Fluffy lime cupcakes topped with creamy frosting spiked with tequila and cointreau—these margarita cupcakes are a margarita-lover’s dream dessert!
Every fall Saturday when I was growing up my parents made margaritas for their tailgaters. I was SO IN LOVE with that bright green color, and even more in love with the tart flavor, on the rare occasions when my parents let my 5-year-old self stick her finger in their drink.
To this day, margaritas are my very favorite adult beverage—the mort tart, the better.
But I leave my tart-ness to drinks and prefer sweetness in my desserts.
And that’s why today I made us a batch of tart-sweet margarita cupcakes! Just in time for Cinco de Mayo and summer BBQs!
The cupcake base is a fluffy and moist lime cupcake, brushed with tequila and lime juice when they’re fresh out of the oven. This imparts the perfect amount of booziness. Who doesn’t like a boozy cupcake?
If that’s not enough to get you all kinds of excited, the frosting is spiked with tequila and cointreau.
The sprinkle of salt on top is totally optional.
To make our lives easy, which I think is extra necessary when we’re talking summer desserts, we use a white cake mix for the cupcakes. I have, like, a gazillion box cake mix recipes on my site and I will not apologize for taking a shortcut here and there. But if you prefer a from-scratch cake, feel free to sub in any lime cupcake you wish.
I love the addition of cointreau in the frosting because to me, a margarita isn’t legit without it. (In other words, my parents added cointreau to theirs so I feel I must follow in their footsteps.) Feel free to omit it/replace it with more tequila. I just like to give you options!
The only thing that’s not optional, though, is making a batch of margarita cupcakes sometime soon. They’re summer on a plate!
- 1 16-ounce box white cake mix
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 3 large eggs
- Zest of 3 limes
- 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
- 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon tequila
- 1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- 3 1/2 to 4 cups powdered sugar
- 1 to 2 tablespoons milk or heavy cream
- 3 tablespoons tequila
- 2 teaspoons cointreau
- zest of half a lime
- 1/4 teaspoon salt or more to taste
- lime zest and coarse salt for sprinkling (if desired)
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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 20 to 22 muffin cups with paper liners and set pans aside.
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Place all cupcake ingredients in a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes. Divide batter between the prepared muffin cups and bake 14 to 18 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cupcakes comes out clean.
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While your cupcakes are in the oven, prepare the tequila-lime syrup.
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Heat the lime juice in the microwave for about 30 seconds. Stir in the sugar until it dissolves, then stir in the tequila.
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Remove cupcakes from the oven and use a toothpick to poke several holes about 1 inch deep into each of the cupcakes. Use a pastry brush to brush the syrup over the cupcakes. Carefully remove cupcakes from the pans and cool completely on a wire rack.
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Once cupcakes are cool, make the frosting. Beat butter until very smooth, then add 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon milk, tequila, cointreau, lime zest, and salt and mix to combine. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl, then turn mixer to high and beat 3 to 4 minutes, until very fluffy. Add additional powdered sugar if frosting is too thin and additional milk if frosting is too thick. Frost cupcakes and sprinkle with salt and lime zest as desired.
Be sure you zest your limes before juicing them—it’s next to impossible to zest limes once the juice has been squeezed out.
A cocktail in the form of a cupcake – what a fabulous way to celebrate Cinco de Mayo 🙂
Miriam x
Thanks so much, Miriam!
Love a boozy cupcake, especially on a Monday! 😉 What better way to start the week, right!?! These look seriously delicious. Love that lime flavour, and the boozy frosting is a great idea. They’re perfect for spring and summer celebrations! Have a great week Kelsie!
Thank you, Leanne!
I love the addition of cointreau to your margaritas, Kelsie! I know where I’m coming when it’s time for tailgate cocktails…and tailgate desserts now too! This cupcake combo is right up my alley, and I’m intrigued with the idea of brushing ’em with that tequila syrup. So cool! We like to throw a Cinco de Mayo party every year, and these would be perfect. Although this year, I’ll be out of town for the last curling tournament of the season…maybe I’ll just need to make a batch of these cupcakes to take with us. Imagine that: a van rumbling down the highway loaded with guys eating margarita cupcakes. Hah!
Haha! I think a van full of curlers and cupcakes sounds like fun! Thanks, David!
Gotta love these! They sound amazing and so refreshing too! YUM!!!
Thank you, Kim!
Way to kick off Monday, Kelsie! I would take one of these over a margarita any day! Also, love your nail polish. That colour is soooo preeeeetty 😉 P.S. that salt sprinkle is definitely not optional if you ask me 😉 Have a wonderful week, girlie!
Thank you, Dawn! OPI Mod About You. It’s my current favorite 🙂
GIRL!! These cupcakes are so fun! I definitely want to throw a Cinco De Mayo party and make these cupcakes for dessert! That tequila would be such a hit 🙂
Thank you, Kelly!
Super cool idea! I think I might whip up a second batch of frosting to use as a dip for pretzels. It sounds so tasty! Pinned:)
I love that idea! Thank you, Milena!
What a way to start the week Kelsie! These will be perfect for summer parties!
Thank you, Mary Ann!
Yay! Guess who is going to the bottle store tomorrow ……
These sound so good. I really enjoy an alcohol infused dessert, so these are going to be amazing…and that frosting ! wow ! . Thanks so much. Have a good week Kelsie:-)
Haha! Thank you, Lynne!
I definitely share your love of margaritas, girlfriend! And these cupcakes are just brilliant! Seriously, I’m loving all your boozy cupcakes! We need to be neighbors!!! Pinning these beauties! Cheers!
Thanks, Chey!
Now these look mighty good. I too got to taste test my parents margarita’s as a kid and could even convince them to make a virgin one for me sometimes, haha. These look like the perfect personification of that tart delicious drink. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you so much!
Ok, I don’t know what happened but I JUST commented and it seems to have disappeared. So, if you get multiple comments from me, I’m not crazy.
ANNNYWAY just wanted to say that I too, LOVE margaritas. We love to indulge around a fire in the backyard in the summer time. I can’t wait to contribute some cupcakes to the party this year too!! These are fantastic!
Haha! Thank you, Katherine!
ahh Kelsie! why do you do this to me!!!!!!!!!! i’m trying to eat healthy at the moment and all i wanna do is dive in and take at least four of these! they look so so delish and your frosting is on point! mine always end up lopsided!
Hahaha! I’m sorry, Georgie! Thanks girl 🙂
These cupcakes look so pretty Kelsie…I LOOOOVE how you piped the frosting on these cakes they look perfect 🙂
Thank you so much, Ashika!
Although cupcakes might not be my favorite dessert (beetween a layer cake and a cupcake, I will almost always choose the cake; and between a later cake and ice cream I will always opt for ice cream), these cupcakes sounds delicious and refreshing. I’d drink (eat) a few 🙂
Thank you, Ben!
I love these, Kelsie! The perfect Cinco de Mayo treat!
Thank you, Marissa!
What a fun dish! Love a good margarita, particularly at this time of the year. And yes, we always use Cointreau — it’s our favorite triple sec. So yes, I do have all the ingredients on hand to make this. 🙂 Good stuff — thanks.
Thank you!
It’s nice to see your parents guided you well! I have no problem with using boxes here and there. And here is where I need to be! these sound great!
Thank you, Abbe!
These look amazing! Definitely on my make list for this weekend!
Thank you! You’ll have to let me know what you think!
I’m so happy cos think I just found the perfect dessert for my Cinco de Mayo party!! Can’t believe how easy they are too. Less time in the kitchen, means more time for tequila drinkin’. lol! Seriously thou, I’m making a quadruple batch of that tequila lime syrup and pouring it all over everything. Love your nails too girl.
Thank you, Karrie!
All your neighbors must be so lucky Kelsie:) Each and every baked creation sounds so delicious. These cupcake is a great excuse to enjoy a margarita all day. They look amazing.
Thank you, Maria!
These look amazing, Kelsie! And I can’t think of any better summer flavour than a margarita…and cupcake form sounds like so much fun. I love that these are quick and easy if you have a box cake mix. I rarely have those around anymore mostly because of the gluten, but I am always looking for a new excuse to make cupcakes from scratch anyway haha I love how you brush the tops with the booze while they’re still warm to add extra flavour and moisture. That frosting looks amazing and love the lime zest on top. I want to come join you on the patio to eat a bunch of these! Sounds like the perfect patio party!! 😀
Thanks, Dana! Yes! Come over and we’ll have a cupcake-filled patio party!
Made these today. Tasty! 18 mins burnt the bottoms, but they were still super soft all the same. The icing was perfect consistency until I added the liqueur and then it became runny. I added more powdered sugar to stiffen it up, but then my husband complained it was too sweet (how is a cupcake ever too sweet!?) This was a test bake for a party later in the week. I’ll try again with a few changes. Thanks for the recipe!
Thank you for the feedback! I’m with you–how could a cupcake ever be too sweet? To avoid the burned bottoms, I’d try setting the muffin pan on an insulated baking sheet to see if that helps. Enjoy your party!
I love boozy pastries! Keep it coming, Kelsie 🙂 I also love that you use box cake mix in a lot of your recipes because sometimes, I also can’t be bothered to make anything from scratch and just modify box mixes to my liking!
Thank you, Teesh!
I made these for a party last weekend and everyone loved them. Several people even asked for the recipe.
That’s great! I’m glad you enjoyed them!