How To Make Elmo Cupcakes

These Elmo Cupcakes are so easy to make for a Sesame Street Themed party, or anytime! Kids will love these fun decorated treats.

Elmo is the one Sesame Street character that every kid recognizes instantly — and he has been the right answer for birthday party themes since before my kids were born. My daughter went through a full Sesame Street obsession when she was two years old. That was the only thing she would let us watch, and I’m not exaggerating when I say we still randomly break into the theme song to this day. Some things just stick.

These Elmo cupcakes are a decoration tutorial, not a from-scratch bake: you start with your favorite cupcake recipe or a box mix, make a batch of white American buttercream, and then the whole thing comes down to color technique and four decorations.

The two-tone coloring method is the key to getting that true Elmo red — and once you know it, you’ll use it on every red buttercream you ever make.

What do you need to make these Elmo cupcakes?

INGREDIENT NOTES

White American buttercream (approximately 2–2½ cups for 12 cupcakes): You need a crusting-style American buttercream — not Swiss meringue, not Italian, not whipped cream frosting. American buttercream holds its shape when piped in stars and sets firm enough to support the candy decorations. If you don’t have a go-to recipe, a standard 1 stick butter + 2 cups powdered sugar + 2 tbsp milk base will work.

Pink gel food coloring (1 drop): This is step one of the two-tone process. Add one drop of any pink gel color first and mix completely before adding red. This is non-negotiable — see the technique note below.

Red Red Americolor gel food coloring (2 drops): Added after the pink base is fully incorporated. Americolor Red Red is the specific shade that produces Elmo’s fire-engine red without going burgundy or orange. Chef Master and other gel brands work; Wilton gel colors also work but require slightly more volume since they come in jars rather than squeeze bottles.

Do not use liquid food coloring. Liquid coloring changes the consistency of your buttercream and requires three times as much product to achieve the same saturation. Gel only.

Pre-baked cupcakes (12): Any flavor works — vanilla, chocolate, or red velvet (which plays well with the red decorating theme). Bake and cool completely before decorating. Warm cupcakes will melt your buttercream.

Large candy eyeballs (24 — 2 per cupcake): Find these in the baking aisle or at craft stores like Michael’s. The jumbo size photographs best and is most recognizable as Elmo’s wide eyes.

Orange candy (12 — 1 per cupcake): A single orange Skittle or plain orange M&M for the nose. Skittles are rounder and more nose-shaped; M&Ms lay flatter. Either works — just make sure it’s orange.

Oreo cookies (12 — 1 per cupcake, halved): Open each Oreo, scrape out the cream filling (or eat it — no judgment), and cut the chocolate wafer in half. Each half becomes one Elmo smile.

How do you make Elmo Cupcakes?

Color the buttercream

Follow the two-tone method above: pink first, fully mixed, then Red Red, mixed 4–5 minutes. Don’t rush this step. The color deepens as it sits, so if it looks slightly less red than you want, give it 10 minutes and check again before adding more color.

Prep your piping bag

Fit a piping bag with the Wilton Triple Star Tip 2010 (or Tip 18 with a coupler). Fill the bag about halfway — overfilling makes the bag hard to control. Twist the top closed.

Pipe the cupcakes

Start at the outer perimeter of the cupcake and pipe stars around the edge first, then fill in toward the center. This gives you control over coverage and prevents gaps. The star tips create the fuzzy Elmo texture automatically — don’t try to smooth it.

Work from top to bottom: stars first, fully covering the cupcake surface.

Add the face

Working quickly before the buttercream crusts:

1. Press two large candy eyeballs into the upper half of the cupcake, side by side with a small gap between them.
2. Place one orange candy (Skittle or M&M) just below center for the nose.
3. Position one Oreo half (cream removed, flat side down) in the lower third of the cupcake for the mouth, curved edge up to create the smile shape.

That’s Elmo. Step back and look at all twelve — the face placement consistency improves as you go.

WHAT YOU’RE MAKING

Fluffy star-piped red buttercream covers each cupcake completely, creating Elmo’s fuzzy texture. Two large candy eyeballs, one orange candy nose, and a halved Oreo cookie for the mouth complete the face. That’s it — six items for the decoration, all of them findable at any grocery or craft store.

Skill level: Beginner. The piping technique is star tips only — no smoothing, no precision. If this is your first time using a piping bag, this is a great starting point.

Time: About 30 minutes of decorating time for 12 cupcakes, not including baking and cooling the base cupcakes.

EQUIPMENT

Toothpick (for adding gel color)

Stand mixer or hand mixer (for buttercream)

Piping bags (one per color — you’ll only need one here)

Wilton Triple Star Tip 2010 (recommended) — this three-pronged tip pipes three stars simultaneously and cuts your decorating time significantly while creating a fuller, fuzzier Elmo texture than a single star tip. Wilton Tip 18 (single star) works but takes longer.

Couplers (required if using Tip 18; optional for the 2010)

TIPS

The color deepens after mixing. Red buttercream always looks lighter immediately after mixing than it will 15–30 minutes later. Make the frosting at least 30 minutes before you plan to decorate, then check the color before adding more dye.

Keep the base cupcakes completely cool. Even slightly warm cupcakes will cause the buttercream to slide and the candy decorations to sink. Cool on a wire rack for at least 1 hour after baking, or refrigerate for 20 minutes if you’re in a rush.

The Triple Star Tip is worth buying. It pipes three stars simultaneously and cuts decorating time roughly in half. For 12 cupcakes it’s a significant time saver, and the texture is noticeably fuller and fuzzier than the single star tip.

Add candy decorations right after piping each cupcake. Don’t pipe all 12 first and then add faces — the buttercream starts to crust within minutes and the candies won’t press in cleanly. Pipe one, decorate it, then move to the next.

Face placement: Eyes go in the upper half, nose just below center, mouth in the lower third. Keep the spacing consistent and all twelve will be immediately recognizable.

VARIATIONS

Elmo cake: Use this same buttercream technique on a round 6- or 8-inch cake. Pipe stars to cover the entire surface, then add a large fondant or candy face in the center. The star-pipe texture translates directly to cake.

Mini Elmo cupcakes: Same technique on mini cupcakes — use smaller candy eyeballs and a single mini M&M for the nose. The Oreo mouth will need to be cut into smaller pieces.

Cookie Monster companion: Follow the same two-tone technique with blue gel coloring for Cookie Monster cupcakes — add Oreo cookies as the “cookie being eaten.” The Cookie Monster Cupcakes post is linked below for the full tutorial.

Full Sesame Street party tray: Make a batch of each — Elmo (red), Cookie Monster (blue), and Big Bird (yellow) — for a full character spread. Same base technique, different gel colors.

FAQs

These are a guaranteed hit at any Sesame Street party — and honestly at any kids’ gathering where the birthday kid is between 1 and 6. The two-tone coloring technique is the thing most people don’t know going in, and once you’ve done it once you’ll use it anytime you need a true red frosting for anything.

Here are some more fun Sesame Street recipes for you to try: