You’re probably aware that Big Dot of Happiness offers darling cupcake wrappers to match their party themes, but maybe you’ve decided to serve a brunch meal or buffet at your shower and feel that you have no use for cupcake accessories? Well, stop right there! Cupcake wrappers do, indeed, deserve a place on your brunch menu—wrapped around beautiful, delicious, brunch-y muffins!

As I was pondering which of my favorite muffin recipes to share with you today, in order to help you all fill up your brunch “cupcake” wrappers, I happened to come across this simple idea (via justJENN recipes) for creating the sweetest, most adorable cutout heart cupcakes, and I couldn’t get them out of my mind!

I decided to try my own attempt at making these beauties, but, since I already had brunch on the brain, I thought I’d apply the technique to muffins instead…and oh my: they are even more darling in person!

To create these adorable cutout cakes, you’ll first need to prepare your favorite muffin (or cupcake!) recipe—I went with a simple banana muffin. The only adjustment you’ll need to make to your recipe is to be sure to fill the paper cups with batter a bit higher than usual—right to the top ought to do it—to ensure the tops fluff over a bit when they’re baked. However, if you’d like to make this project even easier, you can simply buy ready-made muffins from your local store. Although keep in mind that Big Dot’s cupcake wrappers will fit a cake up to 2” wide at the bottom—be wary of super-sized muffins!

While your muffins are cooling, you can prepare your “frosting.” Because muffins are generally not as sweet as cupcakes, I wanted a filling that was a bit less sugary as standard cake frosting. (Although if super-sweet muffins are your thing, frost away! I’m sure they’ll be delicious!) I decided to use a mixer to combine a brick of softened cream cheese with a few tablespoons of jam (whatever flavor complements your muffins—I used blueberry, which paired nicely with my banana muffins—honey also works well) to make a slightly sweet, lightly tinted, creamy filling for these lovelies.

When your muffins are cool, and your filling prepared, you’ll carefully slice off the top of each muffin and cut out a heart or other small shape from the center of the top with a miniature cookie cutter. (Save the cut out pieces to devour later…or nibble on a few to give you strength to complete your project.) Using a butter knife or spatula, spread a layer of “frosting” on each muffin bottom, and then replace the tops on each so the pretty filling peeks out through your cut out heart. Adorable, right?

We’re not done—they get cuter!!

When you’ve sliced and frosted all your muffins, it’s time to snuggle them into their darling wrappers from Big Dot. These wrappers are so easy to assemble—simply bend each wrapper into a circle, secure with a clear sticker or two (included), and set a muffin inside. When these unique muffins are all wrapped up and arranged on your shower table, you’ll have created a simple, beautiful, and memorable display that your guests will be talking about for quite some time!

Don’t miss today’s Silly Sale (3/14): All Cupcake Decorations (cupcake wrappers and DIY cupcake toppers) are ½ off Today Only from 10:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m. CST!!

Posted by Shannon, a Dot-arilla Blogger