Cheers to the Grad: Easy Graduation Cupcakes (2024)

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Celebrate the most important graduates in your life with these adorable graduation cupcakes using chocolate squares, peanut butter cups and candy.

Graduation season is upon us, and what better way to celebrate than with themed cupcakes? These adorable graduation cupcakes are easy to whip up with just a few ingredients.

Whether you’re celebrating someone’s kindergarten, high school, or even college graduation, these festive cupcakes are perfect for the occasion! You can easily customize the colors to match any school colors, adding an extra layer of personalization and making them extra fun! We kept it simple and used a boxed cake mix with ready-made frosting for this batch.

Graduation Cupcakes – Ingredients

• Your favorite box of cake mix (along with the ingredients it calls for)
• Ready-made vanilla frosting
• Colored sanding sugar (use your school colors, or favorite color!)
• Ghirardelli chocolate squares
• Reese’s miniatures cups
• Mini M&M’s
• Rainbow Twizzlers Twists

How to make Graduation Cupcakes:

1. Bake your Cupcakes: Start by following the instructions on your cake mix box to whip up a batch of cupcakes. We used vanilla but you can use any flavor. When they’re done, let them cool completely before decorating.

2. Frosting: Place a large star tip (1M or similar) into a piping bag, and pipe large swirls (also known as rosettes) onto each cupcake.

3. Sanding Sugar: Sprinkle each cupcake with whichever color(s) of sanding sugar you’d like.

4. Build the Graduation Cap: Place one Reese’s miniature on top of each cupcake, making sure to place the wider part down onto the frosting. Smear a little bit of frosting on top of it to “glue” the chocolate square on top, this becomes the top of the graduation cap!

5. Add the Details: Cut the Twizzlers each into 4 pieces, then cut each piece in half lengthwise. Use a little bit of frosting to secure one mini M&M onto the center of each chocolate square “cap”. Then, spread a bit of frosting on one side of the twizzle piece and place on the cap to create the tassel.

Final Thoughts

As graduation season approaches, these charming graduation cap cupcakes offer a sweet way to celebrate academic milestones. With just a handful of ingredients and easy steps, they’re perfect for honoring the achievements of loved ones, whether they’re finishing kindergarten or college.

Customize them with school colors for a personal touch and enjoy the sweet taste of success as you gather with friends and family to mark this special occasion. Congratulations to all the graduates, and here’s to the exciting adventures that lie ahead!