I had a pretty great time in preschool. I was born with a natural gift for making play-dough snowmen and I had these sick-nasty Digimon goggles that I wore every single day.

Despite the fact that I was clearly living it up, I (like all preschoolers) had my fair share of worries. Those “first-day jitters,” the trauma of sharing at “Show-And-Tell” on Fridays, and the fear of being abandoned on the playground.

To deal with all these little predicaments, my mom and I had a special daily ritual.
Every morning before she dropped me off, she promised to come back to pick me up with a Twinkie. Sure enough, every day I saw her cherry-red Toyota station wagon pull up to the preschool. Sure enough, she always had a Twinkie.
This little daily ritual made the traumas of preschool a little more manageable. It also taught me that I am very easily motivated by food.
Even now, my mom and I joke about our little “Twinkie” ritual whenever she drops me off somewhere.

This brings me to the recipe of the day: minion cupcakes!
These mischievous little minions are made out of Twinkies — and they are almost too cute too eat. Emphasis on the almost.
If you don’t know what minions are, they’re these little, impulsive, bean-shaped creatures who are quite talented singers and have a contagious laugh. (If you haven’t heard the Banana and Potato Song and want to smile, click here). I had almost too much fun giving each of my minions a different facial expression.

So what are you waiting for? Whip up you’re own entourage of minions today!
With love,
Erica
- 24 frosted cupcakes of your choice (I made funfetti with blue buttercream!)
- 12 Twinkies
- 1 bag Ready-Made Candy Eyes
- Brown sprinkles
- Black writing icing
Cut each of your twinkies in half and squeeze two dots of black icing onto the backs of the Candy Eyes to act as glue. Stick them onto your Twinkie (note some minions only have one eye). Draw on a mouth and goggles using the black writing icing. Stick a few brown sprinkles in the minion’s head for hair. Gently press your minions cut side down on top of your frosted cupcakes!
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I don't know what I prefer, your cupcakes or the wonderful preschool story that went with it. You are multi-talented!
Thank you so much Laura! I am so relieved that they decided not to discontinue Twinkies! There are so many lovely memories I have of them. 🙂
We sell Twinkies mold at Sur La Table, so if you want to try making them, come on in. 🙂
Ohhh that's awesome! I'm sure homemade twinkies are a lot better for you than the ones that come wrapped in plastic! And I could experiment with all sorts of different fillings! Thanks for inspiring me haha maybe I'll stop by and get one!
I don't know what I enjoyed more, your cupcakes or your story! Thanks!!
They look so cute! They're the minions from Despicable Me, right?
Yes! They sure are! I still haven't seen despicable me two yet– maybe that'll be my project this weekend 😉
omg twinkie minions are the cuuutest!
Right!?! It's almost as if Twinkies were made to be turned into little minions 🙂
Ok, Erica, these are seriously the cutest cupcakes ever. Need to make them ASAP! Love love love. Pinned 🙂
Yay! I am glad you like them! I can't wait to see what yours look like!
I didn't know there were such things as ready made candy eyes! The thought of it is somewhat tickling me haha 🙂 I love that you made the minions out of Twinkies rather than fondant. Really cute cupcakes!
It's totally a thing! hahaha. However, if you can't find them, you can use smarties and draw pupils on with black writing icing!
These look great! You should bring them to CupcakeCampDC this weekend!
Btw, where did you find twinkles?!
I would have loved to attend, but I've been swamped with homework — the struggles of being a high school baker haha :(. Hope it was a lot of fun! I got the Twinkies at the Social Safeway!
Looks so nice, and so easy to make.
I made a link of your article to my blog related to the minions world (www.planetminion.com), I hope you are ok with that
Cheers