Need to make dessert, but don’t have a lot of time? These Easy Matcha Green Tea Cupcakes are just what you need. The perfect blend of sweetness and earthy goodness. A unique and flavourful dessert.
Matcha green tea powder is the secret ingredient in these pretty tea cupcakes. The mint-flavoured frosting just happens to pair perfectly too.
Everyone loves dessert. Sometimes made from scratch isn’t an option, especially if you don’t like to bake. These matcha cupcakes are made with a cake mix. Easy, simple and always delicious.
I love adding flavours of tea to recipes. Chia cupcakes are perfect with a latte. Mint tea works great in this watermelon cooler on hot summer days. Homemade lemon tea popsicles with blackberries are a great summer treat.
RECIPE and INSTRUCTIONS for these green cupcakes can be found at the bottom of this post.
Ingredients For Green Tea Cupcakes
- vanilla
- boxed white cake mix
- matcha green tea powder
- icing sugar
- butter
- mint flavouring
- green food colouring
Easy Matcha Cupcakes From A Box
No one will ever know you didn’t bake these cupcakes from scratch. Full instructions are in the recipe card below.
- Prepare a muffin tin with liners and preheat the oven.
- Mix the cake mix according to the package directions.
- Add in the matcha green tea powder and additional vanilla.
- Fill the liners ⅔ full with batter and bake.
- Remove when done and allow to cool before frosting.
- Make the buttercream according to the recipe below.
- Add the green food colouring.
- Place frosting in a piping bag and have fun.
Suggestions/Recipe Tips
For decorating, I used a 1M and #32 tip to create cute spring-like flowers on top of these pretty cupcakes. You can make the frosting any colour you like. Change the flavouring too.
Vanilla cake mix or just a white cake mix is best if you want to see the green colour in the cupcakes.
Cupcakes will keep for 3-4 days in a sealed container. You can freeze unfrosted baked cupcakes for several months. When needed, defrost and top with buttercream frosting.
FAQ’s
Both are made from the same plant, but the cultivation and process are different.
Most green tea comes from China and is grown in the sun. Matcha comes from tencha leaves grown in Japan. The tea is shade grown in the final weeks before harvesting.
It has a sweet grassy flavour. Perfect for lattes, added to oatmeal, soups, hummus and of course baked goods.
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Here are a few more cupcakes to try:
- Sesame Street Cupcakes are a hit at any child’s birthday party.
- Love the flavour of Reese’s? You will want to make these filled cupcakes.
- These pretty purple Ube cupcakes are perfect for any celebration.
Vanilla Matcha Green Tea Cupcakes
Ingredients
For the Cupcakes:
- 1 store bought cake mix (I used a White Cake Mix)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 4 teaspoons matcha green tea powder
For the Buttercream:
- 1 cup butter (softened)
- ½ teaspoons salt
- 5 cups icing sugar (sifted)
- ⅛ teaspoons mint flavouring
- milk (thin to desired consistency)
- green gel colouring (enough to achieve desired colour)
Instructions
- Preheat oven according to box directions. Line a muffin tin with liners.
To make the Cupcakes:
- Mix cake mix according to package directions.
- Add the vanilla and mix.
- Add the matcha green tea and mix well.
- Fill muffin liners ⅔ full with batter.
- Bake according to package directions. Test with cake tester. When done, remove from oven. Let cool for a few minutes, then transfer cupcakes to cooling rack. Cool completely before frosting.
For the Buttercream:
- Using a stand mixed, cream the butter and salt until fluffy.
- Start adding the sifted icing sugar, about 1 cup at a time. Blend well each time.
- Add milk 1 tablespoon at a time until you reach your desired consistency of frosting.
- If you are going to make different coloured icing, divide buttercream into bowls. For this recipe I just removed some of the buttercream into a bowl, since I was using both white and green for the colours.
- Tint the buttercream to the desired colour.
- Place your desired tips onto piping bags, and fill the bags with buttercream.
- Pipe frosting.
Jamie
Wow! This cupcake recipe looks amazingly yummy! The green color makes this an enticing and tempting cupcake! Kids will definitely love and enjoy eating this! Loved it!
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
These green cupcakes are enjoyed by kids of all ages.
Dee
How fun! These cupcakes are so cute and I love the addition of the mint for added flavor.
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
Thanks so much. We enjoy the touch of mint in the frosting too.
Carrie Robinson
What a fun idea for a cupcake! I just love anything matcha flavored. 🙂 Going to have to bake up a batch of these soon.
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
Enjoy they are easy to make and delicious to eat.
Kylee
Can’t wait to make these! Can you tell me the brand of matcha that you use, and where to buy it?
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
In Canada, we have David’s Tea, but you can get matcha powder online from Amazon and other tea stores.
Sandhya Ramakrishnan
I am in love with this recipe! Using store-bought cake mix is so convenient and adding the matcha green tea to the mix is brilliant.
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
I love making easy desserts too. ENJOY!
Cara
Such a gorgeous color and flavor in these cupcakes! Love having more creative ways to use matcha
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
Enjoy, these will bring some Spring into your home.
Jerika
My kids and I love matcha!:) Can’t wait to make these Matcha Green Tea Cupcakes over the weekend. Thank you for the helpful tips!:)
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
Enjoy these green tea matcha cupcakes.
Jessica
I love matcha, and these cupcakes were absolutely delicious! Full of matcha flavor!
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
I love how these cupcakes tuned out. Great matcha recipe for sure.
TAYLER ROSS
I made these cupcakes with the kids yesterday and they were amazing! And the kids loved the color!
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
The colour of these green cupcakes is amazing. Matcha is a great ingredient.
Beth
These are so tasty and I love how easy they are. Perfect!
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
Thanks so much, glad you enjoyed this matcha recipe.
Kushigalu
How gorgeous are these cupcakes? Thanks for sharing
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
You are welcome. Enjoy!
Andrea
These cupcakes sound and look lovely. Vanilla and matcha is a marvelous flavor combination and I can’t wait to make these.
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
I hops you enjoy these as much as we do.
min
Lovely matcha cupcakes! I love the vibrant green!!
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
The matcha powder really does make a nice shade of green in these cupcakes.
Lindsay Howerton-Hastings
These turned out so light and lovely, we adored them!
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
They are so easy to make, glad you enjoyed them.
Bernice
How adorable. These cupcakes just scream ‘Spring’ in flavour and colour. I love anything matcha flavoured too, especially if it isn’t too sweet.
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
I find these green matcha cupcakes have just the right sweetness.