Easily make these adorable Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes 3 different ways for a fun Summer treat! Cake batter baked right in the ice cream cones or regular cupcakes decorated to look like ice cream. Any way you make them is a guaranteed hit with kids and adults!

Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes
Cupcakes are such a versatile dessert! They can be decorated however you like, making them a fun treat for any occasion. These ice cream cone cupcakes are so cute for parties or just a fun Summer treat.
I have made different versions of ice cream cupcakes for countless summer gatherings and they are always a hit among both kids and adults. It’s easy to make any of these with a cone or without. I love that they are easy to decorate and it doesn’t have to look “perfect”! Make homemade cupcakes or box cake mix to cut out some of the prep work and ingredients. When it’s hot during the summer I like to take as many shortcuts as I can.
Ingredients Needed
These ice cream sundae cupcakes do not need a lot of ingredients to make. Items like cake mix and frosting are fairly cheap so I like to stock up for when I have a cupcake craving.
- Butter – softened unsalted butter.
- Sugar – granulated sugar.
- Oil – we use vegetable oil, but use any oil you prefer.
- Vanilla extract
- Eggs – room temperature.
- Dry ingredients – all-purpose flour, baking powder and salt.
- Milk – whole milk or 2%.
- Ice cream cones – regular size
How To Make Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes
Just a few simple steps with such fun results!
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Place the foil over the top of the muffin pan and seal the edges. Pierce the foil where the holes are and add the cones.
- Mix the cake ingredients.
- Pour the cake batter into each cone about 3/4 inch to the top.
- Bake for about 18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool before icing.
Variations
There are so many fun ways to decorate ice cream cupcakes. Making the cake inside the cones and decorating cupcakes in liners to look like ice cream. There is no right or wrong when choosing cupcake flavors like chocolate cupcakes, strawberry cupcakes, lemon cupcakes, vanilla cupcakes, etc… (including the frosting flavors). Here are a couple of other fun and easy ideas.
Tip – for the “frosting scoops”, add a bit more powdered sugar until is a stiffer consistency.
Melted Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes
Even those these look incredibly fun, they aren’t as hard to make as you might think. You start with a basic cupcake, then add a scoop of your frosting, then melted chocolate. These are actually easy to frost because you don’t need it to look clean, you just plop it on so it looks like ice cream!
After you’ve put your melted chocolate on, you can add your sprinkles and a cone. Plus, a cherry if you’d like. So fun! We used gold cupcake liners, but use any liners you prefer.
How To Make Melted Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes
These look just like upside down, melting ice cream cones – so cute!
- Frosting – Fold in sprinkles to the frosting. Using the cookie or ice cream scooper, scoop some frosting top of the cupcake.
- Chocolate Ganache – Using a small saucepan, bring the heavy whipping cream to a simmer. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate chips in a small bowl. Allow to sit for 2 minutes before whisking until smooth. Allow to cool to room temperature before scooping into a piping bag (or squeeze bottle). Pipe the chocolate on top of the frosting.
- Decorate – Top with a mini ice cream cones, sprinkles and a cherry.
Ice Cream Sundae Cupcakes
These are probably my favorite out of the three. I love all of the colors of the different frostings contrasting with the chocolate cupcakes.
How To Make Ice Cream Sundae Cupcakes
- Cupcakes – Make chocolate cupcakes or any flavor you like in regular cupcake liners.
- Chocolate Ganache – follow the same directions as ice cream cone cupcakes in the box above.
- Decorate – Using a cookie scoop, scoop a mound of vanilla frosting onto the center of the cupcake. Scoop the chocolate frosting into a mound next to the vanilla frosting. Repeat the steps with the strawberry frosting. Using a piping bag, pipe vanilla frosting on top. Pipe the chocolate ganache over the top of the frosting. Decorated with funfetti sprinkles and a maraschino cherry.
Other Fun Cupcake Recipes
- Hamburger Cupcakes
- Cookie Monster Cupcakes
- Polar Bear Cupcakes
- Unicorn Cupcakes
- Bunny Butt Cupcakes
- Campfire Cupcakes
Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 1 box cake mix (plus eggs, oil, and water listed on box) – Any Flavor
- 24 ice cream cones regular size flat bottom cones
Decorating
- Vanilla Buttercream Frosting or any other flavor
- Sprinkles optional
- Chocolate Ganache optional
- Maraschino Cherries optional
- Decorating Icing optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit..
- Cut a piece of aluminum foil a little larger than a 9×13 inch pan. Place the foil over the top of the pan and seal the edges. Using a knife, cut on top of each opening. This will help keep the cones upright while baking.
- In a large bowl, prepare the cake batter according to box directions.
- Place the ice cream cones the holes (cut X's) of the muffin tin. Fill the cones about 2/3 full of the batter.
- Bake the cupcakes for 18-22 minutes until the cake is set on top and a toothpick is inserted in the middle and comes out clean.
- Remove and cool before frosting and decorating.
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3 comments on “Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes (3 Ways)”
These cones look smaller than the standard ice cream cones. Where did you get them? So cute.
Hi Cindy. These are just the standard sized cones. I believe these came from Kroger or Walmart. They do make a jumbo size, but these are the regular sized ones.
Absolutely adorable! Where did you get the cupcake liners