If you like red velvet, you will love these green velvet cupcakes just the same. One magical twist is that these are also surprise-filled cupcakes!
Yes, it’s true that these pot of gold cupcakes are ideal for St. Patrick’s Day. This recipe post was supposed to be up before the holiday, but I have been having health issues which have caused a lot of delays.
In any case, these stuffed cupcakes still work for any magical party throughout the year. Switch out the sprinkle colors to fit your theme.

Surprise-Filled Green Velvet Cupcakes
What’s better than biting into a delicious cupcake? A burst of surprise filling! These filled cupcakes look like little pots of gold, making them ideal for St. Patrick’s Day or any lucky celebration.
Other ideas include using blue food coloring and stuffing with galaxy sprinkles for a space party. You can see these galaxy cupcakes for more decorating ideas. Fill with mermaid sprinkles for an under the sea party. Visit this mermaid cupcakes post for more inspiration.
You can leave the cupcakes green and use red and green sprinkles for Christmas parties or throughout the holiday season.
No matter what you are celebrating, you can stuff some cupcakes to add some magic to your dessert table.

Green Velvet Cupcakes Ingredients
Here’s what you need to make this recipe. The measurements are in the recipe card below.
For the Cupcakes:
- Cake flour
- Granulated sugar
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Baking cocoa
- Vegetable oil
- Buttermilk
- Eggs
- Vanilla extract
- White distilled vinegar
- Green food coloring
For the Cream Cheese Frosting:
- Cream cheese
- Unsalted butter
- Powdered sugar
Surprise Filling Cupcakes Directions
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
Line a cupcake pan with cupcake baking liners.

Whisk the cake flour, granulated sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa in a medium-sized bowl.
Use an electric mixer on low speed to mix the oil, buttermilk, eggs, vanilla, and vinegar.

Slowly combine the dry ingredients with the wet. Continue to mix on medium-low until everything is mixed well.

Add the green food color and blend it into the batter until you reach the shade of green that you want.

Fill the muffin tin cups until they are a little over half full. This ends up being about 1/4 cup for each muffin tin.

Bake for 12-15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
Let the green cupcakes cool completely.

To create the filling, remove a small section of the middle of the cupcake by using a piping bag tip or a spoon. Don’t pierce through the bottom.

Fill the center with sprinkles and replace the removed cake, trimming the bottom as needed to make it fit.

To make the frosting, beat the butter with an electric or stand mixer on medium-high speed.

Beat the butter by itself for about 5 minutes. You want it to increase in volume and start to lose its color.
Add the cream cheese and continue to beat until smooth.
Add the powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time until the entire 4 cups are mixed in.

Put the frosting into a piping bag and pipe it onto the cupcake tops.
Add desired sprinkles to the frosted tops and serve.

Pot of Gold Cupcakes Recipe Notes and FAQ
What is green velvet cake?
Green velvet is a red velvet cake using green instead of red food coloring. In order for red velvet cake to be “authentic” it must contain the following:
- Chocolate. Red velvet cake is not colored vanilla cake; it is chocolate.
- Buttermilk.
- Vinegar.
- Baking soda. Due to the acidic qualities of buttermilk and vinegar, baking soda is used.
- Cake flour. The finer consistency of cake flour keeps the cake dense, but also light and lifted.
These cupcakes have all of the above. Instead of dying the cake red, we used green for “green velvet.”

Can I use milk instead of buttermilk?
Classic red velvet cake is made with buttermilk, vinegar, and baking soda. If you don’t want to use buttermilk or vinegar, you can use regular milk, but you will need to use baking powder instead of baking soda. You can use the same measurement.

Let the cupcakes cool completely before removing the middles.
Don’t remove the cores of the cupcakes until they are cooled. If you add sprinkles to the middles of warm cake, they will likely melt, and you won’t get the desired surprise filling effect.
Do I have to use gel food coloring?
Since gel is more concentrated than liquid, green gel food coloring works best in this recipe.

How to get the smoothest frosting.
Sift the powdered sugar to get a super smooth frosting consistency.
Can I use all-purpose flour?
Cake flour is ideal for these homemade cupcakes, but you can use all-purpose if it’s all you have on hand.

How to store green velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.
These cupcakes are good for up to three days in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Cream cheese frosting has to be refrigerated.
Green Velvet Cupcakes with Surprise Filling

Tasty green velvet cupcakes with a surprise filling. These pot of gold cupcakes are perfect for St. Patrick's Day or any magical event throughout the year.
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- 2 ½ cups cake flour
- 2 cups white granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 Tablespoons powdered baking cocoa
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar
- Green Food Coloring
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 8 ounces full fat cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 4 cups of powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line a cupcake pan with baking cups. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, use a whisk to combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, use an electric mixer on low speed to combine the oil, buttermilk, eggs, vanilla, and vinegar.
- Slowly add the dry ingredient mixture to the wet mixture and continue to mix on medium-low speed until fully incorporated.
- Add green food coloring and blend until the batter is the shade of green you want.
- Fill the muffin cups a bit more than half full. It's about 1/4 cup for each muffin tin.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Allow to cool completely.
- To create the surprise filling, use a piping bag tip or a spoon to remove a small section of the cupcake from the center. Fill the center with your choice of sprinkles and replace the removed cake, trimming the bottom as needed.
- For the frosting, beat the butter at medium-high speed with a mixer. Beat butter alone for about 5 minutes or until it starts to increase in volume and lose color.
- Add the cream cheese and continue to beat until smooth.
- Add the powdered sugar in 1/2 cup increments until the full 4 cups are mixed in.
- Place the frosting into a piping bag and pipe onto the top of the fully cooled cupcakes.
- Top with sprinkles if you choose, and serve.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
24Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 346Total Fat: 17gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 11gCholesterol: 36mgSodium: 249mgCarbohydrates: 47gFiber: 0gSugar: 35gProtein: 3g
Nutrition facts are an estimate only.
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Please let me know if you try these pot of gold cupcakes. I’d love to hear how they turn out for you.