Cereal and Milk Cupcakes with Cereal Milk Buttercream

These Cereal and Milk Cupcakes are topped with a cereal milk buttercream. Homemade vanilla cupcakes get a sweet fruit loop cereal milk twist, making these cereal cupcakes a dessert must!

If you’re as in love with cereal as I am, you’re going to straight up L-O-V-E these Cereal and Milk Cupcakes. And the cereal milk frosting?? Heavenly. 

Guys, remember a little while back I was talking about how I was pulling a Beyonce and feeling like a survivor since I’d been fighting off the cold from down under? (And I’m not talking about Australia…)

Well, I spoke a liiiiitle too soon.

The cold came back in full force not just once, but twice.

I will never—and I mean never—take breathing through my nose for granted ever again.

It’s been a rough few weeks and I think I’ve officially tried every cold medicine on the market, to no avail. (I even went on antibiotics for 10 days and once I was off them, the cold came back with a vengeance. I don’t what I ever did to my immune system to anger it so badly.)

Knock on wood, I think I’m finally over it for good this time. And after living off a diet of soup and saltines I’m 1000% ready to eat everythingggg, including a whole batch of these Cereal and Milk Cupcakes.

We’ve talked at length about how much I love cute food.

Fruity Pebble Donuts? Totes adorbs.

White Chocolate Raspberry Brownie Bites? They’re mini, so they automatically qualify as cute.

Coconut Cream Pie Cookie Cups? I can’t handle their cuteness (again, they’re small so it’s in their very nature to be cute).

Despite the fact these are full size cupcakes, the brightly colored Fruit Loops on top send these cereal milk cupcakes over the top.

Growing up, the sweetest cereal in our pantry was probably Honey Bunches of Oats. My parents weren’t ones for Captain Crunch, Lucky Charms, Fruit Loops, etc.

Of course, this meant those were all the cereals I was dying to try. Isn’t that how it always is? Wanting what you can’t have and all that.

When I finally did try these cereals, I realized I actually didn’t like them as much as my Wheat Chex and Crispex.

I will admit, however, that I do love snacking on Fruit Loops as they are. While I don’t really dig them with milk, I can get behind them eating them straight from the box.

I can also really get behind them when they’re on top of cupcakes.

All right, so let’s talk about these Cereal and Milk Cupcakes.

• First things first, let’s talk about the flavor of these cupcakes. These cereal milk cupcakes begin with my favorite homemade vanilla cupcake recipe. It’s my go to recipe, as the cupcakes are always flavorful, tender and perfectly moist.
• To enhance these cupcakes, I switched out the regular milk the recipe calls for with cereal milk, i.e., milk that’s been soaked in sweet cereal.
• Because you really want the milk to have that sweet cereal flavor, make sure you use a strong, sweet cereal. I used a combination of Trix and Fruit Loops, but you could sub Captain Crunch, Lucky Charms, Berry Kix etc.
• For the Cereal Milk Buttercream (aka cereal milk vanilla frosting), I substituted cereal milk for the heavy cream called for in the recipe. I really wanted that classic cereal flavor to shine through.

How do you make Cereal Milk Cupcakes? 

• You need to make the cereal milk first. I suggest soaking the cereal in the milk for about an hour. You could probably get away with soaking it for 30 minutes, but the flavor won’t be as strong.
• You will need to soak the cereal in more milk than you will actually need to use in the cupcake batter because some of the milk will soak up into the cereal.
• I love to use sour cream in my cake recipes because it adds so much richness to the final product, but you can use Greek yogurt instead.
• For the frosting, I prefer to make my buttercream with heavy cream. However, if you do not have heavy cream (aka, heavy whipping cream), you can use milk instead.
• Depending upon the size of your cupcake pan, this recipe will make between 12-15 cupcakes.

Cereal lovers, this one’s for you. ❤️

Print

Cereal and Milk Cupcakes with Cereal Milk Buttercream

Prep Time

1 hr 30 mins

Cook Time

20 mins

Total Time

1 hr 50 mins

 

These Cereal and Milk Cupcakes are topped with a cereal milk buttercream. Homemade vanilla cupcakes get a sweet fruit loop cereal milk twist, making these cereal cupcakes a dessert must!

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: 12 -15 cupcakes

Author: Michelle

Ingredients

Cereal Milk:

• 1 cup milk, whole milk or 2% works best
• 1/2 cup cereal, like Fruit Loops

Cereal Milk Cupcakes

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs, large
• 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp corn starch
• 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup cereal milk (from the above recipe)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup sour cream

Cereal Milk Buttercream

• 1/3 cup heavy cream (aka heavy whipping cream)
• 2 Tbsp cereal, like Fruit Loops
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• salt to taste

Topping

• Fruit Loops, Trix, etc.

Instructions

Cereal Milk

1. In a bowl, soak milk and cereal together for about 60 minutes. Strain milk from the cereal and set aside.

Cupcakes

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a 12-cup muffin tin with cupcake liners. Set aside.
2. With a mixer, cream butter until light and fluffy, about 1-2 minutes. Add in granulated sugar, and cream the mixture until well combined.
3. Add in eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
4. In a separate bowl, sift together all purpose flour, corn starch, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
5. Alternately, add dry ingredients and 1/2 cup cereal milk to the butter mixture, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Mix batter until just combined (over mixing cupcake batter can yield dry and crumbly cupcakes).
6. Mix in vanilla extract and sour cream.
7. Divide batter evenly into cupcake liners, filling each about 2/3 of the way full (you will have enough batter for 12-15 cupcakes, depending upon the size of your muffin tin).
8. Bake for about 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cereal Milk Buttercream

1. Soak heavy cream and cereal together for 25 minutes or so. (Alternatively, if you have any leftover cereal milk from the cupcake batter, you can use that instead of heavy cream.) Strain the cereal from the heavy cream. Set aside.
2. With a mixer, cream butter until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes (this makes extra light buttercream).
3. Add in powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, mixing well after each addition.
4. Add in vanilla extract and a pinch of salt, to offset the sweetness of the frosting. Mix until well combined.
5. Add in heavy cream (or milk) beginning with 2 Tbsp. Add in another Tbsp or so until buttercream reaches your desired consistency.
6. Pipe or spread frosting over each cooled cupcake and top with Fruit Loops (or other cereal), if desired.
7. Enjoy!

Here are some other recipes you might love:

Cereal and Milk Donuts

Funfetti Vanilla Cupcakes

Chocolate Sprinkle Donuts