Root Beer Cupcakes

Root Beer Cupcakes bottle up the spicy-sweet flavor of classic root beer in one nostalgic little dessert. Make them for birthdays, cookouts, or for the root beer enthusiast in your life.

There’s something about a bracingly cold fizzy root beer that just evokes feelings of summer. Maybe it’s memories of cookouts past, having enjoyed one alongside grilled hot dogs and hamburgers. Or maybe it’s the way the flavors of spicy sassafras, clove, and cinnamon taste over ice cream when the heat index is in the triple digits. Now that I think about it, those warm flavors have no business being so sparkling in hot weather. But like carbonation, the nostalgia is strong.

These Root Beer Cupcakes capture that same nostalgic feeling and flavor in cake form. They’re not root beer float cupcakes with vanilla ice cream flavors. There’s no cherry on top. Instead, they’re all about celebrating the rich, spicy character of classic root beer itself.

Both the cake and frosting recipes require root beer straight from the can or bottle, so use the brand you like to drink. I’ve used A&W, but most any brand will work. Avoid diet or zero sugar sodas because the artificial sweeteners concentrate during baking and can leave a bitter aftertaste.

Make the Root Beer Cupcake Batter

This recipe is based on an earlier blog recipe – Coca Cola Cupcakes with Salted Peanut Butter Frosting – that is so beloved, it was the inspiration for my second baking book. It begins easily enough. First, whisk the dry ingredients together – flour, baking soda, salt – and set aside.

Next, combine root beer, butter, and unsweet cocoa powder in a saucepan. Place the pan over medium heat and cook until the butter is melted and the cocoa is fully incorporated. Add granulated sugar, and brown sugar to the hot mixture and stir until dissolved. Set aside to cool slightly. After it cools, beat an egg in the bowl of an electric mixer and then gradually pour in the cooled chocolate mixture.

Note: It’s surprising how well the cocoa powder in this recipe complements the root beer flavor without making this just another chocolate cupcake.

A Root Beer Flavor Boost

Next, add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture and beat until just combined.

After everything is mixed, add in 1 teaspoon (or 1 entire dram bottle) of LorAnn Root Beer flavoring oil. You can find this for purchase at most US craft stores in the baking aisle, and online. You will need two of these tiny bottles for the entire recipe (cake and frosting). If you’re not inclined to go outside your usual grocery store for this flavoring, then you can use 1 1/2 teaspoons of root beer concentrate, which is sold at most US grocery stores in the spices and extracts aisle. You can purchase it online as well.

Bake the Cupcakes

Portion the cupcakes by the level 1/4 cup full into each cupcake liner. You may be tempted to fill them more, but resist. The cakes will overflow as they bake and create mushroom tops. Bake them for about 24 minutes at 350°F. They will dome slightly. When done, the cakes should spring back with pressed in their centers.

Dress Them Up!

I baked these cupcakes in white liners, but then decided they looked a little plain. Luckily it’s easy to up the cute factor! Drop each cupcake into an orange paper liner, and then pop them into woodgrain cupcake wrappers. I used these reversible woodgrain wrappers, which is my nod to the root beer barrel motif on the soda can.

Root Beer Buttercream

This buttercream recipe is essentially American buttercream, with the combination of butter and confectioners’ sugar, combined with heavy cream, root beer soda, and the same LorAnn root beer flavoring used in the batter. Again, if you don’t want to use the flavoring oil, you can use root beer concentrate from the grocery store instead. However, I highly recommend using the LorAnn oil because it is super concentrated and the flavor is distinctly that of root beer – no mistaking it for anything else.

Both the flavoring oil and root beer concentrate are brown and liquid, and will give the frosting a natural light caramel hue. I boosted this a little with Chefmaster Buckeye Brown food color, but it’s entirely optional. Once everything is combined and fluffy, sift in 1 tablespoon of unsweet cocoa powder and mix. This deepens the flavor of the buttercream without making it taste overtly chocolatey.

Frost and Decorate the Root Beer Cupcakes

Transfer the frosting to a piping bag fitted with a large closed star decorator piping tip (Ateco #856). Pipe a large double swirl with a peak on top of a cupcake, then immediately sprinkle on white nonpareils for a ‘fizzy’ effect.

If you love the nostalgic flavor of root beer, then you must try these! The cakes are tender and moist, and the cocoa powder just enhances the soda’s spice. The fluffy buttercream is loaded with true root beer flavor, and pipes beautifully into tall swirls. Make them for the root beer lover in your life!

Root Beer Cupcakes

Heather Baird

These Root Beer Cupcakes are moist and tender with fluffy root beer buttercream, and nostalgic soda-shop flavor in every bite. Use your favorite brand of root beer in this recipe. I love A&W, but Mug or Barq's are also good choices.

You'll need two dram bottles of LorAnn root beer flavoring oil for this recipe, which can be ordered online (see links in post). You can also use root beer concentrate, which can be found at most US grocery stores with the spices and extracts. See recipe notes for amounts.

5 from 1 vote

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 24 minutes mins

1 hour cool time 1 hour hr

Total Time 1 hour hr 39 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 12

Equipment

• cupcake tin
• orange cupcake liners optional
• wood grain cupcake wrappers optional
• disposable piping bag
• Jumbo closed star tip Ateco 856 (1)

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

Cupcakes

• 1 cup root beer soft drink
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter cut into pieces
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp. granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon plus 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon LorAnn Root Beer flavoring oil 1 dram bottle

Root Beer Buttercream

• 1/2 cup salted butter at room temperature
• 4 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/4 cup root beer soft drink
• 1 teaspoon LorAnn Root Beer flavoring oil
• 1 teaspoon Chefmaster buckeye brown food color optional
• 1 tablespoon unsweet cocoa powder
• 2 tablespoons white nonpareils

Instructions

 

For the Root Beer Cupcakes

• Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a cupcake pan with baking papers.
• In a large bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, and salt together. Set aside
• In a small saucepan, heat root beer, cocoa powder, and butter over medium heat until butter is melted. Add sugars and whisk until dissolved. Remove from heat and let cool, about 25 minutes.
• In a large mixing bowl, whisk egg until just beaten, then whisk in the cooled cocoa mixture until combined. Gently stir flour mixture into cocoa mixture.
• Use a 1/4 cup measure or standard trigger ice cream scoop to pour batter into the cupcake papers. Bake cupcakes for 23- 25 minutes or until cake springs back when pressed in the middle.
• Allow cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.

For the Root Beer Buttercream

• In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter until creamy. Add in the confectioners’ sugar and mix on low speed.
• Gradually add in the heavy cream and mix until a thick buttercream forms. Drizzle in the root beer. Add the root beer flavoring oil and beat until combined. Raise the mixer speed to high and whip until light and fluffy. The flavoring oil will color the frosting slightly to a pale peachy-brown color. Add the buckeye brown food color, if using.
• Sift in the unsweet cocoa powder and beat again until well combined. Scrape down the bowl and turn the frosting over with a spatula to make sure no streaks of butter or sugar remain. Beat again if necessary.
• Transfer the frosting to a large piping bag fitted with a large closed star tip.
• Set each cupcake inside woodgrain wrappers, if using.
• Pipe a tall double swirl of buttercream on each cupcake, pausing to add sprinkles after piping each swirl so they’ll stick.
• Serve immediately, or store in a cupcake keeper at room temperature.

Notes

• Root Beer Flavoring Substitute: If you don’t have LorAnn Root Beer Flavoring Oil, substitute 1½ teaspoons root beer concentrate in the cupcakes and 1½ teaspoons root beer concentrate in the buttercream (3 teaspoons total for the recipe). The root beer flavor in the frosting can be adjusted by taste. Add additional flavoring 1/4 teaspoon at a time.
• Make Ahead: The unfrosted cupcakes can be baked up to 2 days in advance. Store them in an airtight container at room temperature.
• Frosting: The buttercream can be prepared 1 day ahead and refrigerated in an airtight container. Bring it to room temperature, then rewhip with a mixer until light and fluffy before frosting the cupcakes.
• Storage: Frosted cupcakes will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days, or refrigerated for up to 5 days. For the best texture and flavor, let refrigerated cupcakes stand at room temperature for about 30 minutes before serving.

Keyword root beer cupcakes, root beer flavoring oil, soda cupcakes, summer dessert

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!