BBQ Cupcakes!!!

These chocolate cupcakes are topped with all the fixings for a grill out!  A perfect treat for Father’s Day or even a tailgate party (and as a Packer fan, I have lots of experience with those fun events!!!)

My dad is the best at grilling things.  Some of my favorite times are our family cookouts with dad at the grill.  I guess that’s why I smiled when I saw these on Pinterest the other day.  There are a ton of variations on these- they are all over the web.  There are steaks and burgers made out of caramels and candy bars.  There are shish-kabobs made out of Dots candy and Starburst.  I even saw goldfish crackers on the “grill”!  LOVE IT!

I stayed with Hot Tamales as little hot dogs, and they make me smile.  These are easy and fun, fun, FUN!!

Want to know how to make them?  Here’s the recipe: (printable version)

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 box of Hot Tamales candies (if you hate cinnamon, you can use Mike&Ikes candy, but you’ll have to pick out the cherry ones).
• Black gel food coloring
• 1 cake mix (plus water, oil and eggs needed to make it according to the package)
• 1 tub of chocolate frosting
• Red sugar crystals 

DIRECTIONS:

• Make cake mix according to package and divide into 24 cupcake liners placed in muffin tins.
• Bake according to package, remove from oven and cool completely.
• While cake is baking, use a toothpick and black food color gel to draw grill lines on the hot tamales.  I placed them on a paper towel to dry, so they wouldn’t roll.
• Take about 1/3 of frosting out of tub, place it in a separate bowl, and add black food coloring gel  to make the frosting black.  Place this frosting into a small zip-top bag fitted with a small round decorating tip.
• Once cupcakes have cooled, use a knife to frost a thin, smooth layer of the chocolate icing onto each cupcake.
• Sprinkle a little red sugar in the middle of the cupcake frosting.
• Pipe black frosting on in even lines to make the grill.
• Set Hot Tamales on the “grill” top.
• Enjoy!

My thoughts: These are SO easy to put together.  Adding other grill items would increase your time commitment, but with just hotdogs, these went together fast!  Of course, you can use your own favorite cupcake recipe and frosting recipe with these if you don’t want to go pre-made.  I was in a hurry this week, with lots of things on my plate: BIG NEWS coming soon!  So excited to tell you all what I’ve been up to!  In the meantime, make yourself (and your dad!) some little cupcake grills!  Enjoy!!!!  ~r

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