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
Video
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.
Rebecca Hubbell says
It’s sort of in the middle. These are best frosted the day they are served but can be stored in the refrigerator. The frosting will thicken slightly and lose some of its whipped texture after a day in the fridge.
Megan says
I’ve never made frosting using cream & pudding mix before. If I frost the night before, will this frosting go flat or lose its shape? Or does it hold up like buttercream?
Rebecca Hubbell says
This recipe should work for 9 inch round pan and smaller to get at least 2 layers. Should give you 3 layers for 6 inch pans. Bake time will likely be between 25 and 35 minutes depending on size.
Michelle says
I’ve made these cupcakes many times and love them! But I’m wanting to make a double layer cake would I double the recipe?
Grace says
I was so excited to try this recipe, but it was very underwhelming. The actual cupcake part did not taste like butterscotch at all. The toffee did nothing for the flavor of the cupcake. My batter was very runny which made the toffee bits sink to the bottom. You could achieve the same flavor with a box cake mix. Overall, not worth the time, effort, or money to make these cupcakes. I will have to say that the the whip cream frosting is amazing though! I had high hopes for these cupcakes, but they fell short. I was very unimpressed by the flavor.
Rebecca Hubbell says
They are still crunchy but not unpleasant.
Beth says
Do the toffee bits become soft in the baking process or are they still crunchy?
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.
Jennifer says
I cannot find instant butterscotch pudding anywhere, only cook & serve… can that be used?? Or is there a substitution???
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.
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/