If you are looking for a sweet treat to give someone you love, these Valentine’s Day Teddy Bear Cupcakes are a delicious and adorable choice! They have the softest vanilla bean cupcake base topped with a luscious chocolate cream cheese frosting. To eat or to admire – that is the hardest part!

Recipes Used for the Teddy Bear Cupcakes:

The Best Vanilla Cupcake recipe by Cupcake Project

Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting recipe by Cupcake Project

About the vanilla bean cupcake base:

From the start, I knew that I wanted a light colored cupcake base for both aesthetics and flavor.

This would help to contrast with the darker chocolate frosting on top, and also not be overwhelming for those that don’t love the richness of chocolate on chocolate. (If you happen to be a chocolate lover and want to go that route, check out my Chocolate Cupcakes with Baileys Buttercream – that cupcake base is everything you could ask for and more.)

I didn’t have a go-to vanilla cupcake recipe, so I did a bit of googling to find one. Ultimately, I went with The Best Vanilla Cupcake recipe by Cupcake Project.

PSA: make this cupcake recipe! I am pleased to say I am looking no further and using this as my standard vanilla cupcake recipe from here on out. The cupcake was fluffy, light, flavorful, and in my opinion one of the best vanilla cupcakes I’ve ever had. 

Where do you buy vanilla beans?

This cupcake recipe calls for vanilla beans. Do some shopping online before buying in store if you want to get the most bang for your buck. After a bit of googling I found a pack of 11 Grade A Madagascar vanilla beans on Amazon for only $14. In the grocery store it cost about the same for only two pods – online is such a better deal!

About the chocolate cream cheese frosting:

Since these are teddy bear themed Valentine’s Day cupcakes, I wanted a brown hued chocolate frosting to create the “body” of the bear. I adore all things cream cheese, so when I saw Cupcake Project also had a chocolate cream cheese frosting, I knew I found the winner. 

Note: With this recipe, I ended up adding a pinch of salt and about a teaspoon or so of vanilla extract. It helped to round out the flavor profile perfectly.

Step three : Make the chocolate covered Oreo teddy bear heads:

Ingredients needed:

• Regular Oreos – the head
• Mini Oreos – the snout and ears
• Mini brown M&Ms – the nose
• Mini candy eyes
• Heart Sprinkles
• Chocolate for dipping (I love Ghirardelli melting wafers)
• Wax or parchment paper

How to make the chocolate covered Oreos:

• Lay out a sheet of parchment or wax paper. 
• Assemble the Oreo teddy bear heads. Open a regular size Oreo and place two unfrosted mini Oreos on the top corners of the Oreo. Place the regular size Oreo cookie back on top. Take the frosted half of a mini Oreo and press it onto the surface of the larger Oreo, to be the snout.
• Melt your chocolate according to the instructions on the bag (or your favorite method) and start dipping! (I melt my chocolate in a glass, liquid measuring cup)
• Place the Oreo on a fork, dunk it in the melted chocolate, and tap the excess chocolate off on the rim of the glass. As you tap, try to get rid of any air bubbles.
• Carefully slide the dipped Oreo off of the fork onto the parchment paper.
• While the chocolate is still wet, place the two eyes above the snout, the heart sprinkles on the ears, and the mini M&M on the snout. Allow Oreos to fully dry before removing from the paper.
  • Tip: Try not to move the decorations after placing them, as the chocolate will dry with bumps from being moved around. You may find it helpful to use tweezers for accuracy when placing the sprinkles.
  • Be mindful of how fast the chocolate is hardening. I find that if I am working in a cool environment, the chocolate hardens quickly and I have to move fast to decorate. You can always place a drop of chocolate on the dipped Oreo to act as a “glue” and then place your decoration, however I find placing it on the cookie when wet yields the most streamline look.

How to make the chocolate teddy bear paws and feet:

1. After you dip all of your Oreos, pipe small ovals and circles on the nonstick paper using the melted chocolate. You can tap/wiggle the paper to help flatten them out. 
2. Once they cool and harden, you have teddy bear paws!

How to Assemble the Valentine’s Day Teddy Bear Cupcakes:

We’re on the final leg of this Valentine’s Day cupcake creation!

1. Pipe the chocolate cream cheese frosting onto the vanilla cupcakes.
   1. I used a large open star Wilton 6B decorating tip to help give the body of the bear a bit more texture to emulate their furriness.
   2. Make sure to pipe the frosting quite high, as you need room for the rest of the decorations. The head will also sink down a bit. I started in the center, piped around the base and circled up to the top.
2. Place the chocolate covered teddy bear Oreo head on top of the frosted cupcake.
   1. Be careful not to touch the Oreo too much – it can show fingerprints easily. 
3. Place a candy heart of your choosing in the center of the body of the cupcake. I used Hersheys Pink Cookies N Creme Hearts which work well, but any light-weight heart will do. 
4. Using a smaller open star tip (Wilton 4B), pipe the arms on the bear. I started from the edge of the chocolate heart and piped inwards toward the bear’s side, letting up pressure on the piping bag as I proceeded. 
5. Carefully place the paws and feet on the frosting.
6. You’re done! Now is the most fun part of admiring your creation, diving in to the delicious flavors, and sharing with your loved ones!

I hope you and your friends and family love these Teddy Bear Valentine’s Day cupcakes just as much as mine did. I’m currently planning out when I’ll be able to make these again because they were so soft and flavorful!

If you like this recipe, I think you’ll also love:

• Strawberry Curd filled Cupcakes with Baileys Buttercream
• Copycat Crumbl Circus Animal Sugar Cookies
• Valentine’s Day Dessert Charcuterie Board
• Mini Strawberry Oreo Cheesecakes

Valentine’s Day Teddy Bear Cupcakes

Recipe by AshleyCourse: Cupcakes, Valentine’s Day

Servings

16

cupcakes

Prep time

30

minutes

Cooking time

14

minutes

These Valentine’s Day Teddy Bear cupcakes have a soft vanilla bean cake base, luscious chocolate cream cheese frosting, and a chocolate covered Oreo teddy bear on top!

Ingredients

• 1 batch of The Best Vanilla Cupcakes by Cupcake Project

• 1 batch Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting by Cupcake Project

• For the chocolate covered Oreos:

• Regular or double stuffed Oreos

• Mini Oreos

• Ghirardelli Melting Wafers

• Mini candy eyeballs

• Heart Sprinkles

• M&M minis in brown

• Helpful Tools

• Wilton 6B Decorating Tip

• Wilton 4B Decorating Tip

• Sprinkle decorating tweezers – these help SO much with accuracy!

Directions

• Bake the vanilla cupcakes and allow them to fully cool. Tip: Buy your vanilla beans online – it is so much cheaper than in store. I get these Madagascar Vanilla Beans from Amazon.
• Whip up a batch of the chocolate cream cheese frosting. I added a pinch of salt and 1 tsp vanilla extract.
• How to make the Teddy Bear Oreos:
• Open a regular size Oreo and place two unfrosted mini Oreos on the top corners of the Oreo to be the ears. Place the regular size Oreo cookie you removed, back on top.
• Take the frosted half of a mini Oreo and press it onto the surface of the larger Oreo, to be the snout.
• Melt your chocolate according to the instructions on the bag (or your favorite method) and start dipping. (I melt my chocolate in a glass, liquid measuring cup)
• Place the assembled Oreo on a fork, dunk it in the melted chocolate, and tap the excess chocolate off on the rim of the glass. As you tap, try to get rid of any air bubbles.
• Carefully slide the dipped Oreo off of the fork onto parchment paper.
• While the chocolate is still wet, place the two eyes above the snout, the heart sprinkles on the ears, and the mini M&M on the snout.
  Tip: Try not to move the sprinkles after placing them, as the chocolate will dry with bumps from being moved around. You may find it helpful to use tweezers for accuracy when placing them.
  
• To make the paws: Pipe small circles of the melted chocolate onto wax or parchment paper. Tap the paper down gently to flatten. Allow the chocolate to harden, and then peel off.
• How to assemble the cupcakes:
• Fit a piping bag with a Wilton 6B Decorating Tip and pipe a swirl of frosting onto the cooled cupcakes. Start in the center, pipe a swirl around the base, and circle up to the top. Keep the swirl fairly high as the decorations will push the frosting down.
• Place the chocolate covered teddy bear Oreo head on top of the frosted cupcake.
• Place a candy heart of your choosing in the center of the body of the cupcake. I used Hersheys Pink Cookies N Creme Hearts. 
• Using a smaller open star tip (Wilton 4B), pipe the arms on the bear. Start from the edge of the chocolate heart and piped inwards toward the bear’s side, letting up pressure on the piping bag as you release. 
• Carefully place the paws on the frosting.
• Admire your work, and enjoy your delicious creation!

Notes

• Sprinkle decorating tweezers will help with precise sprinkle placement.
• Regular size Oreos will have less weight on the top of the cupcake, but if only making the Oreos separately without using them as a cupcake topper, double stuffed give them more volume and fullness.

Pin for later!

If you make this dessert or have any questions, please leave a comment below! I absolutely love hearing when others are inspired to step into their kitchen and try out something new.

Happy Baking!

XOXO,