Circus Animal Cookie Cupcakes

Fluffy white cupcakes filled with creamy animal cookie-speckled filling, topped with a pink and white ruffly swirl of buttercream and crowned with my all-time favorite cookie!

It’s definitely no secret that I love my frosted circus animal cookies. From my delicious Circus Animal Cookie Fudge to my heavenly Circus Animal Cookie Truffle Pie, I’m always searching for new or different ways of incorporating my childhood favorite into something sweet and tantalizing.

Surprisingly though, it’s been quite a while since I’ve created a recipe around these little gems of sprinkly, frosted yumminess. In fact, the last recipe was way back in July when I made these Frosted Circus Animal Cookie Bars. No wonder why I was going through withdrawals…

So this week I decided it was time to bless this blog with some Circus Animal Cookie Cupcakes!

Seriously, why has it taken me so flippin’ long to create a cupcake around this cookie?? It seems like it would be the obvious choice seeing as they make the perfect little cupcake toppers. On the other hand, I guess it wasn’t too long ago when I made these Circus Animal Cookie Mini Trifles, which are basically cupcakes in a jar. 

You have no idea how conflicted I was when deciding on what exactly this cupcake should be. Should the cake part be chocolate or vanilla? Should it be filled or not? What KIND of filling? Should the frosting be pink or white? Or both?? WHAT KIND OF SPRINKLES, JILLIAN???

If you’ve been following me for a while, you know how bad I am when it comes to decision-making. ESPECIALLY when it involves the important things in life…like deciding on how a cupcake should look.

Thankfully, I took a few deep breaths and just took it one step at a time. First, the cake. I thought I’d keep it “more classic” with a simple vanilla cupcake. There’s nothing wrong with chocolate, but since circus animal cookies are made with vanilla cookies, it seemed like the traditional choice. 

Cake? Check!

In order to incorporate the circus animal cookies into the cupcakes (other than just simply using them as toppers), I decided to create a filling. Thinking back on my Homemade Hostess Cupcakes, I thought why not use that same filling and mix in some crushed circus animal cookies? Bingo! I just made one minor adjustment to the filling. Instead of combining the marshmallow fluff with shortening, I used butter. Once those two ingredients are combined, you mix in a little powdered sugar, some vanilla, almond extract, salt, and a little water. The last and most important step is to stir in some finely crushed circus animal cookies–THIS is what sets these cupcakes apart from all the others in the Pinterestphere.

The cookies not only lend a little texture/crunch to the filling, but they also infuse it with their iconically sweet flavor. FUH-nominal.

P.S. There will most likely be plenty of filling leftover once the cupcakes have been filled. You’re welcome.

Filling? Check!

Next up, the frosting. A traditional American buttercream would suffice. But what color? Pink or white? Since circus animal cookies are most recognized for their pink AND white cookies, I figured a swirl of the two colors would be perfect. It’s actually easier than you think. Just dye one half of the frosting pink, transfer the pink and white frostings into two separate pastry bags and tie the openings closed with a rubber band. Snip off the tips, then place both of them into another pastry bag fitted with a tip. I used Wilton’s 2D piping tip for these cupcakes.

Do a practice swirl on a plate/parchment before attempting the cupcakes to make sure that both colors come out. And that’s it!

Frosting? Check!

Finally, my favorite part when it comes to decorating cupcakes…the sprinkles. If you’ve seen my stash on Instagram, you know that I’ve got every shape, size, color, and ethnicity known to man. This just makes decisions tougher when you can only pick a few or even just one of your babies (yes, I refer to my sprinkles as babies) to top your goodies with. Once again, the classic choice won out, and I went with the simple rainbow nonpareils–the same sprinkles that are on the cookies themselves.

Sprinkles? Check!

Add a little circus animal cookie to the top, and you’ve got yourself one heck of a cupcake!

But not just ANY cupcake. A Circus Animal Cookie Cupcake.

Circus Animal Cookie Cupcakes

Fluffy white cupcakes filled with creamy animal cookie-speckled filling, topped with a pink and white ruffly swirl of buttercream and crowned with my all-time favorite cookie!

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 2 hours hrs

Cook Time 21 minutes mins

Total Time 2 hours hrs 21 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 18 Cupcakes

Ingredients

  

Cupcakes:

• 1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¾ cup unsalted butter softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• ¾ cup Greek yogurt (I used vanilla-flavored)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• ½ cup buttermilk*

Filling:

• 2 teaspoons hot water
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 (7 oz) jar marshmallow creme
• ½ cup unsalted butter softened
• ⅓ cup powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ⅛ teaspoon almond extract (optional)
• ½ cup crushed Frosted Circus Animal Cookies (about 20 cookies)

Buttercream:

• ½ cup unsalted butter
• Pinch of salt
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• ⅛ teaspoon almond extract (optional)
• 6 Tablespoons heavy cream

For Assembly:

• Frosted Circus Animal cookies
• Nonpareil sprinkles

Instructions

 

Make the Cupcakes:

• Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line a 12-count muffin pan with cupcake liners.
• In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until combined; set aside.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on medium speed until lightened and creamy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until combined, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Beat in the Greek yogurt, and vanilla on medium speed.
• Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix until combined. Add the buttermilk and mix until just combined, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
• Fill cupcake liners 3/4 of the way full. Bake for 19-21 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Make the Filling:

• Combine the hot water and salt in a small bowl and stir until dissolved. Let mixture cool.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat together the marshmallow creme and the butter until combined. Add in the powdered sugar, vanilla, and almond extract and mix on high speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the salt solution to the mixture and mix until combined. Stir in the crushed cookies, then transfer filling to a ziploc bag and cut the tip off.

Make the Buttercream:

• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and salt together on high until fluffy and pale in color, about 5-6 minutes. Decrease speed to low and slowly add the powdered sugar. Add the vanilla extract, almond extract, and heavy cream and beat until combined. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes.
• Divide the buttercream in half, and dye one half pink. Transfer each color into their own separate pastry bags, tie the ends closed with a rubber band, snip off the tips, then place both into another pastry bag fitted with a piping tip (see photo above).

To Assemble:

• Using a paring/small knife, cut a cone-shaped piece of cake out of the center of each cupcake (see photo above). Pipe the filling into each cupcake hole. Top each cupcake with a swirl of buttercream, a spattering of sprinkles, and a frosted circus animal cookie.

Notes

*If you don’t have buttermilk, just add 1/2 Tablespoon (or 1 and 1/2 teaspoons) of vinegar to a measuring cup, then pour in enough milk to equal 1/2 cup. Stir, and allow to sit for about 5 minutes.