Happy birthday to the magical Dr. Seuss who teaches us to care, to dream, and to imagine a world worthy of our children. These cupcakes are one of the most gratifying ways to celebrate his legacy. Create your own cupcake toppers with the print-out below to allow the Lorax and his friends to celebrate along with you. Your kids will certainly not mind if you do.

Truffula Tree Cupcakes
Makes 2 dozen
Ingredients:
1 (15.25 oz) box chocolate cake mix* (if you prefer to make from scratch, please do! I offer this recipe more for decoration than for the base recipe)
3 eggs (adjust if different from instructions on your box)
1/2 cup melted butter (adjust if different from instructions on your box)
1 1/4 cups milk (I use milk instead of water, adjust if different from instructions on your box)
1 (15.6 oz) jar of green icing*
3 (2.5 oz) bags of cotton candy
24 striped straws
Lorax cutouts (see below)
Assorted crayons
Toothpicks
Tape
*Note: if you have a wonderful cupcake recipe and one for buttercream, please feel free to substitute. What I wanted to offer with this recipe was a way to magically DECORATE your cupcakes. No judgment whether you make it from scratch or from the box. I absolutely relished the ease this time of making from the box.

Make It:
Make your cupcakes according to the directions on your cake box. Cool before decorating.

To decorate, add about 2 tablespoons of green icing to each cupcake. Take a fork and spike up the top of the icing to look like grass. Yes, if you have awesome piping tips you can use those as well. Personally, I enjoyed my free form grass 🙂

Next, open your bag of cotton candy and grab a small handful. Poke a stripey straw through the center (note: I cut several inches off my straws so they would not be so very tall). Then add your “truffula tree” to the center of the cupcake.

Print out the template below, color with crayons, and cut out with scissors. Tape each character to a toothpick and add to your cupcakes. Enjoy!

Dr. Seuss Toothpick Template:
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD