Go Back
–+ servings
photo showing four different halloween cupcakes, mummy, frankenstein, jack o'lanterns and a spider on a web.
Print

Halloween Cupcakes

Perfectly spooky chocolate Halloween cupcakes decorated in five easy designs. 
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Servings 24
Calories 150kcal
Author John Kanell

Ingredients

Halloween Cupcakes:

INGREDIENTS

For the Cupcakes:

  • 1/2 cup sour cream 120g
  • 1 cup buttermilk 240mL
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 1/2 cup hot coffee 360mL strong, use a mocha pot so it's basically espresso
  • 3/4 cup vegetable oil 180mL
  • 1 tbs vanilla extract 15mL
  • 3 cup all-purpose flour 360g
  • 2 2/3 cup granulated sugar 535g
  • 1/2 cup cocoa powder 65g
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder 6g
  • 1 tbsp baking soda 18g
  • 1 tsp kosher salt 5g

For the Buttercream:

  • 3 tsp vanilla 15mL
  • 1 lb confectioner's sugar 450g
  • 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature 250g
  • 3 tbsp heavy whipping cream 45mL
  • Green food coloring
  • Orange food coloring
  • black gel food coloring

For the Assembly:

  • brown m&ms regular and peanut
  • 3/4 cup melted chocolate

Instructions

INSTRUCTIONS

    For the Cupcakes:

    • Preheat to 350 degrees.
    • Add papers to a cupcake pan.
    • Sift together the dry ingredients (including the sugar) into a stand mixer bowl. Whisk until combined.
    • In a separate bowl, combine wet ingredients and whisk together.
    • Add wet to dry ingredients in the stand mixer bowl.
    • Whisk to combine, then mix on level 2 for two minutes.
    • Distribute batter into cupcake papers. Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
    • Allow time to cool fully.

    For the Buttercream:

    • Whip the butter for about 5 minutes using a paddle attachment on the stand mixer.
    • Beat in the confectioner’s sugar slowly.
    • Add cream and vanilla. Beat until you have an even, fluffy consistency.

    For the Assembly:

      For the Piping Bags:

      • Prepare 3 piping bags fitted with large round tips. Add green, orange and white to separate bags. These will be used as the base colors.
      • Add black food gel to melted chocolate, transfer to a piping bag. Snip off the tip. This will be used for the base of the mummy and facial details for multiple cupcakes.

      For the Mummy:

      • Pipe a black base.
      • Fit a piping bag with a 47 flat tip, add a small amount of white buttercream.
      • Pipe lines to create a bandage look.
        Halloween Cupcakes
      • Add candy eyes.

      For the Spider:

      • Pipe ‘L’ shaped legs onto parchment paper with the black gel bag. Transfer to the freezer for 5 - 10 minutes to set.
        Halloween Cupcakes
      • Pipe a white base. Switch back to the black. Pipe a spiral.
      • Drag a point tool or toothpick through the buttercream and chocolate layers, working from the inside out. This will create the web look.
        Halloween Cupcakes
      • Add a brown peanut m&m for the body and a regular brown m&m for the head. Add chocolate legs.

      For the Pumpkin:

      • Pipe bands of orange, working from bottom to top to create a pumpkin look.
      • Add a green stem on top of the pumpkin.
      • Pipe black jack o lantern facial details.
        Halloween Cupcakes

      For Frankenstein:

      • Pipe a green base.
      • Place candy eyes.
      • Add black facial details.
        Halloween Cupcakes

      For the Skull:

      • Pipe a white base, then facial details with black frosting.

      Video

      Notes

      • You can substitute whole milk yogurt for the sour cream if desired, I do it all the time and can’t really tell the difference.
      • If you prefer your frosting to be less sweet then try whipping up a batch of Swiss or Italian buttercream. Silky smooth and delicious!
      • Candy eyes can be hard to find. Try upside down chocolate chips for an easy substitution.
      • Most of these cupcakes don't require any piping tips to make, just snip the end off of a bag. I used buttercream, melted chocolate tinted black with food coloring, M&M's and candy eyes. No fondant!
      • The spiders were so fun to make! I used a peanut M&M for the body, a regular M&M for the head and the piped some melted chocolate legs, which set in the freezer. If you really want to go all out you can use sanding sugar for the eyes, just attach two granules to the head using a tiny bit of buttercream or melted chocolate.

      Nutrition

      Serving: 1cupcake | Calories: 150kcal | Carbohydrates: 22g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 13mg | Sodium: 90mg | Sugar: 8g | Calcium: 40mg | Iron: 0.4mg