dino bone cupcakes with brown butter frosting;
Homemade from-scratch funfetti cupcakes topped with a delectable brown butter frosting make the base of these dino cupcakes. Sprinkle on some Oreo “dirt” and add chocolate dinosaur bones for one-of-a-kind cupcakes that will impress everyone! Elevate your classic cupcakes with brown butter frosting–it’s the flavor highlight of these cupcakes for me!
I will say, despite all my hard work, I didn’t even get to serve the actual dino bones at my son’s birthday. Technically, I threw one of the dino bones on the cupcake he ate, but the rest melted in the August heat and I couldn’t top the cupcakes. Not gonna lie, I was bummed, but I didn’t let it ruin his party. So pretty much no one got to see my masterpieces. At least the (funfetti and chocolate) cupcakes with brown butter frosting were still a hit! Special shoutout to my sister who not only made the chocolate cupcakes, but helped me frost everything!
So lessons learned—candy melts melt in the heat! So these are best served indoors or at cool temperatures.
Secret to success
At least I took a few photos and can share them with you! I’d love if you could tag me if you make these. I want to live vicariously through you! So, lessons learned—candy melts are still candy melts and as the name suggests, melt in heat! So I highly recommend serving your Dino bone cupcakes indoors or in cool temperatures so as to avoid my tragic ending.
When it comes to the funfetti cupcake, I used Sally’s Baking Addiction recipe as the base. The cupcakes came out with the perfect little dome on top to load up on frosting, and were chock-full of colorful sprinkles.
I would absolutely make this cupcake recipe again—it was easy and straightforward and tasty. They were the perfect base for my dino bone cupcakes with brown butter frosting. The key to any funfetti cupcake is lots of sprinkles and colors. I used the store-bought Betty Crocker sprinkles, which I have to say, taste worse than I remember. They were very waxy and kinda bleh tasting. So in the future, I would go out of my way for Yupik sprinkles. But the cupcakes were colorful and bright, I have to admit! If you’re not feeling funfetti, then just keep to a classic vanilla cupcake.
I highly recommend getting good sprinkles, the storebought ones can often be waxy and have a meh taste.
secret to success
If I had one complaint on the cupcakes, it would be that they could be even softer and moister. But the little bit of firmness they have does make it easy to handle and manipulate. Especially helpful for frosting. Now I am not a cake baker, and I do not have my frosting and piping down with perfect swirls! So to make up for this, I go with festive toppings to mask my shortcomings.
I really liked the dirt effect achieved by combining crushed vanilla and regular Oreos. I think it gets across “dirt” well and is the best of sand and dirt. I think the regular Oreo crumbs are important here to provide a dark contrast to the white dinosaur bones. They’re the star of the show, so make them pop! Plus I think topping cupcakes with brown butter frosting also lends to the earthy taste and works so well flavor-wise with the oreo crumbs.
When it comes to the brown butter frosting, I started with Sally’s Baking Addiction classic buttercream, but really wanted to make the frosting pop with flavor. So to get the brown butter flavor, we do start browning some butter, but use dry non-fat milk powder to get the milk solids popping. Cook them until they’re a dark brown, and your kitchen will smell heavenly. It’s almost like a sweet hack to get a subtle caramel flavor, or more accurately a dulce de leche flavor.
Patience is key! There are lots of moving parts and waiting in this recipe, but you can work ahead.
secret to success
The key to this recipe for dino bone cupcakes with brown butter frosting is being prepared. There are lots of steps and lots of waiting around. You need to make sure your chocolate dino bones are set up; you need to make sure your cupcakes are fully cooled before assembling. You need to make sure the brown butter milk solids are fully cooled before mixing them into your icing to prevent melting.
Patience is key! There are lots of moving parts and required wait times in this recipe, but you can work ahead. I recommend making the dinosaur bones and icing ahead of time. Then bake your cupcakes within a day or 2 of serving. I like to make sure they have a full 12 hours to cool, if not a full 24 hours.
I recommend piping extra white chocolate dino bones because they’re fragile, and you may need extras! Also these bone sprinkles are a cute alternative.
secret to success
Then, when you’re ready to assemble, get all your ingredients prepared: oreo crumbs, dino bones, cupcakes, brown butter icing. I do recommend piping extra white chocolate dino bones because they’re fragile, and may break. Of course, breakage isn’t the worst thing either. Just put the broken dino bones strategically on your cupcake–they are “dino bones in the ground” after all. Archaeologists rarely find fully intact dinosaur bones!
Here’s the printable dinosaur bone template, though it’s hard to pipe exactly identical bones. So there’s a decent amount of variation for each dinosaur bone but I think that just makes them even cuter. They’re super unique! Here was the original inspiration I used for the template, but I found that the stegosaurus, spinosaurus, and triceratops were the best structurally. I also got these bone sprinkles as backup if I needed to fill up some extra space or cupcakes!
secrets to success;
Want all the best tips and tricks to make this recipe a success? Check out the blog post above to find out more!
more recipes;
Looking for other cakes and sweet treats for parties?
- Some other fun ideas for birthday parties include a potion party! I’m super excited to do this for my kiddo in the future. Check out these Halloween cocktails (and mocktail options!)
- Birthday cake marshmallows are another fan-favorite. Homemade marshmallows are light and fluffy and soooooo much better than store-bought. They can be fun to eat on their own or make summer s’mores or use as fun decorations on other desserts!
- For my baby’s 1st birthday, we opted for a no-sugar watermelon cake where the actual cake rounds were made out of watermelon! It’s a great option for a light and healthful summer cake, whether you’re 1 or 100!
funfetti cupcakes with brown butter frosting;
Equipment
- dinosaur bone template (and wax or parchment paper)
- piping bags and assorted tips
- food processor
- hand or stand mixer
Ingredients
dinosaur bone toppings;
- 12 oz pure white candy coating
- 6 oreos crushed
- 6 vanilla oreos crushed
- bone sprinkles
funfetti cupcakes;
- 1¾ cups cake flour (207g)
- ¾ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter (113g) softened to room temperature
- 1 cup sugar (200g)
- 3 large egg whites at room temperature
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup sour cream (120g) full-fat, at room temperature
- ½ cup whole milk (120ml) at room temperature
- ½ cup rainbow sprinkles (80g)
brown butter icing;
- 1½ cup unsalted butter (226g) softened to room temperature, divided
- ¼ cup dry non-fat milk powder
- ½ cup heavy cream, half-and-half, or whole milk (60ml) at room temperature
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 4 cups powdered sugar (480-600g)
- ¼ tsp salt to taste
Instructions
dinosaur bone toppings;
- In a food processor, add 6 oreos, and 6 vanilla oreos and pulse until crumbs form. Store in an airtight container until ready to use.
- Prepare template. Lay a sheet of wax paper or parchment paper over the template to pipe onto. I find it helpful to weigh down the corners with heavy objects to prevent shifting while piping.
- Melt white candy melts according to package instructions. Add to a piping bag and use a thin round tip, or cut the bag to enable controlled piping.
- Using the dinosaur bone template, pipe dinosaur bones. Once the wax or parchment is full, carefully remove to the side and allow to cool and solidify fully. These can be made up to a week in advance, and stored in an airtight container in a cool place.
funfetti cupcakes;
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 14 cavities on a muffin pan with cupcake liners. I spread them ~evenly between two 12-count muffin pans.
- Add ½ cup room temperature butter and 1 cup sugar to a large bowl (the bowl if you stand mixer, if using). Beat together using a handheld mixer or stand mixer with the paddle attachment, for approx. 2 minutes on high speed. Mixture should be smooth and creamy, and light in color.
- Use a spatula to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Add in 3 large egg whites and 2 tsp vanilla extract. Beat on medium-high speed until combined, then beat in ½ cup room temperature sour cream. Make sure to scrape the sides so everything is evenly incorporated.
- Set the mixer on low speed and add 1¾ cup sifted cake flour, ¾ baking powder, ¼ tsp baking soda, and ¼ tsp salt. Mix until just incorporated. While the mixture is running on low speed, slowly pour the milk in until combined. Do not over-mix
- Add in ½ cup sprinkles and gently fold in the sprinkles. The batter with be on the thicker side.
- Scoop the batter into the muffin tin liners. Fill ⅔ full, I found this to be roughly 5 Tbsp, or 2½ scoops of my cookie scoop.
- Bake for 18-22 minutes, or until a toothpick in the center of a cupcake comes out clean. (For 30 mini cupcakes, bake 10-12 minutes.) Allow cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.
- Leftover cupcakes keep well covered tightly in the refrigerator for 3 days.
brown butter icing;
- Start by making the brown butter solids. Add ½ cup butter to a sauce pan over medium heat. Allow to melt. Once it begins to froth and bubble, add ¼ cup milk powder and toast until dark brown. Remove from the heat and pour in ½ cup heavy cream, stirring to combine. Set aside and allow this mixture to cool completely.
- In a large bowl (or the bowl of your stand mixer) add 1 cup softened butter, and beat on medium speed until light in color and creamy.
- While mixing on low speed, add 2 tsp of vanilla extract, ¼ tsp salt, and 1 cup at a time add in 4-5 cups of powdered sugar. Whip until combined.
- Making sure that your brown butter cream is entirely cooled before proceeding. Continuing to whip on low speed, add in the cream and beat until incorporated, at least 2 full minutes.
- Make any adjustments needed. Add up to ½ cup additional powdered sugar to help thicken the frosting; or add more heavy cream 1 Tbsp at a time if the frosting is too thick.
- Use immediately, or cover tightly and store for up to 1 week in the refrigerator.To freeze up to 3 months, wrap the frosting tightly in an airtight container. Thaw the frozen frosting in the refrigerator. When ready to use, add to a bowl and beat the frosting on medium speed until creamy. Adjust if needed with additional powdered sugar or heavy cream.
assemble dino cupcakes;
- Ensure all ingredients are prepared. You'll need oreo cookie crumbs, whipped icing prepared in a piping bag, cooled cupcakes, and set chocolate dinosaur bones. I recommend frosting and crumbing the cupcakes the morning of serving, and not setting the dinosaur bones until just before serving.
- Frost each cupcake with the brown butter icing. Sprinkle on oreo cookie crumbs, and gently press a chocolate dino bones into the frosting. Serve in a cool, dry place!
