Margarita Cupcakes
My margarita cupcakes feature a moist lime cake topped with rich tequila buttercream. These taste like your favorite cocktail in cupcake form!
Serve with other Tex-Mex fare like cheese shell tacos, southwestern egg rolls, and Mexican street corn to make it a true fiesta!
If you like margaritas, get ready to fall in love with these margarita cupcakes! I'm not gonna lie...I've tasted many cupcakes throughout my life, but these still stand out in my mind. They're sweet, tangy, and, of course, boozy! They're perfect for Cinco De Mayo. So grab your mixing bowl and your favorite tequila – it's time to bake up a batch of these bad boys! Just like my unicorn cupcakes, these are perfect for parties!
Why We Love This Recipe
- Boozy: We use tequila in the cupcakes, as a syrup, AND in the frosting.
- Not Overly Sweet: The lime prevents these from being "too" sweet.
- No mixer or other special equipment required!
Ingredient Notes and Shopping Tips
- Flour: Measure your flour by spooning it into a measuring cup and then leveling it off with a knife. Avoid scooping your cup into your flour as you'll get too much, which leads to dry, dense cupcakes.
- Baking Soda: Replace every 6-12 months as it does lose its effectiveness over time.
- Butter: Butter should be softened but not melted. If your finger makes an indent in it when you touch it, it is good to go!
- Lime Juice: Use fresh lime juice if at all possible. It is much more flavorful and much less acidic than what you find in a bottle.
- Tequila: I suggest a silver (clear) tequila as that is typically used in margaritas. For this recipe, I used Patron. Casamigos and Jose Cuervo are also good.
- Milk: I use whole milk for the best flavor/texture.
Lime Zest
Avoid the white part called the pith underneath the green peel. It tends to be bitter.
How To Make Margarita Cupcakes
For the Cupcakes
- Prep Work: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line the cupcake pan with paper liners.
- Make Cupcakes: In a medium bowl, combine dry ingredients. In another bowl, combine butter, sugar, and eggs. Add lime juice, lime zest, vanilla, and Tequila. Gradually add milk and dry ingredients until combined.
- Bake: Fill cupcake liners ¾ of the way full. Bake for 21-23 minutes.
- Add Tequila: Cool for a few minutes, then brush tequila over the top of the cupcakes. Cool completely.
- In a large bowl, cream butter until light and fluffy. Add lime zest, lime juice, and tequila. Add powdered sugar a little at a time.
- Add heavy cream as needed to reach your desired consistency. Pipe or spread onto cupcakes. Garnish with a lime wedge and paper straws if desired.
❓Frequently Asked Questions❓
Can You Make Them Nonalcoholic?
Absolutely! Leave out the tequila in the batter and frosting, and skip the syrup. You could use another extract like vanilla or orange instead or leave it out.
Can I Make This Recipe Into a Cake?
Yes, follow the instructions in our margarita cake recipe.
️Krystle's Tips️
- Use room temperature ingredients: This helps everything mix together smoothly. I like to remove my ingredients from the fridge 30-60 minutes before I start baking.
- Don't overmix: Mix until the flour just disappears. Overmixing leads to a tough, dense cupcake.
- Don't overfill: Fill cupcake tin just around ⅔ of the way full as they rise quite a bit as they bake.
- Don't overbake: Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs. Overbaking will lead to a dry cupcake.
Get the Most Juice From Your Limes
Roll the lime on the counter first. Microwaving for 10-20 seconds can also help.
More Cupcakes To Try
📖 Recipe
Easy Margarita Cupcakes
Fluffy margarita cupcakes topped with a rich tequila lime buttercream. If you like margaritas you'll love these cupcakes!
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Servings: 12 Cupcakes
Calories: 482kcal
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Ingredients
For the Cupcakes
- 1 ½ Cup All Purpose Flour
- 2 Teaspoons Baking Powder
- ¼ Teaspoon Salt
- ½ Cup Unsalted Butter Softened
- 1 Cup Sugar
- 2 Eggs
- ¼ Cup Lime Juice (About 2 Limes) Freshly Squeezed
- 1 Tablespoon Lime Zest (From about 1 ½ Limes)
- 1 Cup + 1 Tablespoon Tequila Divided
- ¼ Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- ½ Cup Whole Milk
For the Tequila Lime Frosting
- 1 Cup Unsalted Butter Softened
- 3 Cups Powdered Sugar
- ¼ Cup Lime Juice (From about 2 limes) Freshly Squeezed
- 3 Tablespoons Lime Zest (From about 5 limes)
- 4 Tablespoons Tequila
- 2-4 Tablespoons Heavy Whipping Cream
- Lime Slices To Garnish
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Instructions
For the Cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line cupcake pan with paper liners.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour,baking powder, and salt until combined.
- In another large bowl, beat sugar, butter, and eggs until combined. Then add in the lime juice, lime zest, 1 tablespoon tequila, and vanilla.
- Alternate between adding in the milk, and flour mixture until everything is just combined.
- Fill each cupcake liner ¾ full. Bake for 21-23 minutes.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool several minutes.
- Once cooled, poke holes into the cupcake and brush remaining tequila over the top using a BBQ sauce brush, or you can dip the top of the cupcake into a bowl of tequila. Cool completely.
For the Tequila Lime Frosting
- In a large bowl, beat butter, lime juice, lime zest, and tequila until light and fluffy.
- Add powdered sugar a little at a time. Add heavy cream as needed to reach your desired consistency.
- Pipe with a star tip or spread frosting onto cupcakes. Top with a lime slice and a paper straw if desired.
Notes
Ingredient Notes
-
- Flour: Measure your flour by spooning it into a measuring cup and then leveling it off with a knife. Avoid scooping your cup into your flour as you'll get too much, which leads to dry, dense cupcakes.
- Butter: Butter should be softened but not melted. If your finger makes an indent in it when you touch it, it is good to go!
- Lime Juice: Use fresh lime juice if at all possible.
- Lime Zest: Avoid the white part underneath, which tends to be bitter.
- Tequila: I suggest a silver (clear) tequila as that is typically used in margaritas. For this recipe, I used Patron. Casamigos and Jose Cuervo are also good.
- Milk: I use whole milk for the best flavor/texture.
- Get the most juice from your limes: Roll the lime on the counter first. Microwaving for 10-20 seconds can also help.
- Use room temperature ingredients.
- Don't overmix: Mix until the flour just disappears.
- Don't overfill: Fill cupcake tin just around ⅔ of the way full as they rise quite a bit as they bake.
- Don't overbake: Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs.
Nutrition
Calories: 482kcal | Carbohydrates: 60g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 25g | Saturated Fat: 15g | Cholesterol: 92mg | Sodium: 69mg | Potassium: 123mg | Sugar: 46g | Vitamin A: 800IU | Vitamin C: 3.6mg | Calcium: 55mg | Iron: 0.9mg
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Besides being delicious, these were SO cute! I served them to my dinner club and they were a big hit!
These cupcakes transform your favorite drink into a sweet, tangy treat perfect for any occasion.
These are my kind of cupcakes - absolutey delicious!
This recipe was sooooo tasty! Thanks a bunch!
Your Margarita Cupcakes are amazing! They’re moist, flavorful, and have just the right amount of zest. I’m definitely making these again for my next party!
The cupcakes turned out so fluffy, and the hint of tequila in the cupcakes and frosting was perfect! Everyone loved them!
Made these cupcakes for a party over the weekend and they were a hit! Everyone loved it!
Yummy - I made these for our pool party and they were a hit!
My family loved this!
There can't be a better summer cupcake than this. Both margaritas and cupcakes are classic summer goodies.
Can I use buttermilk / or sour cream instead of whole milk? Would I have to change anything else?
Hi Jane,
We've only tried the recipe as written. Please let us know how your substitutions work out.
Have you tried freezing the cupcakes after baking? And making frosting then freezing? I need to make a large batch for a party and would love to make ahead of time.
Hi Taryn,
I think you should be able to freeze these. I'd flash freeze on a baking pan for 1-2 hours to set the frosting first though.
Omg that was so good. I accidentally used salted butter for the frosting and it was so good. I think the salt flavor added to the margarita flavor.
Hi Doris!
Mind blown! I never though of that.
I noticed in the directions for mixing the batter, you say to mix the flour, baking soda , baking powder and salt together.
In the the ingredients list, I don't see baking soda listed. Is this a misprint? I am not adding the soda, as I am making these right now. Hope they turn out.
Hi Virginia,
I'm sorry for any confusion. There is no soda, that was a typo on my part. I updated the recipe to reflect this.
Trying to make these but I am a little confused where the 1 cup of tequila comes in? I saw the 1 tbsp but not sure if the remaining 1 cup would just be used for brushing?
Hi Khimberly,
I love the spelling of your name. -secret handshake of people with uniquely spelled K names-
One cup of tequila is used for brushing after baking. I'm sorry for any confusion!