These adorable Thanksgiving Caramelcopia Cupcakes would be a great Thanksgiving Dessert alternative for Thanksgiving dinner guests who don’t love pie!

Closeup on the top of a Thanksgiving Cupcake decorated with a Cornucopia made out of candy.

If you are looking for a fun non-pie Thanksgiving Dessert, these Thanksgiving Caramelcopia Cupcakes are a fun option. Forming the caramel cornucopias was super easy and they turned out super cute. I am going to stop for a second for a quick cornucopia (or “horn of plenty”) history lesson.  The word “cornucopia” comes from the Latin “cornu” meaning “horn,” and “copia,” meaning “plenty.”  It was traditionally made from a carved goat’s horn and filled with the bounty of the feast.  In modern Thanksgiving celebrations, the cornucopia has become the symbol of the holiday, much like the jack-o-lantern for Halloween and hearts for Valentine’s Day.  This history is in no way relevant to making our cupcake but feel free to toss this out during Thanksgiving. And back to the recipe … these Thanksgiving cupcakes were so easy to make.  Grab some caramels and M&M’s out of your kid’s left-over Halloween candy and make some of these for an extra Thanksgiving Day dessert for the non-pie lovers in your family!

How to Make the Cupcakes

Closeup on a dozen chocolate cupcakes sitting on a white table.

Step 1: Make a batch of cupcakes.  You can use a cake box mix, we have all the instructions you’ll need to make them taste just like homemade right here. Or you can make them from scratch with our yummy Homemade Chocolate Cupcakes recipe.  We used chocolate cupcakes but Vanilla Cupcakes would taste great too.

How to Make the Frosting

Closeup on a glass bowl filled with homemade Buttercream Frosting.

Step 2: The key to these delicious cupcakes is our Best Buttercream Frosting recipe.   It is light and creamy and buttery and super delicious! You will find the recipe and directions here.  One batch of frosting will be enough to frost 12 cupcakes.  If you used a boxed cake mix, you should have about 18 cupcakes and will need to double the frosting recipe.  

How to Make the Caramel Cornucopias

Collage image showing the steps for turning a caramel square into the shape of a cornucopia.

Steps 3-6: We used one piece of Brach’s Caramel to make each caramelcopia.  We simply molded the caramel into the shape of a cornucopia with our fingers as shown in the picture above.

Decorating the Cupcakes

Collage image showing how to decorate the cupcake with the caramel cornucopia and the M&M's.

Step 7: Frost the cupcake. We used a Wilton 2 D decorating tip.  Then we nestled the “caramelcopia” into the frosting, keeping it to the back of the top of the cupcake.
Step 8: Finally, we added five autumn-colored M&M’s to the top of the cupcake to represent the “bounty” that traditionally spills out of a Thanksgiving cornucopia.

Closeup on a Caramelcopia Thanksgiving Cupcake sitting on a white surface surrounded by other cupcakes.

Other Thanksgiving Dessert Recipes You Will Love

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Thanksgiving Caramelcopia Cupcakes

Yield 18 cupcakes
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 18 minutes
Additional Time 10 minutes
Total Time 38 minutes

These adorable Thanksgiving Caramelcopia Cupcakes would be a great Thanksgiving Dessert alternative for Thanksgiving dinner guests who don't love pie!

Ingredients

  • 18 Chocolate Cupcakes
  • 1-2 batches of our The Best Buttercream Frosting
  • 18 Brachs Caramels or Kraft Caramels
  • Fall-Colored Regular Sized M&M Candies
  • Wilton 2D Frosting Tip

Instructions

  1. Make a batch of chocolate cupcakes according to the directions on the box.
  2. Make a batch of our Best Buttercream Frosting.
  3. We used one piece of Brach's Caramel for make each "caramelcopia."  We simply molded the caramel into the shape of a cornucopia with our fingers.
  4. Then we nestled the caramelcopia into the frosting, keeping it to the back of the top of the cupcake.
  5. Finally, we added five Harvest Blend M&M's to the top of the cupcake to represent the "bounty" that traditionally spills out of a Thanksgiving cornucopia.

Did you Make this Recipe? Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @twosisterscrafting on Instagram so we can see it!