Turtle Cupcakes using OREO cookies and MandM candies

Ok let’s get down to the yummy parts of the Under the Sea Birthday party features, the desserts! I worked up the cutest turtle cupcakes (and two mini cakes for the birthday girls) and here’s how I did it!

First let me explain my love of cupcakes for kid birthday parties. I’ve been to my fair share of kid birthday parties with a huge beautifully decorated cake. The mom puts the candles in and then that poor kid takes a bunch of breaths and a ton of spit to blow it out. EWW.

For as long as I can, I plan to make cute cupcakes to celebrate my girls’ birthdays so everyone doesn’t have to experience my child’s saliva. You’re welcome, family!

Ok back to the deliciousness! Here’s what I used to make our turtle cupcakes:

Cupcake Mix (Yay Funfetti!)
Icing
M&Ms (I used both Mega and regular sized)
OREO cookies
Green and Blue Chocolate Melts (and a splash of vegetable oil and a Ziploc bag)

First bake your cupcake mix according to the box and allow them to full cool. While I have tried a few cupcake and cake recipes from scratch, I do enjoy the easiness that a boxed cupcake will give me!

Lay the OREO cookies on a plate. Heat green chocolate melts (check out this post for previous chocolate melting tips) and once slightly cooled, spoon into a Ziploc bag. Snip the corner and use the bag to help draw a design on the cookie. These will be the turtle shells! (Note: In my past experience with OREO cookies on cupcakes, I felt they tend to get a little soggy if left overnight on the icing. Instead I decided to lay these on the plate and do the decorating OFF the cupcake and just add to the cupcake the morning of. If you’re serving the same day, go ahead and skip the plate step!)

Apply icing to cupcakes. Add the Oreo turtle shells to the cupcake, slightly off center so you can room to add the larger head. Add regular M&Ms for the feet and a Mega M&M for the head.

These cute and simple turtle cupcakes were a HIT with the kids since it was a cupcake, cookie and candy in one! One of my favorite cupcake tricks for parties: when it comes time to display the finished cupcakes, add a second cupcake liner for a fresh pop of color!

I took a mini loaf pan, cut it in half and made two mini cakes for each of the girls as a special treat. I used the same decorating steps above and made sure there was room for candles!

With two girls that share a birthday, I wanted to have each one feel special so we did and will continue to sing Happy Birthday to each girl individually.