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Vanilla cupcakes before they are frosted.  With cupcakes, the interest is all in the icing. Every cupcake we made started with the same vanilla cake, but chocolate lovers should feel free to branch out into other flavors. Red and green icing and M&Ms give this dessert the look of a traditional Christmas ornament, but be creative as well! Check out your tree for one of your favorites, and re-create it if you're feeling adventurous. A jumbo marshmallow and pretzel hook top off the ornament look.

Reindeer Cupcake

Assembling reindeer cupcakes.
What's more perfect than a reindeer at Christmas time? Virtually all of the Zimbio colleagues lucky enough to test the cupcakes thought this one was the cutest. Chocolate frosting and sprinkles gives the appearance of brown fur, and small marshmallows, green Dots and red M&Ms make up his face. For the antlers, break off pretzels and press them above the eyes. Don't forget about Rudolph – make a few cupcakes with red Dot noses for those extra-special guests.

Snowman Cupcake

Arranging cupcakes to be photographed.
The best way to wow a holiday crowd is to build a cupcake up, like a sculpture. Use a white frosting base to resemble snow, and pile one and a half jumbo marshmallows (stuck together with icing) on top. Press chocolate sprinkles into the marshmallows for the eyes and buttons, and use an orange gummy candy for the carrot nose. Top him off with pretzel stick arms and a junior mint hat. Try giving him a colorful scarf or placing candies in the frosting beneath him for a little extra.

Christmas Tree Cupcake

Finished cupcakes are ready to be transported.
Continuing on the the “building up” theme, these Christmas trees are a perfect edible decoration for the holidays, and in our test kitchen, they were some of the most impressive creations. Start with a frosted cupcake and place an upside-down waffle cone (with clean edges) onto the icing. Then decorate the cone with white or green frosting to look like an ornamented Christmas tree, using colored icing, M&Ms, gum drops, marshmallows, or any candy of your choice. For some authenticity, sprinkle powdered sugar around the plate you serve the cupcake on to look like snow. These are hard to eat, but they make up for it by being so easy on the eyes.

Naturally, there were plenty of adorable recipes I came across that weren't practical to prepare ourselves. Look below for some more festive cupcakes that are almost too cute to eat. Almost.

Polar Bear Cubcakes

That's right - Cubcakes. They are hands down the most precious and creative cupcake we've come across in our research, and they couldn't be more suited for this wintry season. Just stick a full-size cupcake to a mini cupcake with icing, ice the sides, and roll the whole thing in coconut. Use gum drops for the ears, junior mints for the nose, and chocolate chips for the eyes.
See the full recipe from FamilyFun.com.

'Glittered' Sufganiyot

In the grand tradition of eating fried foods over Hanukkah, these jelly doughnuts are perfect as gifts or just for holiday gifts. After frying the basic dough, you squeeze jam inside using a pastry bag and dip the whole thing in icing and sugar. It may not be the healthiest item on the menu, but you know it sounds good. 
See the full recipe from Martha Stewart.

Holiday Snowballs

These seasonal treats look just like snowballs, but they taste much better than the real thing. It's simple: cover a vanilla cupcake with frosting, and roll it in coconut. It tastes a lot like the Polar Bear recipe, without the hassle of building the animal.
See the whole recipe at MSNBC.

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