Make these adorable Polar Bear Cupcakes by following these easy step by step instructions. These cupcakes would be cute for a kids birthday party, a zoo themed party, or a baby shower.
My daughter's favorite teddy bear, Huggie, is a small polar bear from a set a Hallmark Kiss Kiss Bears. She started carrying it around when she was 19 months old and has never looked back.
Years ago, she decided that her bear's birthday was March 3. She was very adamant that we should celebrate Huggie's birthday. I surprised her with these Polar Bear Cupcakes in honor of Huggie.
When making the smile on the cupcakes, I modeled it after's Huggie's signature V-shaped smile.
You could leave the smile off completely, like I did for these Polar Bear Cake Pops, or make it look more traditional.
These cupcakes are so easy to make! They would be so cute for a Zoo Party!
For Huggie's birthday the next year, I made her these Nut Free Polar Bear Macarons.
ALSO CHECK OUT THESE POLAR BEAR PAW COOKIES AND EASY POLAR BEAR COOKIES!
Ingredients
- 12 cupcakes, your choice of flavor
- 1 can white frosting
- white fudge covered pretzels
- white sanding sugar
- black frosting, black royal icing or Easy Royal Icing tinted with black food gel
- disposable piping bag
- small round piping tip, like #5, optional
To keep it simple, I used this Pillsbury Fluffy Vanilla Marshmallow canned frosting. You could use a homemade frosting like Easy Vanilla Buttercream, Vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercream, Snow Peak Frosting, or even Cream Cheese Frosting. For the frosting recipes that call for vanilla extract, you can use clear vanilla extract to keep the frosting color whiter.
I love this Great Value brand white sanding sugar from Walmart. Often, sanding sugar grains are too large for the projects I'm doing, but these grains are tiny and very sparkly.
Assemble the Cupcakes
Spread the frosting in an even layer on a cupcake.
Place two white fudge covered pretzels at the top to represent the ears.
Add a thin layer of frosting to cover the ears and make a smooth surface for the polar bear face.
Next, add a mound of frosting near the bottom of the face to represent the snout.
Sprinkle white sparkling sanding sugar all over the exposed frosting, then shake off the excess.
Fill a piping bag fitted with a small round tip or the tip cut off with black frosting or royal icing.
Pipe on two eyes, an oval nose, and a V-shaped mouth. You can leave the smile off altogether or make it a U-shape instead.
Repeat with the remaining cupcakes.
I recommend piping the black just before serving, or the black dye may run into the white and appear fuzzy.
Storage
Store the cupcakes in an airtight container at room temperature or in the refrigerated. If chilled, allow the cupcakes to reach room temperature before serving.
Gluten Free Option
Use your favorite gluten free cake recipe or cake mix. This chocolate layer cake is incredible made with Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free 1 to 1 Flour Blend. For gluten free cake mixes, I love King Arthur brand.
For the ears, use Glutino Yogurt Covered Pretzels.
📖 Recipe
Polar Bear Cupcakes
Equipment
- Disposable piping bag
- small round piping tip, like #5 optional
Ingredients
- 12 cupcakes (your choice of flavor)
- 1 can white frosting (such as Pillsbury Fluffy Vanilla Marshmallow Frosting)
- white fudge covered pretzels
- white sanding sugar
- black royal icing or black frosting
Instructions
- Spread the frosting in an even layer on a cupcake.
- Place two white fudge covered pretzels at the top to represent the ears.
- Add a thin layer of frosting to cover the ears and make a smooth surface for the polar bear face.
- Add a mound of frosting near the bottom of the face to represent the snout.
- Sprinkle white sparkling sanding sugar all over the exposed frosting, then shake off the excess.
- Just prior to serving, fill a piping bag fitted with a small round tip with black frosting or royal icing. Alternatively, cut off the tip of the piping bag.
- Pipe on two eyes, an oval nose, and a V-shaped mouth. Repeat with the remaining cupcakes.
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