Copycat Hostess Cupcakes

Copycat Hostess Cupcakes 

These Copycat Hostess Cupcakes are a delicious chocolatey treat that is just as good – if not better – than the original. Delicious, creamy filling surrounded by a moist, chocolate cupcake and topped with decadent chocolate frosting, these Copycat Hostess Cupcakes will leave everyone begging for more!

When you think back to the delicious treats of your childhood what do you think of? If you’re anything like me, you think of Hostess. Cupcakes, Suzy Q’s, Snowballs, Twinkies – all the really good stuff that my sweet tooth screamed for as a kid. Now that I’ve grown up and learned how to bake, I find myself trying to recreate my favorite childhood sweets from scratch. As I’ve gotten older and gotten more experience in the kitchen, I’ve found that copycat recipes are generally better than those that they’re based on and these cupcakes are no different. 

Today, fellow sweet treat lovers, I’m going to walk you through making the best cupcakes you’ve ever had. They’re rich, decadent, and chocolaty, with that classic filling we all know and love. And, oh yeah, they’re even better than the original!

Get ready to bake because your kitchen just became a time machine taking you back to your childhood. 

Copycat Hostess Cupcakes 

These are probably the most delicious cupcakes you’ll ever make, and I’m not just saying that because it’s my recipe. Family and friends who’ve tried them have agreed that these things are like Heaven in their mouths, so I’m confident that you’ll love the finished product, as well.

While the recipe has several steps, it’s not a terribly difficult one to pull off. It’s all basic baking, and even filling the cupcakes isn’t difficult. You’ll be a little intimidated at first if you’ve never done it before, but after one or two, you’ll find yourself fully confident in your cupcake-filling abilities. So, without further ado, let’s get started!

 

Here’s What You’ll Need…

 

Ingredients

There are 4 sections of ingredients here. Remember, these copycat Hostess Cupcakes are made up of the cupcake itself, the filling, and the frosting. Don’t worry, though, I wasn’t kidding when I said it wasn’t a difficult recipe. The cake, filling, and frosting ingredients are all things that you’ll most likely already have in your home if you do any level of baking at all, and if you don’t, they’re all readily available at your local grocery store. 

For the Cakes

You only need 11 ingredients to make the cake part of this recipe. That’s not very many, considering that this is a from-scratch cake. They’re really only the most basic ingredients used in almost all chocolate cakes of any kind. 

• 1 Cup All-Purpose Flour
• 1 Cup Granulated Sugar
• 6 Tablespoons Dutch Processed Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
• 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1/4 teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1/2 teaspoon Fine Sea or Kosher Salt
• 1 Large Egg
• 1/2 Cup Whole Milk
• 1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil Such as Canola or Avocado 
• 1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
• 1/2 Cup Boiled Water, Cooled Just a Bit

For the Filling

There are even fewer ingredients for the filling that goes into these cupcakes. It’s a creamy marshmallow dream that’s very easy to make.  

• 6 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter, At Room Temperature
• 1 1/2 Cups Powdered Sugar
• 3/4 Cups Marshmallow Fluff
• 2 Tablespoons Heavy Cream or Whipping Cream
• 1/8 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract

For the Frosting

If you’ve noticed a pattern here, you’re right. The ingredient list required to make each part of these Copycat Hostess Cupcakes gets shorter and shorter. You only need a handful of ingredients to make the frosting. 

• 1/2 Cup Heavy Cream or Whipping Cream
• 1 Cup Plus 2 Tablespoons Semisweet Chocolate Chips
• 1 teaspoon Unsalted, Softened Butter
• 1/8 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract

For the Classic Squiggle

These wouldn’t be Hostess Cupcakes without that classic squiggle on top. It’s the topper that gives the recipe that final garnish of nostalgia, and it only takes 3 ingredients. 

• 1/2 Cup Sifted Powdered Sugar
• 2 Tablespoons Unsalted, Softened Butter
• 1 to 2 Tablespoons Milk

 

 

 

 

 

Love these cupcakes

Let’s Make Copycat Hostess Cupcakes…

Okay, here we are. The main event. The chocolaty, cream-filled final round. Ladies and gentlemen, let’s get ready to bake! We’ll start with creating the cakes, as they’re the base of this entire recipe, and move on from there. By the time we’re done, you’ll have created a cupcake that rivals that delicious confection we all remember so fondly from our childhood. 

Cake Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees and line a cupcake pan with paper liners or liners of choice.
2. In a large mixing bowl, add the dry ingredients. Mix with a whisk until combined and set aside.
3. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the egg, milk, vegetable oil, and water. 
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ones, and, with a rubber spatula, mix gently until completely combined. 
5. Add hot water to the mixture and mix gently with the rubber spatula. The batter will be thin. Don’t worry, it’s supposed to be that way. 
6. Fill each cupcake liner to about 3/4 full. Don’t overfill. 
7. Bake for about 15 to 22 minute or until a toothpick inserted in the center come out clean or with a few moist to dry crumbs. The cupcakes should spring back when touched lightly on the top.
8. Let the pan cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes, then gently invert the cupcakes onto the wire rack to completely cool. 

Filling Directions

1. With a hand-held mixer, beat the butter until smooth and creamy. Gently add in the powdered sugar and mix until creamy, then add the heavy cream and vanilla. Mix until creamy.
2. Add the marshmallow fluff, mixing with a spatula until combined. The filling should be thick. If it’s too soft, place it in the freezer for about 3 minutes to firm up.

Filling the Cupcakes

1. Use a cupcake corer or an apple corer to cut out a hole in the top of each cupcake. You can also use a small, sharp knife and cut a cone-like shape. Be sure not to cut to the bottom of the cupcake while doing this. 
2. Place the filling in a Ziploc bag. From there, you can use a pastry tip or just cut the tip off one of the ends of the bag. Be sure to squash all the filling to one side of the bag. 
3. Squeeze out the filling into the well you created in the cupcakes and put the piece that was taken out back on top of the cupcake.

Making the Chocolate Glaze

1. Place chocolate chips in a heat-safe bowl.
2. Heat the heavy cream to a slight simmer.
3. Pour the heated heavy cream over the chocolate chips, stirring gently until combined. 
4. Add butter.
5. Continue stirring until shiny and smooth. 

Frosting the Cupcakes

There are two ways to frost these copycat Hostess Cupcakes. first, you can use an offset spatula to frost the tops of each cupcake right to the edge. However, if you’re feeling daring, you can turn each cupcake upside down – CAREFULLY – and dip the tops into the ganache. 

A quick tip here is that if the ganache begins to get too stiff, you can put it in the microwave for about 10 seconds to soften it up. Just heat it up and stir until it’s creamy again. 

After frosting your cupcakes, let the ganache set up completely before moving on. 

Adding the Squiggle

And here we are. The final step. Adding the squiggle. You have to have the squiggle or you’re not making a Hostess cupcake! 

1. In a small mixing bowl, beat the small amount of butter until smooth with a hand-held mixer. Add in the powdered sugar and mix until combined. It will be stiff. 
2. Add 1 tablespoon of milk at a time, mixing well, until the icing is smooth and creamy. 
3. Place the icing in a Ziploc bag, squeezing all the way down into one corner. Snip of the tip of the bag and make the squiggle on top of each frosted cupcake. 

You’ll see in some of my photos that I scribble the word “love” onto some of the cupcakes, but you can do whatever you like. From the classic squiggle to words or other designs, feel free to get creative. 

 

Storing Copycat Hostess Cupcakes

After all that hard work, you want to make sure your cupcakes last for as long as possible right? These cupcakes are made with butter, cream, and milk, so you’ll need to keep them in the refrigerator. They’ll last for about a week in an air-tight container, but honestly, your family will probably eat them well before that time frame. 

Try These Copycat Hostess Cupcakes for Yourself

These copycat Hostess Cupcakes are better than the original and one of the best cupcake recipes of any kind you’ll ever make if I do say so myself. And I do. With that moist, chocolaty cake, delicious creamy filling, chocolate glaze, and classic squiggle, every bite of these cupcakes are equal parts sweet, dreamy deliciousness and a full-on body blow of nostalgia that you and your family will love. Give them a try, and I’m sure you’ll agree that these cupcakes are the best things you’ve ever eaten. 

 

 

 

 

Wait! Before leaving, check out another delectable copycat recipe…

Copycat Starbucks Iced Lemon Loaf

Please stop back again soon. There are so many more recipes to see..