Treat them to some real cupcake fun!
Your favorite childhood breakfast cereals get an extra-sweet upgrade when you bake them into moist cupcakes topped with from-scratch-scrumptious frosting!
Fruity Cereal Cupcakes
CUPCAKES 1 1/4 cups milk 2 cups Froot Loops or similar cereal, plus more for garnish 1 box (15.25-16.25 oz.) white cake mix 3 eggs 1/2 cup oil 1 box (3.4 oz.) instant vanilla pudding mix FROSTING 16 Tbs. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature 1 Tbs. dry milk powder 1 tsp. vanilla extract 1/4 tsp. almond extract 3 cups confectioners’ sugar 1/4 cup heavy cream 2-3 drops blue or green food coloring (optional)
● Cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 20 muffin cups with cupcake liners. Combine milk and 1 cup cereal in liquid measuring cup; let stand 15 minutes, then strain milk, discarding cereal. Beat together cake mix, cereal milk, eggs, oil and pudding mix in large bowl using mixer until smooth, 2 minutes. Crush remaining 1 cup cereal in large resealable plastic food storage bag until finely ground, then mix cereal crumbs into cake batter. Portion batter evenly among liners, filling each about three-quarters full. Bake 16-18 minutes until toothpick inserted near centers comes out clean or with moist crumbs. Cool completely. Frosting: Beat butter, milk powder and vanilla and almond extracts until creamy, about 1 minute. Beat in confectioners’ sugar, 1 cup at a time, until light and fluffy. If frosting is too stiff, stream in cream until frosting is soft and spreadable. Finally, add food coloring, if using, and beat to combine. Pipe or spread frosting over cupcakes; garnish with cereal. Makes 20 cupcakes.