cotton candy {treats}

My boys always beg for cotton candy and honestly it’s one of those treats that I try to avoid because the bags are too big and the sugar rush is even bigger!

So in the baking isle I spied the Duncan Hines Frosting Creations icing. All the cotton candy taste… in small portions… so I decided to give them a whirl!

To make them a bit more fun than regular cupcakes AND to give the boys the illusion of a cotton candy paper cone {grin}, I baked them in sugar cones with chocolate chips in the batter. Admittedly I’m not much on tons of icing, but the cake in the sugar cones, with a little icing, was super yummy! My oldest loved them just as they are. My youngest, like me, wanted more of just the cake in the cone.

Here’s what you’ll need to make chocolate chip batter cupcakes with cotton candy frosting:

Duncan Hines Golden Butter Cake Mix (+ ingredients)
Mini chocolate chips
Duncan Hines Frosting Creations with Cotton Candy flavor packet
Sugar cones
Aluminum foil
Deep baking dish
Dairy-Free Option: replace butter in batter with 5 tsp Smart Balance Light and Enjoy Life chocolate chips

And the simple instructions:

Prep batter as box directs (substituting the options above if you want dairy free)
Cover baking dish in aluminum foil, cut “X” every 2.5 inches
Insert cones upright
Spoon one tsp of batter in cone, add five to six mini chocolate chips, repeat until 3/4″ from top of cone
Bake at 350 for 10 to 12 minutes
Allow to cool
Mix icing as directed, spoon into resealable bag, cut an “X” in one corner of the bag and pipe icing on in circular motion.

A little fun treat to kick off the summer. Also perfect for a circus themed birthday party. By the way, the stands are actually icie cone stands from Target. I use them all the time in the summer!

As always, I hope you’re inspired to craft, bake, create and celebrate!