Sweetheart Cupcakes + Free Printables!

February is here and that means Valentine's Day is right around the corner! My favorite things about Valentine's Day are the color pink, candy, hearts and showing my friends and family how much I love them. This year I decided to whip up these pretty Sweetheart Cupcakes!

They turned out so cute I knew I had to share the recipe along with some fun free printables I made just for the occasion. You can download them here and make your own cupcake toppers!

Sweetheart Cupcakes
Recipe adapted from Cheese and Chocolate
Makes 18-21 cupcakes

• White cake batter (If using a store bought mix, follow the directions on the box to make your batter. I used this recipe for Lemon Buttermilk cake batter)
• Red food coloring
• Vanilla or other white or pink frosting (I used buttercream frosting)
• Red and pink sprinkles (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (or as instructed on the box). Line 2 muffin tins with about 20 cupcake liners.

Prepare your cake batter per your chosen recipe’s instructions. Fill each cupcake liner about 1/3 full with white batter. Then set aside. Add a few drops of red food coloring to the remaining batter (I added in about 3 drops to make a light pink color). Pour 1/3 of the pink batter into a pastry or ziploc bag and set aside.

Add more red food coloring drops to the remainder of the pink batter until you get a nice dark pink or red color. Pour the red batter into another pastry or ziploc bag.

Cut the tip of the red bag batter off and stick the open tip into the middle of each cup of white batter. Squeeze a few tablespoons of the red batter into each cup. Repeat this process with the pink batter- cut the tip of the bag off and stick the tip into the middle of the red batter, squeezing in a few tablespoons of batter into each cup.

Bake cupcakes for about 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Transfer the cupcakes to cooling racks and let cool completely.

Next make your frosting. If you want to make your own, use your favorite recipe for vanilla or buttercream frosting. If you’re like me and lost steam after making all the cupcakes, you can use a store bought jar. Add in a few drops of red food coloring to make your frosting pretty n’ pink. Frost each cupcake and top with red and pink sprinkles.

For extra cuteness, download these free printables and make your own toppers! Cut out each heart and attach them to wooden skewers or toothpicks (I used small pieces of tape). Poke them into the top of each cupcake and you're done!