really? That’s good to know- I use those little ones a lot for baking projects but I only ever need one color!
Hee hee! These are SO darling! Thanks for posting something easy enough for me to make. 🙂