Churro cupcakes are the perfect homemade sweet treat! A vanilla and cinnamon sugar cupcake is topped with cream cheese frosting and a homemade churro to create a fun and delicious dessert.
Do you love churros? Do you love cinnamon and sugar? If your answer to either of those question is yes, then you will love these Churro Cupcakes. They are inspired by Homemade Churros, little bites of delicious dough coated in cinnamon and sugar. The only thing that makes these churros better is layering them on top of a vanilla cinnamon cupcake with cream cheese frosting. Delicious and completely irresistible!
Today, we are celebrating a virtual baby shower for my friend Julianne of Beyond Frosting. Julianne is one of the first friends I met in this online space and we immediately connected via our love for sweet treats. She bakes everything from delicious cupcakes to pies, brownies and more. She is expecting her first child soon so a few friends teamed up to celebrate with a virtual baby shower. I know that she will love these cupcakes and you will too!
Churro cupcake recipe
These churro cupcakes come together with a few basic ingredients. The entire recipe is made from scratch, including the churros, but you can take a few shortcuts to same time.
- Prepare the cupcakes. We use a cinnamon vanilla cupcake made with pantry staples. Prepare the batter and fill each muffin cup 2/3 full and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 18 to 20 minutes.
- Mix the frosting. The frosting is a cream cheese frosting. Add a small amount of cinnamon to create the famous cinnamon sugar churro flavor. Make sure to beat the frosting until its smooth and creamy. When in doubt, just keep beating.
- Frost the cupcakes. We use a large closed star tip fitted in a pastry bag to pipe the frosting. You can use a plastic bag with the corner clipped off if you don’t have a pastry bag.
- Stir together cinnamon and sugar. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture over the frosting.
- Garnish cupcakes with churros. Kick these cupcakes up a notch by topping them with mini churros.
Tips for making churro cupcakes:
- Bring your butter and cream cheese to room temperature. The cream cheese will not blend well if you do not bring it to room temperature.
- Fill the cupcake liners 2/3 full. Do not overfill.
- You can use regular buttercream instead of cream cheese frosting, if desired.
- We use a closed star tip to pipe the frosting onto these cupcakes.
- While we strongly recommend making homemade churro bites for these cupcakes, you can also use store-bought churros. Cut large store-bought churros into small 1 to 2 inch pieces.
- You can prep the cupcakes up to 2 days in advance and store them in the refrigerator. Bring them to room temperature for at least 30 minutes prior to serving. We recommend waiting to top them with the mini churros until just before serving. If you store them in the refrigerator with the mini churros, the churros will get soggy.
Other virtual baby shower recipes
Check out some of the other delicious dessert recipes shared at the virtual baby shower.
Banana Fritters from Grandbaby Cakes
Mama’s Best Banana Pudding from The Novice Chef
Snowy Mountain Baby Shower Cake from Life, Love and Sugar
Fruity Pebbles Muffins from Crazy for Crust
Mountain Baby Shower Cookies from Glorious Treats
Instant Pot Cheesecake from Dinners, Dishes and Desserts
No Bake Turtle Dream Bars from 365 Days of Baking and More
Classic Lemon Bars with Shortbread Crust from A Classic Twist
Peanut Butter Chocolate Poke Cake from The First Year Blog
Chocolate Raspberry Layer Cake from A Dash of Sanity
Potato Chip and Pecan Sandies from Simple Joy
Don’t hesitate to make these cupcakes! They are completely irresistible and combine everything we love about churros and cupcakes. Bake them for a party or just for fun. Either way, we know you will love them.
Try them and let us know what you think!
Churro Cupcakes
Ingredients
For the cupcakes:
- 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup milk, at room temperature
- 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
For the frosting:
- 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 4 cups confectioners' sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
For the cinnamon sugar:
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- churros, for topping
Instructions
To make the cupcakes:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a muffin pan with paper liners and set aside.
- In a measuring cup, whisk together Greek yogurt and milk; set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in eggs and vanilla. On low speed, alternate adding dry ingredients and yogurt/milk in three additions, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Beat just until incorporated.
- Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cupcake liners, filling each about 2/3 full.
- Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow to cool 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
To make the frosting:
- In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine butter, cream cheese and vanilla. Beat on medium speed until smooth, about 2 minutes.
- Add the confectioners' sugar and cinnamon. Beat on medium speed until smooth, about 2 to 3 minutes. Spoon frosting into piping bag and frost cupcakes.
To make the cinnamon sugar:
- In a small bowl, whisk together 2 tablespoons granulated sugar and 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar mixture over cupcakes, top with small bites of churros. Enjoy!
Notes
- Nutritional information does not include churros.
- You can prep the cupcakes up to 2 days in advance and store them in the refrigerator. Bring them to room temperature for at least 30 minutes prior to serving. We recommend waiting to top them with the mini churros until just before serving. If you store them in the refrigerator with the mini churros, the churros will get soggy.
Made these cupcakes for a fiesta-themed birthday party and they were a total HIT! Everyone absolutely loved them. (I doubled the recipe to make 32 cupcakes)
The cupcake itself was perfectly moist and crumbly while the frosting was the perfect balance of sweet and tangy from the cream cheese.
I made the churros to go on top and those were also easy to make and delicious, even for my first time frying at home. In case somebody reading is also thinking of doubling the recipe, you do not need to double the churro recipe. In a single batch, there was more than enough batter to make churros for probably 3x this cupcake recipe.
Thanks again for such a delicious treat!
Thanks so much for your detailed feedback, Alana! I’m so glad you enjoyed these cupcakes.
Can I substitute sour cream for the yogurt?
Yes, you can use sour cream instead of yogurt.
Can you make these ahead of time and freeze?
You can freeze the cake part, but I do not recommend freezing the frosting. To freeze the cupcakes, wrap in plastic wrap and store in a freezer safe bag. You can also freeze the churros, although we prefer them fresh for best texture and flavor. To freeze the churros, place them on a baking sheet and place in the freezer. Once frozen, transfer them to a freezer safe bag and freeze until you are ready to use. Please let us know if you try them. Enjoy!
Great thank you. Making them this weekend! Should I defrost them in the fridge or on the counter before frosting them?
Oh, Ashley, these are gorgeous and not to mention drool worthy! I’m definitely going to have to make them and soon – churros are my son’s favorite treat!
These are amazing!!! Love me some gorgeous cupcakes.