These Harry Potter Butterbeer Cupcakes will cast a spell on your taste buds and leave you in a state of geeky bliss! Loaded with delicious flavors of toffee, butterscotch, caramel, and vanilla.
It’s that time of year again! Every December, Matt and I have a Harry Potter marathon, I don’t even remember how long we’ve been doing it, but I always try to bake up something delicious for us to enjoy with it!
Last year I made these Butterbeer Pudding Cookies and they’ve been one of my most popular recipes to date! We’ve made them over and over again, tried different variations and I even made them for a wedding in September! One reader is commented that the cookies “smell like unicorns,” here’s to hoping these cupcakes are just as good!
Personally, I think they’re freakin’ amazing and might just be the best cupcakes I’ve ever made, they taste like french toast and butterbeer had a baby! See, now you really want one!
Fun Ways To Dress Up Your Cupcakes!
These cupcakes are light and fluffy with toffee bits throughout that make for a nice little punch of flavor. Then they’re dipped in a rich butterscotch sauce and finished with a whipped butterbeer frosting and some lightning bolt sprinkles.
I know there’s a fair amount of people who don’t like to use flavoring or extracts, but please be aware that the imitation butter flavor is KEY in this recipe and CANNOT just be replaced with melted butter. You can find the imitation butter extract in the baking aisle with other flavorings, extracts, and food colors.
So Harry Potter lovers, are you guys excited for the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them movie? I know I am, anything to keep the Harry Potter universe alive, right? The trailer comes out next week and I’m pretty pumped, especially because I adore Eddie Redmayne and know he’s going to do an amazing job!
Also, have you guys picked up a copy of the new Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone: Illustrated Edition? It’s absolutely gorgeous and I can’t wait to start collecting the books all over again!
I purchased the Harry Potter cupcake liners on Etsy and put them on over the two regular liners so the sauce wouldn’t make them all nasty. They are made out of copied book pages, and as a book lover, they were just too perfect.
The lightning bolt sprinkles used in the photos are no longer made, but you can find some similar ones here. You could also top the cupcakes with sugar lightning bolts. Or buy Harry Potter Chocolate Molds To Top Your Cupcakes With!
More Harry Potter Creations!
- Butterbeer No Bake Cookies
- Harry Potter Butterbeer Pancakes
- Harry Potter Party
- Harry Potter Quidditch Jersey Tutorial
- Harry Potter’s Butterbeer Fudge
- His & Hers Harry Potter Mugs
- Golden Snitch Truffles
- Hogwarts House Crest Ornaments
- Harry Potter DIY Golden Snitch Ornament
- Butterbeer Poke Cake
- Amortentia Love Potion
Harry Potter Butterbeer Cupcakes
Ingredients
Cupcakes:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 large eggs
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon imitation butter extract
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1/2 cup cream soda
- 1 cup Heath Toffee Bits not the ones with chocolate
Sauce:
- 3/4 cup butterscotch chips
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
Frosting:
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1/3 cup butterscotch instant pudding mix dry
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 3 tsp imitation butter extract
Toppings:
Instructions
Cupcakes:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Line cupcake pan with liners.
- Combine flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a medium sized bowl and stir with a whisk until well mixed and smooth.
- In a large bowl or stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat together the eggs, oil, extracts, and buttermilk.
- Beat in the dry ingredients and the cream soda, alternating between the two until batter is smooth.
- Mix in the toffee bits.
- Add 1/4 cup batter to each cupcake liner and bake for 18-22 minutes.
- Remove from oven and transfer to a cooling rack to cool. Bake remaining cupcakes.
- Meanwhile, make the sauce by placing the butterscotch chips in a small metal bowl and heating the heavy cream in a small saucepan over medium heat.
- Bring cream to a simmer, then pour it over the butterscotch chips. Let set for 3-4 minutes.
- After time has passed, whisk cream and chips together until a rich sauce forms. Transfer to the fridge to cool and thicken for about 30 minutes.
- Prepare frosting by combining all ingredients in a large bowl or stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachments and beat on medium-high for about 3-4 minutes until a light and fluffy frosting forms. Transfer frosting to a pastry frosting bag or to a dessert decorating tool.
- Remove sauce from the fridge, roll out a piece of wax paper on a flat surface, dip the tops of the cupcakes in the sauce and place on the wax paper and let set for 15 minutes.
- Place each cupcake in a second liner to cover up the stickiness.
- Pipe frosting onto the cupcakes and finish with sprinkles.
Jennifer says
I cannot find instant butterscotch pudding anywhere, only cook & serve… can that be used?? Or is there a substitution???
Rebecca Hubbell says
Instant need to be used, you could try instant caramel or vanilla instead, it will change the flavor though. Walmart usually has the biggest selection of puddings that I have seen.
Kirsten says
I don’t have any cream soda at hand, and I really want to make these now. Are there any substitutes?
Lindsay says
My family really enjoyed these cupcakes. The flavors are rich and delicious.
KC says
Wondering if I could make this into a cake…..for my daughters birthday. I think I’d need to change the whipped cream frosting in to a butter cream to hold up in the layers……what do you think? What other changes would you make?
Rebecca Hubbell says
I have made it as a poke cake but never as a layer cake. I would probably use my Salted Caramel Buttercream recipe and substitute half of the caramel sauce for butterscotch sauce. https://www.sugarandsoul.co/salted-caramel-frosting/
Flora says
Trying to make these for my boyfriend’s birthday this weekend but have two questions both related to timing:
1. Can I make the frosting ahead of time and pipe it the day of or do you think it may affect taste?
2. I am planning to bake the actual cake portion a day ahead of time. Would it be better to soak them with the sauce that same day or can I wait the til the next day to do the soak as well?
I have never worked with butterscotch or imitation butter before and am worried I will ruin it if I let any portion wait too long.
Rebecca Hubbell says
Hi Flora, it’s perfectly fine to make the cupcakes themselves a day in advance, however the frosting is best the day it is made because it’s a whipped cream based frosting. As for the butterscotch sauce/ganache, I think you’d be safe to do that a day in advance as well.
Michelle says
Yes! And the frosting is even better when it is cold.
Jess says
Thank you so much for including the butterscotch sauce they didn’t have any at the store and I’m also making butter beer while watching a Harry Potter movie marathon 🧁🥰🥰🧁🥰
Bre says
Would I be able to fill the cupcake with the butterscotch sauce instead of putting it on top of the cupcake? I’m making these on Tuesday, and I cannot wait!
Rebecca Hubbell says
Hi Bre, I would think so yes, but I’ve never done it myself and am not sure if the cupcakes will just soak up the syrup or if it will stay in the center.
Colleen says
What size frosting tip did you use?
Rebecca Hubbell says
This is the one I use most often: https://amzn.to/34qB220
Colleen says
What size frosting tip do you use?
Rebecca Hubbell says
This one: https://amzn.to/34qB220
Claire says
What creaming soda did you use? I am in Australia and was curious to see what brand you used.
Rebecca Hubbell says
We have several different brands in the US, but I usually use IBC or A&W. American Cream Soda and Australian Creaming Soda are very different in terms of color and flavor. I wouldn’t recommend using the Australian version as it’s much more fruity. You could use caramel or vanilla coffee creamer and that should substitute nicely without changing the flavor too much.