This Fireball Cupcakes recipe packs a cinnamon punch to a basic box of cake mix with a little bit of Fireball Cinnamon Whisky baked right in the batter!
If you like boozy baking, this is an easy way to get any party started because there is booze in both the cupcake batter and the cream cheese frosting.
Fireball Cupcakes With Cake Mix
Our Fireball Whisky Cupcakes are so easy to make in under 30 minutes from start to finish using a boxed cake mix that quickly combines with a few simple ingredients.
With their smooth cinnamon flavor profile and moist and tender texture, these Fireball desserts pair perfectly with my Fireball Jello Shots.
These alcohol-infused cupcakes are topped with a fluffy Fireball frosting, but don’t let its innocent look fool you because it too has some extra flair of whisky mixed within.
With a few simple swaps, Fireball cupcakes can be made kid-friendly, because a dessert this delicious, why should adults have all the fun?
Why We Love This Fireball Whiskey Cupcakes Recipe
- Quick and easy to prepare in 10 minutes.
- Uses simple kitchen staple ingredients.
- Best bite of booze baked into a delicious dessert.
- Moist and cinnamon-y sweet baked good is great for grown-up gatherings.
- Perfect for adult parties, and can be made appropriate for kids without the alcohol.
More Easy Cupcake Recipes
Ingredients
- Fireball Whiskey
- Vegetable oil
- Whole milk
- Eggs
- Ground cinnamon
- Vanilla cake mix: I used Betty Crocker Super Moist brand but feel free to choose your favorite.
- Cream cheese
- Unsalted butter
- Powdered sugar
- Heavy cream
Substitutions and Additions
- Grab A Garnish: Orange and maroon sanding sugar sprinkles, Cinnamon Imperial (Red Hots) candies, atomic fireballs, cinnamon gummy bears, Hot Tamales, or sprinkles can add an extra touch of cinnamon flavor to the top of your cupcakes.
- Fireball Buttercream Frosting: If you prefer a buttercream frosting over a cream cheese frosting, it’s a simple swap! You’ll need to replace the cream cheese and heavy cream with additional butter and powdered sugar, add some vanilla extract, and you can even add red food coloring or yellow food coloring to make your cupcakes look more festive.
- Change The Cake Mix: A butter-flavored or yellow cake mix will also work well with this recipe. Although I’ve never made chocolate Fireball cupcakes before, I bet a chocolate cake mix with buttercream frosting would be delicious!
Recommended Tools
- Muffin tins or cupcake pan
- Cupcake liners
- Mixing bowl
- Handheld mixer
- Piping bag or heavy-duty zip-top bag and piping tip
See Full Recipe Card Below
Jump to RecipeHow to Make Fireball Cupcakes
- Make The Cupcake Mixture: Beat together the Fireball Whiskey, oil, milk, eggs, and cinnamon for 30 seconds to combine. Add the cake mix and beat for an additional 1-2 minutes until the batter is light and fluffy.
- Bake The Batter: Pour the batter into the muffin cups and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 15-17 minutes
Pro Tip: Fill each cup ½ – ⅔ full. Cupcakes are done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, and the cupcakes have a light golden edge. - Make The Fireball Frosting: Beat together the cream cheese and butter for 1-2 minutes until smooth and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar, one cup at a time, and then add the heavy cream and Fireball whiskey. Beat for 1-2 minutes.
Pro Tip: If your frosting is too thin, you may need to add a little more powdered sugar, ¼ cup at a time. - Frost Your Fireball Cupcakes: Refrigerate the frosting in a piping bag for a minimum of 30-45 minutes before piping it onto your cupcakes. Pipe frosting onto cooled cupcakes and add garnish if desired.
- Serve: Enjoy!
Can I Make My Cupcakes Kid-Friendly?
These Fireball cupcakes can be made kid-friendly by substituting cinnamon extract in the recipe for the Fireball Whiskey. You will need to increase the amount of whole milk in the recipe to 1 cup and add 1 tablespoon of cinnamon extract. Follow the recipe for the other ingredients as stated.
The cinnamon extract can easily be found online if you can not find it at your local grocery or baking supply store. I like to use well-known brands such as Watkins, LorAnn, or OliveNation. I have used these brands, and they have been very consistent in flavor and quality in my experience.
Tip From Our Recipe Developer
- You will need to keep your frosted cupcakes refrigerated until ready to serve. They will keep out at room temperature (if it is not too hot) for 30-45 minutes.
- Be sure to use whole milk and full-fat cream cheese for this recipe.
- I used a Wilton 2A extra large round tip to pipe the frosting on my cupcakes.
How Can I Thicken My Frosting?
If you find that your cream cheese frosting is a little too loose to hold its shape when piped onto the cupcakes, then you can add more powdered sugar to thicken it up. I would start with ¼ cup at a time to reach your desired thickness.
Keep in mind that the frosting will firm up as it is refrigerated. If you make your frosting too far in advance, then you will need to allow it to set out at room temperature for 5-10 minutes to allow it to soften up enough to be pipe-able.
Storage
- To Store: You can store your Fireball cupcakes in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
- To Freeze: You can freeze the unfrosted cupcakes in an airtight container for up to 2 months. Allow the cupcakes to thaw in the refrigerator overnight before frosting and serving them.
Other Recipes Using Fireball Whisky
Fireball Cupcakes
Serves — 24
Fireball Cupcakes are a fun way to add a boozy beverage to both the cake mix batter and the frosting. Filled with smooth cinnamon flavor, this sweet treat is so easy to make in minutes and bakes into the best bite of an alcohol-infused dessert appropriate for adults only!
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- ½ cup Fireball Whiskey
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- ½ cup whole milk
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 15.25 ounce box vanilla cake mix I used Betty Crocker Super Moist brand
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 8 ounce block cream cheese room temperature
- ½ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 3½ cups powdered sugar sifted
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon Fireball Whiskey
Optional Garnish
- Orange and maroon sanding sugar sprinkles
- Cinnamon Imperial (Red Hots) candies Red Hots candies
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two standard muffin tins with 24 cupcake liners. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, using a handheld mixer on medium speed, beat together the Fireball Whiskey, vegetable oil, whole milk, large eggs, and ground cinnamon for 30 seconds or just until fully combined.
- Add the vanilla boxed cake mix to the bowl of wet ingredients and beat for an additional 1-2 minutes or until no lumps remain and the batter is light and fluffy.
- Divide the batter evenly between the prepared muffin cups. I find that ½ – ⅔ full is perfect.
- Bake for 15-17 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, and the cupcakes have a light golden edge.
- Allow the cupcakes to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- While your Fireball cupcakes are baking and cooling, you can make your cream cheese frosting. Beat together in a large bowl on medium speed, the room temperature cream cheese and unsalted butter. You will need to beat them for 1-2 minutes or until smooth and fluffy.
- To the beaten cream cheese, you will add the powdered sugar, one cup at a time, until all the powdered sugar has been added and the frosting is fluffy and smooth.
- Add the heavy cream and Fireball whiskey and beat for an additional 1-2 minutes. If your frosting is too thin, you may need to add a little more powdered sugar (¼ cup at a time).
- Transfer the frosting to a large piping bag or heavy-duty zip-top bag fitted with a large piping tip. Refrigerate your cream cheese frosting for a minimum of 30-45 minutes to allow the frosting to firm up before piping it onto your cupcakes.
- Once your cupcakes are completely cooled, you can frost your cupcakes and add the additional optional garnishes if desired.
Jenn’s Notes
Storage:
- To Store: You can store your Fireball cupcakes in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
- To Freeze: You can freeze the unfrosted cupcakes in an airtight container for up to 2 months. Allow the cupcakes to thaw in the refrigerator overnight before frosting and serving them.
- These are a very moist and tender cupcake with a smooth cinnamon flavor profile. You can certainly increase the cinnamon flavor if you wish by increasing the amount of Fireball Whiskey to ¾ cup and decreasing the amount of whole milk to ¼ cup. You want a total of one cup of liquid.
- These Fireball cupcakes can be made kid-friendly by substituting cinnamon extract in the recipe for the Fireball Whiskey. You would need to increase the amount of whole milk in the recipe to 1 cup and add 1 tablespoon of cinnamon extract. You would follow the recipe for the other ingredients as stated. The cinnamon extract can easily be found online if you can not find it at your local grocery or baking supply store. I like to use well-known brands such as Watkins, LorAnn, or OliveNation. I have used these brands, and they have been very consistent in flavor and quality in my experience.
- I like to keep a vanilla-flavored box cake mix on hand in my pantry; however, a butter-flavored cake mix would work just as well. You will follow your brand’s boxed instructions for ingredients and bake time. You will need to note that the combined amount of whole milk, and Fireball whisky, should equal the total amount of water called for in the directions on the brand of box mix you are using. You are using the milk and whiskey as a substitute for the water in the recipe to elevate and customize the flavor of your boxed cake mix.
- If you find that your cream cheese frosting is a little too loose to hold its shape when piped onto the cupcakes, then you can add more powdered sugar to thicken it up. I would start with ¼ cup at a time to reach your desired thickness. You will also need to note that the frosting will firm up as it is refrigerated. If you make your frosting too far in advance, then you will need to allow it to set out at room temperature for 5-10 minutes to allow it to soften up enough to be pipeable. I used a Wilton 2A extra large round tip.
- Be sure to use whole milk and full-fat cream cheese for this recipe. I find that when baking, using full-fat ingredients yields a more tender baked good and a thicker, richer flavored frosting. The low-fat, or fat-free, dairy items have too much added water to them, and I find that they do not bake up as well. I have not tried this recipe using dairy-free alternatives.
Nutrition Info
Calories: 208kcal | Carbohydrates: 33g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 34mg | Sodium: 202mg | Potassium: 56mg | Fiber: 0.2g | Sugar: 26g | Vitamin A: 180IU | Vitamin C: 0.01mg | Calcium: 85mg | Iron: 0.5mg
Delish ty 😉
Turned out awesome! Made the buttercream frosting and added some cinnamon to the frosting. It made it even better!
can’t wait to try this one!
I would like to have the recipe
I tweaked a little. As I didn’t have any redhots, so instead I placed a few cinnamon chips and dusted with cinnamon sugar.
Love the easy recipes. Like that you explain, what to do, tips, substitutions and storage.
Instead of cooking individual cup cakes can I make a cake instead, just using a cake pan instead,
These cupcakes are so good will definitely make them again.
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What are the exact measurements if you wanted to do a buttercream frosting?
Also wondering this!