Cupcake teepees

I made a special dessert for the boys on Thanksgiving this year - cupcake teepees.  I saw this idea on Pinterest and I had to try it myself.  You can read the original at easybaked.net.

First you have to fill the ice cream cones and bake them.  Cover a pan in heavy foil and cut slits to push the cones through.  This will hold them upright while they bake.

Next mix up your cake mix according to the directions on the box.  I did a butter pecan cake.  The original used chocolate.

Fill your cones about 2/3 full.  One thing I wish I had done was take more care in pushing the batter down into the cones.  You might even put your batter into a large ziplock bag, snip off a corner, and fill the cones with that like an icing bag.  You want the batter to fill down into the tip of the cone so that you have a solid base to push your pretzels into.  

After the cones are filled, bake them about 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees.  The original recipe said 15-20 minutes but mine took longer.  Keep an eye on yours starting at 15 minutes.

When they come out and cool, trim the tip off.  You'll have to experiment to see how far down you need to cut to give yourself room to push the three pretzel sticks down into the top.  Stick the pretzels in at varying angles.

The tops of the cones are like tiny chicken ice cream cones :)

Finally, you need to melt some chocolate and get your sprinkles attached.  The recipe called for chocolate melts, but I only had chocolate chips so that's what I used.  I melted them at low heat, with a touch of milk, on the stovetop.  Once it was loose and flowing, I dipped each cone into the chocolate them into a bowl of leaf sprinkles.  

The leftover chocolate made for some yummy chocolate dipped pretzels.

This could be a fun option for a cowboys and Indians birthday party too. 

The boys loved them!