These Red Velvet Cupcakes with cream cheese frosting are delicious, rich, and perfectly sweet to match their beautiful appearance. Moist and fluffy red velvet cake batter with a deep cocoa flavor is perfectly balanced by a homemade vanilla cream cheese frosting and festive sprinkles on top in these Valentine’s Day cupcakes.

You don’t need professional baking experience to make these Pinterest-worthy Valentine’s Cupcakes — just a spare hour and standard baking ingredients! Plus, you can switch up the sprinkles to match any holiday you are celebrating.

They’re perfect for special occasions like Valentine’s Day, Christmas parties, or milestones. You will have so much fun making them — especially for fans of Red Velvet cake who will fall head over heels in love with these cupcakes!

Why You'll Love these Red Velvet Cupcakes

• Festive and delicious. The gorgeous crimson color of the cupcakes contrasted by the white frosting and topped with pink and red sprinkles make for a stunning Valentine’s Day treat. Plus, you can switch up the sprinkles for other holidays. Use red and green for Christmas.
• Delectable cream cheese frosting. Red velvet and cream cheese are a classic flavor combination — it’s almost impossible to think of one without the other! The richness of the cream cheese perfectly compliments the cocoa flavor of red velvet.
• Better than store-bought cupcakes. Freshly made without artificial ingredients, these scrumptious, homemade red velvet cupcakes will win over store-bought cupcakes every time! Plus, you can alter the ingredients to fit your specifications — see the ingredient notes below for tips.

Ingredient Notes

To make this cute Red Velvet Cupcakes, you will need the following ingredients (full measurements in recipe card below):

• all-purpose flour - to make the cupcakes gluten free, replace the regular all-purpose flour with a gluten free measure for measure flour instead. The texture of the cupcakes will change a bit.
• Dutch cocoa powder - Dutch cocoa powder is a little darker and richer than standard cocoa powder, but if you don’t have it on hand, use dark cocoa powder or natural coca powder.
• baking powder + baking soda
• salt
• unsalted butter - unsalted butter will give you the most control over the flavor of the cupcakes, but you can use salted butter if you need to–just omit or reduce the salt called for in the recipe.
• sugar
• eggs - applesauce is a great substitute for eggs in a pinch. Use ¼ cup applesauce for every egg called for in the recipe.
• vegetable oil - you can also use avocado oil or another neutral oil with a high smoke point.
• sour cream - make sure to use full-fat sour cream for the best result. You can also use full-fat Greek yogurt as a good substitute.
• vanilla - either extract or vanilla bean paste would work just fine in equal amounts.
• red gel food coloring - using gel food coloring ensures that you get a vibrant color without diluting the batter with liquid. If you can’t find gel coloring, use a very concentrated liquid food coloring instead.
• white vinegar - the same measure of apple cider vinegar will also work. 
• cream cheese - mascarpone cheese will produce a similar result if you need to swap the cream cheese.
• confectioners sugar - a finely ground sugar alternative like confectioners-style Swerve will also work.
• red and pink sprinkles - or substitute with your favorite sprinkle mix.

Baking Tools and Equipment

You will also need the following baking tools and equipment:

• measuring cups and spoons
• mixing bowls
• stand mixer or hand mixer
• 12-tin muffin pan
• cupcake liners
• large piping bag
• Wilton 1M tip

How to Make the Best Red Velvet Cupcakes

1. Combine dry ingredients. In a medium mixing bowl, add flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk to combine and set aside.
2. Cream butter and sugar. In a separate large mixing bowl, add the softened butter and sugar, then beat together with an electric hand mixer (or use a stand mixer) for 4-5 minutes on high, until light and fluffy.
3. Add eggs. Add in the eggs and beat until well-combined.

4. Add remaining wet ingredients. Add oil, sour cream, vanilla, red food colouring, and vinegar, then beat again until combined and smooth.

5. Add dry ingredients. Add the whisked dry ingredients into the bowl, then beat on low speed until just combined and smooth.

6. Scoop batter. Line a 12-tin muffin pan with cupcake liners. Divide the batter into the liners. You can use a cookie scoop to easily add the batter to the liners.
7. Bake. Bake in a 350F preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Allow the cupcakes to cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.

How to Make Cream Cheese Frosting for Cupcakes

1. Beat cream cheese. In a stand mixer fitted with the whip attachment, beat together the butter and cream cheese at medium-high speed for about 2 minutes, or until fluffy. (You can also beat in a mixing bowl with a hand mixer)
2. Add sugar. Scrape the sides of the bowl, then gradually add in confectioners’ sugar in small additions, beating on low between each addition and scraping at the sides.
3. Beat. Add vanilla and salt. Turn stand mixer to high speed and beat for 2-3 minutes.

Piping Red Velvet Cupcakes

1. Transfer the frosting into a large piping bag fitted with a Wilton 1M tip.
2. Carefully pipe the frosting in a classic swirl pattern onto each cupcake. Start in the center and move in a circular pattern closer to the edges, then move up and back towards the center.
3. Top each cupcake with with sprinkles and serve.

How to Serve

Red Velvet Cupcakes are a delicious treat to serve for dessert or a midday sweet snack. It also pairs really well with a glass of milk or a drink such as:

• Matcha Latte
• White Hot Chocolate
• Strawberry Milk Tea
• Iced Latte
• Chai Tea Latte

Storing and Freezing Instructions

How to Store

Because of the cream cheese frosting, you’ll need to refrigerate these red velvet cupcakes in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

How to Freeze

You can also freeze these red velvet cupcakes. If you are planning to do this, I recommend freezing them before frosting.

More Dessert Recipes

• 40 Best Valentine’s Day Dessert Recipes
• Moist Chocolate Cupcakes
• Red Velvet Cookies
• Molten Chocolate Lava Cakes
• Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies
• Moist Vanilla Cupcakes