These adorable Easter cupcakes are the highlight of any post egg hunt activities! Soft, fluffy malt cake topped with a creamy vanilla frosting, they are everything you could want this Spring.
Easter is a holiday that's come to be a lot more fun in the past few years since my daughter's birth as it falls around her birth date. This year it is a little later, but we are still really excited for it.
I've been wanting to make a malt cupcake forever and knew these Easter cupcakes were the perfect opportunity to make them. These taste just like having a malted milkshake in cupcake form.
I've made a few different malt recipes like these malted chocolate chip oatmeal cookies which uses a barley malt syrup and this malt cake which uses a regular malt milk powder, but these Easter cupcakes use Ovaltine and I think they are my favorite for a very malty flavor that is easy to recognize and fills you with alllllll the nostalgia.
Paired with the vanilla frosting, it is just so good.
And the bunnies are from Ghiradelli, but you can use any that you find. I just so happen to be in love with their caramel chocolate bunnies. I also found malted Easter eggs to pair with the bunnies and edible grass. Both were found at my local Walmart, but I think I saw them at Target, too.
Just FYI, the grass I found was green apple flavored, so it didn't exactly match the flavor profile of the cupcake. We liked to pick off the grass and eat it separately.
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Easter Cupcakes
Ingredients
Malt Cupcake
- ¾ cup buttermilk room temperature
- ¾ cup Ovaltine
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups cake flour can also use unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs room temperature
Vanilla Frosting
- ¾ cup unsalted butter
- 3 ½ cups powdered sugar
- pinch of salt
- 3 - 4 tablespoons heavy cream
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Decoration
- Malt eggs
- Chocolate Easter bunnies
- Edible grass
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 °F. Line a cupcake tin with liners. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, mix together the buttermilk Ovaltine, and vanilla. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In a mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy - about 5 minutes.
- Add in one egg and beat for one minute, then add the second egg. Beat for another minute longer.
- Add one-third of the flour mixture into the butter mixture and mix until just-combined.
- Add in half of the buttermilk mixture and mix until just-combined.
- Add in half of the remaining flour mixture, then mix until just combined.
- Add in the remaining buttermilk mixture and mix until just combined before stirring in the last of the flour mixture. I recommend stirring in the flour by hand at this point to prevent it from being over mixed.
- Evenly divide the batter among your cupcake liners and bake for 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middles comes out clean.
- Set aside the cupcakes to cool.
- Make the frosting while the cupcakes cool. Beat the butter until creamy. Add the powdered sugar one cup at a time, mixing well after you add more of the powdered sugar. The mixture will start to clump, this is normal, just keep mixing.
- Add the salt and 2 tablespoons of the heavy cream as you beat. Add in the vanilla. Beat in more heavy cream one tablespoon at a time, as needed to get a creamy, but pipable consistency.
- Fit a piping bag with a tip and fill with the frosting.
- Frost the finished and cooled cupcakes. Top with edible grass and candies.
- Store in an airtight container for up to three days.
Colleen says
This is what I’ve been looking for to make! I’ve often seen recipes using malted milk powder, but had no idea it was Ovaltine..lol...so, with these liners, are you putting the batter in them and baking in them, or are you baking in a paper liner and then you slide these over? I’ve often wondered how they work. Also..don’t think I’ve seen edible grass at our Walmart in Ontario or the bulk food store, so maybe would have to tint some coconut? Hav enough ever done that?
Amanda says
Horlicks is another good malt powder choice, but I don’t know if they sell it everywhere. These baking cups have a sturdy base, so you put them on a baking sheet and add the batter into it directly. You can tint shredded coconut, but I haven’t tried it before, I’d imagine it would taste better with the cupcake too!
Debbie says
What is edible grass.
Amanda says
If you look just above the recipe there should be products I recommend. There is a link to the exact edible grass I used. You just shred some over the frosting to make it look like your bunny is sitting in the grass!
Heidi Clark says
OMG! These cupcakes are adorable and the recipe looks delish! Can't wait to try! The cupcake collars are simply adorable! May I ask where you purchased them?
Amanda says
Thank you!! I got them at HomeGoods! I love them because you don’t need a cupcake tin to put them in. They’re steady enough that they stand on their own on the baking sheet! They had them in yellow and blue, too!
Heidi Clark says
I will definitely be running to HomeGoods! Thanks so much, Amanda! Love your blog!!!