Red, White, and Blue Cupcakes — Perfect for your 4th of July, Labor Day, or Memorial Day festivities! These EASY NO-MIXER festive cupcakes topped with buttercream frosting are moist, springy, fluffy, and sure to be a crowd FAVORITE!
Table of Contents
- The Easiest Red, White & Blue Dessert
- Ingredients for Red, White, & Blue Cupcakes
- How to Make Red, White & Blue Cupcakes
- How to Make Frosting for Patriotic Cupcakes
- Cupcake Frosting Tip
- Patriotic Cupcake FAQs
- Adapting These Cupcakes for Other Holidays
- How to Store Frosted Cupcakes
- Tips for the Best Red, White, & Blue Cupcakes
- Red, White, and Blue Cupcakes Recipe
- More More Patriotic Desserts:
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:
- Whisk together the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet in another, then combine the two.
- Gently stir in the sprinkles.
- Turn the batter into a greased 12-count cupcake pan and bake until the center is set and not jiggly, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs, but no batter.
- Allow the cupcakes to cool completely before frosting them.
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.
Cupcake Frosting Tip
In lieu of piping the frosting, you could dollop it on with a spoon and then add jimmies. Although it may not look quite as neat and tidy, it certainly will get the job done if you’re in a rush or don’t want to deal with a piping bag!
Patriotic Cupcake FAQs
Yes, absolutely! As mentioned above, my Homemade Funfetti-Inspired Cake is what inspired these cupcakes. The recipe makes a tall 8×8-inch cake.
Make a half batch of the frosting that I list in the recipe card for these patriotic cupcakes since cakes don’t typically require as much frosting since you’re not piping it.
Yes, you absolutely can. It will make 24 cupcakes or two 8-inch cakes or one 9×13-inch cake. Note that the baking time will differ based on the pan size you use. Cupcakes bake for about 18-20 minutes whereas the cakes bake for about 25-30 minutes.
The answer is yes, using real buttermilk is your best bet. Theoretically, you could make a buttermilk substitute in a couple of minutes. You can also use powdered buttermilk, which has a long shelf life and can come in handy for recipes like these cupcakes for the 4th of July.
Yes! You can divide the frosting into thirds, then color one part red, one part blue, and leave the final part as is (white).
Either pipe each cupcake with a single color of frosting, or swirl the colors together in a piping bag to create red, white, and blue cupcake frosting.
I recommend using gel food coloring, as liquid food coloring may make the frosting watery.
For best results, you’ll want to use jimmies for making the July 4th cupcakes. Jimmies are flat, long sprinkles that hold their shape when baked. And they don’t bleed into the batter either!
If you’re concerned with the sprinkles or jimmies bleeding into the batter, I recommend being very gentle when stirring them in. If you overmix the batter after adding the sprinkles, it may change color.
The jimmies I used were completely fine but brands vary with how much they bleed.
You can bake the cupcakes up to 2 days in advance. Store them, unfrosted, in a covered container on your countertop.
The frosting can also be made 2 days in advance but you should wait to frost the cupcakes until the day you plan on serving them. This is because frosted cupcakes are best stored in the fridge, and refrigerating cupcakes can dry them out. To avoid this — but still prep everything in advance — bake the cupcakes and make the frosting, but store separately until day of.
Sure! So long as the frosting is white or cream in color, the red, white, and blue cupcakes will look properly red, white, and blue (i.e. don’t go rogue and use a chocolate frosting!).
I used vanilla buttercream for these cupcakes, but you could also use marshmallow buttercream or cream cheese frosting.
And if you use store-bought frosting, I won’t tell anyone!
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.
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Red, White, and Blue Cupcakes
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt, or to taste
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup buttermilk
- ⅓ cup sour cream, lite is okay (plain Greek yogurt may be substituted)
- ¼ cup canola or vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ cup jimmies or flat sprinkles, or to taste
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 2 tablespoons milk, whole or 2% preferred
- 2 to 3 teaspoons vanilla extract, or to taste
- ⅛ teaspoon salt, optional and to taste (helps offset the sweetness)
- 3 ½ to 4 cups confectioners’ sugar
- ½ cup jimmies or flat sprinkles, or to taste
Instructions
Cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 12-count cupcake pan with liners; set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, salt; set aside.
- In a separate small bowl, whisk together the egg, buttermilk, sour cream, oil, and vanilla.
- Add the wet mixture to the dry, mixing lightly with a spoon or folding with a spatula until just combined. Small lumps will be present, don’t overmix or try to stir them smooth or your cupcakes will turn out tougher.
- Very gently stir in the patriotic jimmies or flat sprinkles, taking care not to overmix or they could bleed.
- Turn the batter out into prepared pan and bake for about 18 to 20 (start checking at 16 minutes), or until the centers are set and not jiggly, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs, but no batter.
- Place pan on a wire rack and allow the cupcakes to cool for about 10 minutes or until they are cool enough to remove from the pan; set them aside. While cupcakes cool, make the frosting.
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
- To a large bowl, add the butter, milk, vanilla, optional salt, and beat together until smooth and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes.
- Slowly add the confectioners’ sugar while beating with a handheld electric mixer until smooth and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
- You can simply spoon the frosting onto the cupcakes but I prefer to pipe it on using a Wilton 1M star tip, coupler, and piping bag. Additionally, you can use store bought buttercream frosting in a tub if you don't want to make homemade frosting. You'll likely need two tubs.
- After the cupcakes have been frosted, top with patriotic jimmies or flat sprinkles.* (See Notes)
Notes
- 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
- Pastels for Easter and Mother's Day
- Royal blue or another bold choice for Father's Day
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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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!!
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!
great
Do I need to use the sprinkles .. I would prefer to make white cup cakes with colored icing
You can omit them, no problem.
I like your all recipes
You are not only putting indigents you are putting in it your love.
Regards
I made this on my daughter’s birthday and she really loves it <3. Thanks for sharing it :D
I made this on my daughter’s birthday and she really loves it <3. Thanks for sharing it :D
great