My daughter recently turned 11 and she had a fun movie-themed birthday party. I’ll be sharing all the details soon, but in the meantime I wanted to share these fun and easy popcorn cupcakes that I made. It’s pretty much always my preference to keep things simple–except that I also like when things can be extra fun. Extra special. These cupcakes fit the bill because they’re super easy to make and require zero cake decorating skills. trust me.

how to make popcorn cupcakes

When I was searching online for some cupcake inspiration for her movie birthday party, I found a blog post from Rose Bakes. She goes into detail on how she made her easy popcorn cupcakes and even shares the recipes she uses. I just used a Funfetti box mix (as per the birthday girl’s request) and my go-to buttercream frosting recipe that you can find on the C&H Sugar website. Seriously, C&H powdered sugar is the only kind I will buy.

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I followed her basic tutorial, except I snipped the mini marshmallows before placing them on my frosted cupcakes. Was this a necessary step? No, but I definitely think it helped them to look more like freshly popped kernels! If you can frost a cupcake, you can make these lookalike popcorn cupcakes! I also used these slightly-oversized cupcake liners and then wrapped them in these “popcorn” cupcake wrappers. I think they turned out so cute!

| Read: How to Make Easy Creamsicle Cupcakes |

These would be the perfect dessert for a movie birthday party like we had. But they also work for a circus or carnival-themed gathering. Although they are easy to make, snipping the marshmallows can be time consuming so make sure you leave enough time for that part–it really adds to the realism!

Make sure you check back next week to see how the whole party came together!

Find more fun and easy dessert ideas on my Pinterest boards!