Root Beer Float Cupcakes
I think the first time I ever had a Root Beer Float was at my grandparents. Grandparents just love to spoil their grandchildren and I was lucky enough to have been spoiled by my Grandfather when I was a child. I have a lot of memories spent with my grandfather and a lot of them do have to do with being completely spoiled with special treats during visits.
One of my favourite memories was when in high school my family went camping but I decided to stay home so I could still go to my part time job. I stayed with my grandparents as I wasn’t quite old enough to be home alone over night. After dinner each night my grandfather would get us each a coke and a bowl of nuts, chocolate and candy. This was such a special treat for me because it was all stuff I was allowed maybe once a month at home if I were lucky. Anyway, we would sit down and watch my grandparents favourite British shows on the BBC – namely Keeping Up Appearances and Are You Being Served – which, if I remember correctly played one after the other.
Before the end of my visit though, my grandfather made me a special treat – a Root Beer Float.
These Root Beer Float Cupcakes are a pretty great way to memorialize that memory, don’t you think? I hope they revive a good memory for you too. Enjoy!
Root Beer Float Cupcakes
INGREDIENTS
Cupcakes:
3/4 cup softened Butter
3 Eggs
2 1/2 cup Flour
2 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
1 1/2 cup Sugar
1 tbsp Root Beer Extract or 1 tsp Root Beer Concentrate
1/2 tsp Vanilla
1 cup Root Beer
Frosting:
1 cup softened Butter
3 cup Powdered Sugar
3 tbsp Root Beer
1 tsp Root Beer Extract or 1/4 tsp Root Beer Concentrate
1 tsp Vanilla
DIRECTIONS
Line muffin pans with paper liners.
Preheat oven to 350.
Stir together flour, salt and baking powder.
Cream together butter and sugar until fluffy.
Mix in eggs, root beer extract and vanilla.
Gradually add in flour and root beer until just combined.
Fill each cup about 2/3 full.
Bake for 15-20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in centre comes out clean.
Cool in pan for 10 minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool completely.
Whip butter, root beer extract and vanilla for frosting until fluffy.
Gradually add powdered sugar.
Add root beer until you reach desired consistency.
Transfer to piping bag and frost each cupcake.
Top with a cherry and cut straw (optional).

Root Beer Float Cupcakes
Ingredients
- Cupcakes:
- 3/4 cup softened Butter
- 3 Eggs
- 2 1/2 cup Flour
- 2 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1 1/2 cup Sugar
- 1 tbsp Root Beer Extract or 1 tsp Root Beer Concentrate
- 1/2 tsp Vanilla
- 1 cup Root Beer
- Frosting:
- 1 cup softened Butter
- 3 cup Powdered Sugar
- 3 tbsp Root Beer
- 1 tsp Root Beer Extract or 1/4 tsp Root Beer Concentrate
- 1 tsp Vanilla
Instructions
- Line muffin pans with paper liners.
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Stir together flour, salt and baking powder.
- Cream together butter and sugar until fluffy.
- Mix in eggs, root beer extract and vanilla.
- Gradually add in flour and root beer until just combined.
- Fill each cup about 2/3 full.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in centre comes out clean.
- Cool in pan for 10 minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool completely.
- Whip butter, root beer extract and vanilla for frosting until fluffy.
- Gradually add powdered sugar.
- Add root beer until you reach desired consistency.
- Transfer to piping bag and frost each cupcake.
- Top with a cherry and cut straw (optional).
Nutrition Information:
Serving Size:
1 gramsAmount Per Serving: Unsaturated Fat: 0g

Liz Lampman is a coffee-fuelled Mom of 2 girls and lives in Hamilton, Ontario. She enjoys cooking and baking, food photography, and reading.
I never would have thought of this. What a wonderfully different cupcake!
Visiting from Monday Funday.
These are so inviting! I bet they taste even better than a root beer float.
How many does this make?
24
Can root beer extract be substituted? I don’t know where to find it where I live.
You can order it on amazon, and in-store at the bulk barn. Alternatively you could boil down natural root beer soda to get a syrup.
What did you do to get the pretty streaks in your icing? Is that extract or coloring?
My cupcakes turned out white, not dark like yours. Do you know why that would be? I used root beer concentrate and it was clear. Could that be it?
Also, how did you make the frosting pretty in color? Thanks in advance.
We used McCormick ROOT BEER Concentrate which is dark brown. The clear kind is fine too, you just don’t get the dark coloured cake. I drew lines of the root beer concentrate down my piping bag. :)
Thank you!
Would you mind sharing which piping top you used? I’m a bit new to the piping and would love to know.
I think I used a Wilton 2D.
If I do not have root beer concentrate or extract, could I use root beer oil? If so, how much oil?
Thank you!
Did you use salted or unsalted Butter for both the cake and frosting?
@Danielle, unsalted cuz u add in 1/2 teaspoon salt
Do you have a recipe god the icing?
The recipe for the icing is there?
First off, this was a delicious cupcake. I loved the texture. Super fluffy and delightfully sweet. However, the cake and icing had zero root beer flavor. Absolutely none. I’m a professional baker and I could not tell some one this was a “root beer cupcake.” My daughter said it tasted like pancake, so, quite yummy, but not what we were after.