March of the Penguin Cupcakes

Every year I get suckered make cupcakes for my kids and their class on their Birthdays. We've come a long way from the simple cupcakes with pretty frosting. Not sure when the cupcakes morphed from simple cupcake to painstaking time consuming pain in the ass something that rivals a work of art. As the children have grown I have truly enjoyed creating mini edible masterpieces. There was no way I could compete with last year's slumbering children with monogrammed blankets cupcakes. This year I did not want to disappoint my oldest who is turning 11, but I also simply do not have the time that I have in years past. I used the internet to help me find some simple yet fun ideas. And when I stumbled across the adorable penguin cupcakes featured on the Family Fun website I knew I had found my pot of cupcake gold. These were simple and Rebecca adores penguins!

 

 

 

 

 

These were so simple. I used a boxed cake mix, Betty Crocker yellow, and baked the cupcakes per the directions on the box. I used a canned vanilla frosting, Keebler grashopper cookies (Girl Scout Thin Mints would work as well) m&ms, and orange slices. From start to finish (including baking time) I don't think I spent more than a couple of hours on these.

Ingredients:
1 large bag of m&ms
2 boxes of Keebler Grasshopper cookies
1 package of orange slices
2 cans of vanilla frosting
2 boxes of yellow cake mix

1. Bake cupcakes per directions on the box. Let cool.
2. Spread icing over each cupcake
3. Using a sharp knife, cut chocolate cookies in half
4. Place one half cookie as the head and two halves as the wings
5. Cut the orange slices using two slices for the feet and one for the beak
6. Place a small amount of frosting on the orange wedge for the beak and place on the head
7. Place orange wedges on feet
8. Place a small amount of frosting on each m&m to secure onto the penguin's head.

I made 40 cupcakes