To me, the ice cream cone is one of the best parts about getting ice cream. Obviously the ice cream is my main objective, but somehow everything is better in a cone.

So what if in the cone wasn't ice cream. What if it was say, a cupcake!

Well the good news is you can actually bake cupcakes into ice cream cones! And the even better news is I'm about to show you how.

Step 1: Ingredients

To make these cute ice cream cone desserts, you don't even need ice cream! Here is what you do need:

1. Ice cream cones

2. Cake mix (you can make your own, but I like using funfetti cake mix!)

3. 1-2 tubs of frosting. As a note, whipped frosting doesn't keep it's shape as well as normal frosting.

4. Sprinkles

5. Tin lasagna pans

Step 2: Make Your Cone Holder

The very first time I made these, I filled up all my ice cream cones ad realized I had no clue how to put them in the oven. Occasionally you can get lucky and squeeze a ton of cones into a pie dish so they's won't move, but there had to be a better way.

Some cheap and easy you can do is make your own ice cream cone holder!

Take one of your cones and using a sharpie or other marking utensil, trace the bottom of the cone on your tin pan. Continue tracing wholes across the pan till you have a 4x3 (pan size dependent) grid.

Using a knife, CAREFULLY cut out the circles just a little wider than you traced. You can also draw around each circle before cutting so you can see the larger diameter Adjust the circle cut as necessary until the cone fits in.

When you pick this up with cones in it, the cones will be supported and will not move around as much. This is also a great tray for transporting these cupcakes!

Step 3: Bake Your Cupcakes

For the actual cupcake itself, you can just follow the instructions on the box. Typically you will need water, eggs, and oil. Take all the ingredients and mix them together until the cake batter forms.

Fill the tin with ice cream cones to be filled. Using a spoon, spoon in cake batter to the top of the cone handle. AKA, stop filling with batter when you get to the wide part of the cone. This measurement will bring the cupcake almost flush with the top of the cone.

Step 4: Prepare Your Frosting

If you want some fun ice cream colors, you can food dye a simple vanilla frosting with just a few drops of food dye. I used four drops of red dye to achieve my pink frosting color. I left the other white frosting as is.

If you want to get the ice cream swirl, fill a pastry or ziplock bag with your frosting. If you are using a ziplock bag, just before you begin frosting cut off one of the bottom corners of the ziplock so it acts as a pastry bag. You can also just dollop on frosting with a spoon if you do not have anything to use as a pastry bag.

A few notes on making your own pastry bag:

1. If you have a ziplock bag too full with whatever you are applying, occasionally it will open the top or burst out the actual bag. Ziplock brand usually has stronger bags, but in this case you shouldn't have an issue with the frosting.

2. A folded cone of parchment paper also makes for a great pastry bag!

Step 5: Frost, Sprinkle, and Enjoy!

When your cupcakes are out of the oven, set them aside to cool for at least 15 minutes. If you begin frosting when they are still warm, the frosting will melt everywhere!

Using your pastry bag, swirl the frosting on to the cupcake and leave a nice tip.

When all cupcakes are frosted, move them over the sink or a baking dish and sprinkle the tops of them (you just want something to catch the sprinkles so you don't have a sprinkle mess). What really is ice cream without sprinkles?

And now your ice cream cone cupcakes are ready to be enjoyed! These are super fun for parties, especially birthday parties, potlucks, or just as a fun summer baking project.

Try and stop yourself after just one, trust me, it's tough!

Thanks for reading!