These Watermelon Cupcakes are super cute for a summer treat and so easy to make thanks to a simple vanilla cupcake recipe and food coloring! They resemble an actual watermelon!

Happy Summer! Is there anything better than biting into a giant slice of juicy watermelon? How about these cute little Watermelon Cupcakes?

Aren’t these watermelon cupcakes just adorable? They are such a fun way to celebrate when you need a summertime sweet treat, a dessert to bring to a summer BBQ or summer gathering like a birthday party or labor day.

I love the watermelon theme for parties. You can serve your cupcakes around a watermelon cake recipe and some fresh watermelon (like this watermelon pizza recipe)

So many of my friends are so intimidated by making fresh baked goods. It is so super easy, I promise, this watermelon cupcakes recipe will have you feeling super confident. The next time you need a dessert, will you promise you will give these a try?

And guess what? If you are stuck on time or really don’t feel like making these watermelon cupcakes from scratch using my vanilla cupcake recipe, use a box mix! Vanilla or White cake mix will work just fine!

I recently started to add some watermelon flavoring to these easy watermelon cupcakes. You can use watermelon kool-aid mix, watermelon jello mix, watermelon juice or even a little bit of watermelon puree! The flavor reminds me of my favorite Jolly Rancher.

How to make these Watermelon Cupcakes:

What you will need to make these watermelon cupcakes:

all purpose flour
baking powder
salt
sugar
half cup butter
eggs (room temperature)
milk
vanilla
green gel food coloring
cream cheese
powdered sugar
red gel food coloring
1 cup chocolate chips (mini)
large mixing bowl
cupcake pans or muffin cups

First step is to make the cupcakes. Line cupcake tins with green cupcake liners to resemble the watermelon rind or paper liners of your choice. Pre heat oven to 350 degrees f.

Your watermelon cupcake recipe starts off pretty basic. On low speed, in a large bowl mix together with an electric mixer in a medium bowl either use my vanilla cupcake recipe or follow what the recipe calls for on the box directions.

Combine cake batter with a few drops of your green food coloring and stir until the green color is fully incorporated into your cupcakes.

Pour batter into your muffin tin until they are two-thirds full.

Bake your cupcakes for 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean from the center.

While your delicious watermelon cupcakes are cooling on a wire rack, make your frosting!

You can use the frosting of your choice. I prefer cream cheese frosting, but feel free to use buttercream frosting. Either way, homemade frosting is the way to go!

After you make your frosting, add in a few drops of pink food coloring or red food coloring and fold it in until your homemade buttercream icing is a nice pinkish color.

Allow the cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.

Add the frosting to your cake decorating bag or piping bag with an icing tip (a 1m tip works best) and frost your delicious cupcakes.

Of course, we want these to look just like a real watermelon, so finish off with some mini chocolate chips to resemble watermelon seeds.

Watermelon Cupcakes

Name: Watermelon Cupcakes
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 12
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups flour; 1 1/2 tsp baking powder; 1/2 tsp salt; 3/4 cup sugar; 1/2 cup butter; 2 eggs; 1/2 cup milk; 2 tsp vanilla; 10-12 drops green gel food coloring; 8 oz cream cheese; 1/2 cup butter; 2 tsp vanilla; 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar; 2-4 drops red gel food coloring; Miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips for topping; 1 .15oz packet of watermelon kool aid (if using)

Yield: 12

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Additional Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

These Watermelon Cupcakes are super cute for a summer treat and so easy to make thanks to a simple vanilla cupcake recipe and food coloring! They resemble an actual watermelon!

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
2 tsp vanilla
10-12 drops green gel food coloring
8 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup butter
2 tsp vanilla
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2-4 drops red gel food coloring
Miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips for topping
1 .15oz packet of watermelon kool aid (if using)

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a muffin tin with cupcake liners.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt, set aside.
In a separate bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing in between.
Stir in vanilla.
Slowly alternate adding the dry ingredients and the milk to the butter and sugar mixture, mixing well in between each addition.
Mix in green food coloring, a few drops at a time, until incorporated into the cupcakes.
Fill cupcake liners ⅔ full. Bake for 18-20 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a large bowl mix together cream cheese, butter, and vanilla.
Slowly mix in powdered sugar, kool aid and red food coloring until ingredients are combined and frosting is formed.
Allow the watermelon cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.
Add the frosting to your cake decorator or piping bag with an icing tip, and frost the watermelon cupcakes.
Finish your watermelon cupcakes with miniature chocolate chips for “watermelon seeds”. Enjoy!