The Easiest Red, White & Blue Dessert
These homemade red, white, and blue cupcakes cupcakes are absolutely perfect for Flag Day, 4th of July, Memorial Day, or Labor day. For this easy cupcake recipe, I used my Homemade Funfetti-Inspired Cake recipe, which has been a reader favorite since 2014. I love the base recipe because it’s fast, easy to make, and the cakes always turn out supremely moist, springy, and fluffy thanks to buttermilk, sour cream, and oil. Red, white, and blue jimmies give the cupcakes a patriotic look and are both mixed into the cupcake batter and then sprinkled on top of the homemade buttercream frosting.
Are These Just 4th of July Cupcakes?
Absolutely not! Although this is my go-to dessert when I need an easy 4th of July recipe that’s red, white, and blue, you can also make these as Memorial Day cupcakes or Labor Day cupcakes. Patriotic cupcakes that are red, white, and blue work for lots of holidays in the US!
Ingredients for Red, White, & Blue Cupcakes
To make the patriotic cupcakes from scratch, you’ll need:
All-purpose flour Granulated sugar Baking powder Salt Egg Buttermilk Sour cream Vegetable or canola oil Vanilla extract Sprinkles
And for the homemade buttercream frosting, you’ll need:
Unsalted butter Vanilla extract Salt Confectioners’ sugar More sprinkles!
How to Make Red, White & Blue Cupcakes
I adore that this is a no-mixer 4th of July cupcake recipe with no butter to cream. Makes things very fast and easy! Here’s how the cupcakes are made: Tip: In addition to July 4th, you can also make these cupcakes for Memorial Day and Labor Day!
How to Make Frosting for Patriotic Cupcakes
The homemade buttercream frosting is as simple to make as whipping together butter, vanilla, a pinch of salt, confectioners’ sugar, and splash of milk until light and fluffy. I then piped the frosting with a 1M Wilton Tip with a coupler and piping bag. The patriotic jimmies are the perfect finishing touch to give the cupcakes a real patriotic look.
Adapting These Cupcakes for Other Holidays
The beauty of this very versatile no-mixer cupcake batter is that as mentioned, it can be made as cakes — fruity, sprinkled, or plain — as well as cupcakes. You can change the color of the sprinkles for various holidays and seasons. The obvious sprinkle choices include:
Red and green sprinkles for Christmas Black and orange for Halloween Red, orange, and yellow for the fall and Thanksgiving Red, pink, and white for Valentine’s Day Pastels for Easter and Mother’s Day Royal blue or another bold choice for Father’s Day
How to Store Frosted Cupcakes
The July 4th cupcakes will keep airtight at room temperature for 4 to 5 days. I’m comfortable storing frosted cakes and cupcakes at room temp, but if you’re not or it’s quite warm in your climate and the frosting could melt at room temp, store them in the fridge. Or, unfrosted cupcakes will in the freezer for 4 to 6 months.
Tips for the Best Red, White, & Blue Cupcakes
If you’re in a time crunch, you don’t necessarily need to make scratch buttercream frosting. You can cheat and use a tub of store bought buttercream frosting. However, since you’re making a scratch cake, making scratch frosting is the way I would do things. It only takes a couple minutes to whip together. I would spoon it on rather than pipe it if you’re trying to save time. Note that you must let the red, white, and blue cupcakes cool completely before frosting them otherwise you’ll wind up with melting frosting running everywhere.
More More Patriotic Desserts:
Red, White, and Blue Star Cookies – Get patriotic with these SOFT, chewy, frosted star cookies that are loaded with SPRINKLES!! No rolling pin required! They’re a holiday WINNER!! Tried this recipe? Leave a review! Consider leaving a 5 star rating if you’ve made and loved one of my recipes! Chocolate Truffle Red Velvet Cupcakes – Tender fluffy red velvet cupcakes stuffed with chocolate truffles and topped with sweet and tangy cream cheese frosting! Color half the frosting blue and pipe in white and blue swirls to make 4th of July appropriate. Chocolate Chip Red Velvet Cookies — These chocolate chip red velvet cookies have a secret ingredient — cake mix! These cookies are super ooey gooey and ultra rich! Blueberry Pie Bars — These pie bars are one of my all-time favorite frozen blueberry recipes! They have the flavors you love in a blueberry pie, but you don’t have to mess around with homemade pie crust. Red Velvet Poke Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting — If you like red velvet, you’re going to LOVE this EASY red velvet cake recipe!! Super soft, moist, topped with luscious cream cheese frosting. Top with red, white, and blue sprinkles instead of chocolate chips for a patriotic twist! Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies — Rich, decadent, red velvet brownies topped with tangy cream cheese swirls!! PERFECT for Valentine’s Day, the Christmas season, July 4th, and Memorial Day! EASIER than you think to make!! Funfetti Cookies — These funfetti cookies are essentially sugar cookies from scratch that have been loaded with sprinkles. Swap in red, white, and blue jimmies to make these for July 4th or Memorial Day!
