Red Velvet Cupcakes. Fun, festive cupcakes for the most festive week of the year. Buttery, fluffy red velvet cupcakes topped with White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting. So easy to make and perfect for festive holidays like Christmas and Valentine’s Day!
I love that red velvet cake is undeniably easy to recognize both looks and taste wise. You can easily spot their rich red color and the combination of vanilla and cocoa powder gives them a unique taste.
If you’re looking for more Valentine’s Day cupcakes, try my Cupcakes with Hearts in the Middle, White Chocolate and Raspberry Cupcakes, and these Strawberry Filled Cupcakes.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
- These cupcakes are made with both butter and oil. The oil makes and keeps them nice and moist and the butter adds richness and flavor.
- You’ll love how soft and fluffy they are.
- They have that delicious red velvet flavor.
- The recipe is super simple. No fancy tools or equipment needed to make these cupcakes.
- Their bright red color makes them perfectly festive. You’ll love them for Christmas and holidays like Valentine’s Day!
INGREDIENT NOTES
- Flour: I find cake flour works best for red velvet, but I made this recipe with all purpose flour since many people typically don’t have cake flour in their pantries.
- Baking soda
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Cocoa powder: Unsweetened natural
- Unsalted butter: Room temperature
- Granulated sugar
- 2 Eggs: Large and room temperature
- Vanilla Extract
- White Vinegar
- Oil: Both vegetable or canola oil will work.
- Liquid Red Food Coloring: Add as much or as little as you like until you get to the shade of red you prefer. You can also omit the food coloring.
- Buttermilk: It might not be an ingredient you always have on hand, but there’s really no substitute for it, especially in this recipe.
- Oreos: Mint or original (optional)
TIPS FOR MAKING CUPCAKES
- SPOON DON’T SCOOP YOUR FLOUR: Spooning your flour into the measuring cup ensures you get the proper amount of flour. Dredging your measuring cup in the flour to scoop it out makes you end up with more flour than the recipe calls for.
- USE AN ICE CREAM SCOOP OR COOKIE SCOOP: Using a scoop to pour the batter into the cupcake liners is neater than spooning it in. Also, it helps to measure out the batter which results in more uniform sized cupcakes.
WHITE CHOCOLATE CREAM CHEESE ICING
I love cream cheese frosting on red velvet, so I went with that. Since it’s the holiday season, I added one additional ingredient: white chocolate! It has a butter-cream cheese base made extra sweet with powdered sugar and white chocolate.
Other delicious options for topping these cupcakes are this Brown Butter Cream Cheese Icing and my Vanilla Buttercream Frosting.
FROSTING THE CUPCAKES
PIPING IT ON
I used a star piping tip to pipe the frosting on my cupcakes. Because cream cheese icing is not as firm as buttercream, I put the frosting in the refrigerator for 20 minutes before piping. If you don’t have time to do so, I would recommend using an open tip (such as an Ateco 808 tip) over a start tip.
EASY OPTIONS FOR FROSTING THESE CUPCAKES
- With a Butter Knife: Keep it simple and frost them with a knife.
- With an Ice Cream Scoop: Just place a scoop of frosting right on top.
- With a Cookie Scoop: For a smaller amount of frosting than an ice cream scoop, use a cookie scoop.
DECORATING THE CUPCAKES
The signature red color and beautiful creamy frosting is definitely decoration enough for these beauties. That said, it’s always fun to add some finishing touches on cupcakes. Here are some suggestions for adding a little bit more decoration to your cupcakes:
- An Oreo Cookie: Stick a whole or a half an Oreo in the frosting.
- Oreo Crumbs: Pulse a few Oreos in the food processor or place them in a zip lock bag and hit them with a rolling pin. Sprinkle them over the frosting.
- Red Velvet Crumbs: I sprinkled my Cupcakes with Hearts in the Middle with crumbs from one cupcake. They were gorgeous!
Oreo Red Velvet Cupcakes
- Prep Time: 35 minutes
- Cook Time: 22 minutes
- Total Time: 57 minutes
- Yield: About 18 cupcakes
- Category: Cupcakes
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Classic rich, delicious Oreo Red Velvet Cupcakes topped with cream cheese frosting! This simple recipe makes soft, festive cupcakes. They are perfect for Valentine’s Day, Christmas and the holidays!
Ingredients
RED VELVET CUPCAKES
- 1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons unsweetened natural cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1/4 cup vegetable or canola oil
- 1 tablespoon liquid red food coloring (add more or less depending on the color you prefer)
- 2/3 cup buttermilk, room temperature
WHITE CHOCOLATE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
- 3 1/2 ounces white chocolate, melted and cooled slightly
- 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3–4 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
RED VELVET CUPCAKES
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Line muffin pans with 18 paper liners.
- Sift together the flour and cocoa powder. In a medium sized bowl, whisk to combine the sifted flour and cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter for one minute on medium low speed. Add the sugar and beat on medium low for two minutes, until butter lightens to pale yellow in color.
- Add the eggs one at a time and beat on low for 30 seconds. Add the oil, buttermilk, red food coloring and vanilla extract. Add the dry ingredients. Beat on medium low speed until just combined. If the batter has some small lumps, it’s fine. Be careful not to overmix. Overmixing will give you dense cupcakes.
- Fill the muffin cups evenly with batter. Fill 3/4 of the way full. Bake 16-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the center of a cupcake. Transfer cupcakes onto to a cooling rack to cool. Cool completely before frosting.
FOR THE WHITE CHOCOLATE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
- Beat the butter and cream cheese in the bowl of an electric mixer on high speed until smooth. Beat in the melted white chocolate followed by the vanilla. Turn the mixer to low and gradually add the powdered sugar. Once the sugar has been added, turn the mixer back up to high and beat for 1-2 more minutes. If frosting is too thin, add more powdered sugar.
Notes
Food Coloring: Use 1 tablespoon liquid food coloring or about 1 and 1/2 teaspoons red gel food coloring. Add more or less depending on how red you want the cupcakes to be. Use gel food coloring sparingly since it’s very concentrated.
Cocoa powder: I like to use standard cocoa powder for red velvet cupcakes. It adds a mild chocolate flavor. You can substitute it with Dutch processed. You can also add a little more cocoa powder for a stronger chocolate flavor. Keep in mind more cocoa powder could change the color of the cupcakes.
Flour: I used all purpose since that is what I had on hand. All purpose works fine, but if you have cake flour, I recommend using equal parts cake flour in place of all purpose. Cake flour will give you more tender cupcakes.
Buttermilk: For best results, use buttermilk. That said, if you don’t have buttermilk, you can make your own. Stir 2 teaspoons white vinegar or fresh lemon juice into 2/3 cup whole or 2% milk.
Do not overmix: Add the dry ingredients and mix until combined. Do not mix more than necessary or our cupcakes will not be soft and fluffy.
Oreos: I originally made this recipe with Oreos. I recently modified the recipe slightly and omitted the Oreos. That said, you can still include them! Just place an Oreo in each cupcake liner before adding the batter. The batter will bake on top of the Oreos!
Decoration: Decorate with sprinkles or crumbs from an extra cupcake. Add extra red food coloring to one cupcake before baking. Use that cupcake for bright red crumb decorations.
Keywords: cupcakes, red velvet cream cheese, frosting, icing, white chocolate, white chocolate cream cheese, Christmas, Valentine’s
Absolutely sound and look delicious. Valentine’s Day is coming!
★★★★★
Thank you Barbara! 🙂 Yes- these would be perfect for Valentine’s Day!