Polar Bear Paw Cupcakes

Remember how we had to write those speeches in elementary school and say them in front of the whole class? (Or at least, that’s what we had to do in our school each year…)  I remember when I was in the fifth grade, I wrote my speech all about… wait for it… my collection of teddy bears! I was such a dork! I was 10 years old and I had at least 6 teddy bears that I slept with every single night. Is that weird? Because looking back, it seems like I was getting kind of old for it? Especially the part where I wrote a speech declaring my love for all my little stuffed friends and then recited it to everyone in my class. Thanks for letting me do that Mom! Ha!

These polar bear paw cupcakes totally remind me of the little white teddy bear that my five year old sleeps with each night. Both my five year old and my three year old have two toys each that they MUST sleep with each night. And let me tell you, there are nights where we have to turn the entire house upside down just to find them all. We’ve found them in the doll house, under random blankets, and even buried in the dress-up clothes chest. Do your kids do that? Because it’s nothing short of a miracle each night that we manage to find everything!

My 1 year old on the other hand, hasn’t really chosen a favourite toy to sleep with yet. Although, I suppose that’s not entirely true. I’ve mentioned before that he has trouble sleeping, right? Well, I put one of my pajama shirts in his crib a few nights ago to see if it would help, and now he grips onto it for dear life as he’s falling asleep. And every time I check on him on the video monitor, he’s happily snuggling with it. God help us if that’s what he chooses to latch on to for the next five years!

These polar bear cupcakes are just like teddy bear paws! I’m LOVING the coconut fur on them! You can use any flavour of cupcake you want for these, but I definitely recommend a light coloured frosting to get the “fur” look. I used a tub of store bought Home Style Creamy Vanilla icing just to save time, but homemade buttercream would be amaaaazing if you make your own frosting. Some day I’ll learn to make my own icing. Maybe when the kids are old enough that I can spend less time at night searching for their lost stuffed animals?

Polar Bear Paw Cupcakes

Here’s what you’ll need for these cupcakes:

• Vanilla or Buttercream Frosting


• Coconut Flakes (I used plain unsweetened coconut)


• York Peppermint Patties


• Dark Chocolate Covered Raisins


• Chocolate Cupcakes

Bake the cupcakes according to the package directions. Or of course, you can whip them up from scratch if you have enough time.

Using a knife, cover the top of the cupcake with a generous amount of frosting. It needs to be thick enough to hold the chocolate and coconut in place, so make sure the entire top is evenly covered and don’t be stingy.

Press the York Peppermint Patty into the icing towards the edge, like in the photo below. Press it so it goes all the way through the icing until it hits the cupcake. The icing will hold it in place.

Find three similarly sized dark chocolate covered raisins and press them into the icing above the peppermint patty.

Fill a small bowl with coconut flakes and make a well in the center. Then holding the cupcake by the bottom, gently press the frosted part of the cupcake into the coconut, rolling it around to cover all the edges. As long as you used enough frosting, the chocolate pieces should stay in place.

If you miss any spots, use a spoon to press some coconut flakes into the frosting. Some of the spots between the toes didn’t quite make it into the coconut, but other than that, it was pretty well covered.

I used heavier silver cupcake liners, but I’m not sure I’d really recommend them for this? They are definitely pretty, but they come off the cupcakes really easily, so it made it really difficult to grip the cupcakes from the bottom to get them dipped in the coconut.

Just use regular paper cupcake liners, and then if you want a pretty patterned liner, just put the cupcakes into another liner after they’re baked. (Don’t remove the first liner, or you’ll end up with a mess!) They’ll be double lined in the end, but it will give them a nice clean look.

This photo makes me smile. Aren’t they adorable?! Like tiny little footprints!

I love how the coconut flakes give them the fur texture! So fun!

And I also love how these will work for any winter occasion! Or really any occasion all year round if you you have a teddy bear fan in your household. These would be great for a teddy bear picnic, or even a bear themed birthday party.

These polar bear paw cupcakes are so easy to make and they look ADORABLE! They’d be great for a Christmas party, teddy bear picnic, or just as a fun winter treat. Oh! And the coconut and chocolate combination is delicious!

Source : onelittleproject.com
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