If you are looking for an easy root beer cupcake recipe you have come to the right place. It just doesn’t get any easier than these 4-ingredient root beer cupcakes made with cake mix and real root beer!
If you love root beer like I do you are in for a real treat.
These cupcakes are made with root beer in the cupcakes themselves as well in the buttercream frosting, which makes them packed with delicious root beer flavor.

The cupcakes themselves are actually made with just 2 ingredients: a box of cake mix and root beer. It’s the buttercream frosting that calls for the remaining 2 ingredients.
Cake mixes are a terrific shortcut for baking all sorts of semi-homemade cakes such as cherry dump cake, Italian ricotta cheesecake, and lemon poke cake.
But did you know that cake mixes aren’t only great for cakes and cupcakes? You can also use them to make delicious cake mix cookies, blondies, spice bars, and crisps.

Enough about my love for cake mixes. Let’s get down to how to make these easy root beer cupcakes.
Ingredients
You will need:
- a box of white cake mix
- root beer
- butter
- powdered sugar
Substitutions and Additions
Milk: If you would like to use milk for the buttercream you replace the root beer in the frosting with 2-3 Tablespoons of milk plus 1 teaspoon root beer extract.
Garnish: Garnish cupcakes with a maraschino cherry and/or paper straw cut in half.
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350° F and line a cupcake pan with paper liners.
Start by preparing your root beer syrup for the buttercream: Bring the root beer to a boil over high heat and then reduce heat to medium to simmer until the root beer has reduced to about a 1/2 cup. Pour into a mason jar and place in the fridge to cool while you prepare the cupcakes. (Skip this step if using milk and root beer extract as described above).
In a large mixing bowl, beat to combine the root beer and white cake mix until light and completely combined (about 2 minutes).
Fill each cupcake liner with batter until it is 2/3 of the way full. I like to use a 1/4 cup cookie scoop to make this easy.
Bake for 18-22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Allow the cupcakes to cool for 10 minutes in the tray then transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
While the cupcakes are cooling you can prepare the buttercream. Add powdered sugar and butter to a large bowl and beat until well combined (about 2 minutes).
Add 2 Tablespoons of your reduced root beer syrup, then taste and adjust with more root beer syrup as needed to reach desired taste and consistency.

Transfer into a piping bag and pipe onto each cooled cupcake, starting at the edge and moving into the center.

Place a maraschino cherry on top of each cupcake just before servings, if desired.
Storage
Room temperature: Cupcakes can be stored for up to 3 days at room temperature. Allow cupcakes to cool completely, remove cherry, transfer to an airtight container, and place in a cool, dry place.
Refrigerator: If storing for longer than 3 days, or with cherries on top, you will want to keep them in an airtight container in the refrigerator. They should keep up to 1 week in the fridge. Allow cupcakes to return to room temperature before serving.
More delicious cupcakes:
- Apple pie cupcakes
- Lemon cupcakes
- Rainbow cupcake recipe
- Hot cocoa cupcakes
- Cherry pie cupcakes
- Melting ice cream cone cupcakes
- Banana pudding cupcakes
- Strawberry Cupcakes

Root Beer Cupcakes
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Print Pin Save RateIngredients
For the cupcakes:
- 1 cup root beer
- 1 box white cake mix
For the buttercream:
- 2 cups root beer, or 1 tsp root beer extract plus 2-3 Tbsp milk
- 1 cup butter
- 3-4 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375° F. Line two muffin pans with cupcake liners and set aside.
- Place the 2 cups of root beer for the buttercream in a saucepan and set over high heat. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to medium to simmer until reduced to approximately 1/2 cup. Pour into a mason jar and place in the fridge to cool.
- Meanwhile, prepare the cupcakes: In a large mixing bowl, beat the cake mix and 1 cup root beer until light and completely combined (about 2 minutes). Fill each cupcake about 2/3 of the way full.
- Bake the cupcakes for 18-22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Allow the cupcakes to cool for 10 minutes in the tray then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely while you prepare the buttercream.
- Place the butter and powdered sugar in a large mixing bowl and beat until well combined (about 2 minutes). Add 2 Tablespoons of your reduced root beer syrup, then taste and adjust with more root beer syrup as needed to reach desired taste and consistency.
- Transfer buttercream into a piping bag and pipe onto cooled cupcakes, starting at the edge and moving into the center. Place a maraschino cherry on top of each cupcake before serving, if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
The nutritional information provided is automatically calculated by a third party and intended to serve as an estimate only. The accuracy of nutritional information is not guaranteed.
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I’m assuming that the root beer in the cake mix replaces the liquid required in the mix?? Still need eggs and oil.
No need for the eggs or oil, just the ingredients called for in the recipe card 🙂
Well that answered my question now u say 375 I usually do my cupcakes at 325 in my oven with dark cupcake pans if not they will burn
I always bake these at 375 but you know your oven best.
I think it needed the eggs the cupcakes weren’t that good
That Sounds So Delicious and I’m sure going to have to try it out sometime .I Love Root Beer and I Drink Daily !
Thank You 😊 for sharing the recipe
I REALLY wanted to like this recipe. It, unfortunately, really fell short. I would call it frosting instead of buttercream. The frosting isn’t anything like buttercream. 😕