Easy Halloween Cupcakes

Here's four spooky ideas for easy Halloween cupcakes to bring to your next Halloween party! They're perfect to make with kids. Pick and choose your favourite designs or make all four fun designs.

What cupcakes can I use?

Use your favourite cupcake recipe. I've used my moist chocolate cupcake recipe which bake quite flat, so they're perfect for decorating. You could also use vanilla cupcakes or even pumpkin cupcakes to get into the spooky season spirit!

What frosting can I use?

I use buttercream frosting and I've included recipe down in the recipe section below. You can also use your own favourite frosting, but keep in mind that the best frostings for decorating will be:

• Firm: make sure it is a firm, thick frosting recipe that can be piped and hold shape. Avoid softer frosting recipes like cream cheese frosting.
• Pale or white: make sure as a starting point, your frosting is pale so you can colour it easily. Avoid chocolate frosting or similar which will be too hard to colour.
• Pipes smoothly: avoid adding in flavourings that add texture e.g. oreos. You want your frosting to pipe as smoothly as possible.

If you want to make all four designs, you'll need to divide the buttercream into three bowls (white, green and orange).

How to make Mummy Cupcakes

These fun and frightening mummy cupcakes look impressive but are easy to make! For these mummy cupcakes you'll need:

• 1 portion buttercream
• White round sprinkles / non pareils
• Small candy eyes
• 2 piping bags
• 1 large round piping tip
• 1 small round piping tip

1. Gather your ingredients!
2. To start, put HALF of your buttercream into a piping bag fitted with a large round piping tip. Start piping from the centre of the cupcake and swirl outward until the surface is fully covered with frosting.
3. Smooth the frosting over with the flat edge of a butter knife or palette knife.
4. Place a thin layer of sprinkles in a shallow bowl or lipped plate. Gently dip the cupcake into the sprinkles and roll it to coat the entire surface.

NOTE: For steps 2 & 3, you can also spread the frosting straight on with a knife, but I find piping it is much neater.

5. You can see how your sprinkles should look.
6. Fit a second piping bag with a small piping tip and fill with the remaining half a portion of white buttercream.
7. Pipe criss crossing lines of buttercream across the surface of the cupcake.
8. Use the small tip to pipe a dot of buttercream onto the back of your candy eyes and stick them down just above the centre of the cupcake.

How to Make Frankenstein Cupcakes

Make your own mini frankensteins with these green and ghoulish frankenstein cupcakes. For these cupcakes you will need:

• 1 portion buttercream
• Green gel food colouring
• Brown (or chocolate) sprinkles / jimmies
• Small candy eyes
• Brown M&Ms
• 1 piping bag
• 1 large round piping tip

1. Gather your ingredients. To tint the buttercream, you can add 2 drops of green colouring. Stir well, adding one extra drop of food colouring at a time if needed, until you get a vibrant 'Frankenstein green'!
2. Put your buttercream into a piping bag fitted with a large round piping tip. Start piping from the centre of the cupcake and swirl outward until the surface is fully covered with frosting.
3. Smooth the frosting over with the flat edge of a butter knife or palette knife.
4. Sprinkle over enough brown sprinkles to cover about ⅔ of the cupcake. I put the cupcake on a lipped plate to catch the excess sprinkles.

NOTE: For steps 2 & 3, you can also spread the frosting straight on with a knife, but I find piping it is much neater.

5. You can see how the cupcake should look after adding the 'hair'!
6. Press two candy eyes firmly into the cupcake. I like to put them in the lower third.
7. Press a brown M&M into both sides of the cupcake. I push them about half way into the frosting.
8. And there you have it, your very own monsterous Frankenstein cupcakes!

How to Make Monster Cupcakes

Short on time? These easy peasy monster cupcakes are the quickest to pull together and you can use any colour buttercream. I love bright colours like orange, purple, blue and green! To make these monster cupcakes, you'll need:

• 1 portion buttercream
• Orange gel food colouring (or any bright colour)
• Large or small candy eyes
• 1 piping bag
• 1 large star piping tip

1. Gather your ingredients. To tint the buttercream, you can add 2 drops of orange food colouring (or whichever colour you like!). Stir well, adding one extra drop of food colouring at a time if needed, until you get a bright orange colour.
2. Fit a piping bag with a large star piping tip and fill with orange buttercream.
3. Pipe star 'blobs' over the surface of the cupcake. I pipe them close together so there's no gaps.
4. Press a large candy eye into the centre of the cupcake. You can also use 2 or 3 small candy eyes to give your monster a different look!

How to Make Spider Cupcakes

These creepy crawly spider cupcakes are perfect to make with kids. You can use any colour M&Ms for a fun twist, but I like to use red or brown to keep on the Halloween theme. For these easy spider cupcakes, you'll need:

• Chocolate melts (½ cup / 100 g is enough for 12 cupcakes)
• Brown or red M&Ms
• 2 piping bags
• 1 large round piping tip

1. 1. Gather your ingredients!
2. To start, put your buttercream into a piping bag fitted with a large round piping tip. Start piping from the centre of the cupcake and swirl outward until the surface is fully covered with frosting.
3. Smooth the frosting over with the flat edge of a butter knife or palette knife.
4. Try and smooth it out as much as possible.

5. Place three M&Ms in somewhat of a triangle shape, leaving enough room to pipe the spider legs.
6. Melt your chocolate and transfer to a piping bag (see next section for detailed instructions). Snip a very small opening in the end of the bag.
7. Pipe six legs (three each side) onto each spider.
8. Ta-da! Your creepy crawly spider cupcakes are done.

How to Melt Chocolate For Decorating

The best chocolate to use for decorating is chocolate melts or chocolate bits. These melt down easily and set hard, so the chocolate won't "sweat" once it has set.

Melting your chocolate in the microwave

1. Place chocolate melts or bits in a medium heat-proof bowl.
2. Microwave for 30 seconds and stir well.
3. Microwave for further 10 second bursts, stirring well in between, or until chocolate is melted and smooth.
4. Immediately transfer to a piping bag (WITHOUT a metal tip or it will set too quickly).
5. Use as needed. If your chocolate sets too quickly, use a hair dryer on low/medium heat to warm it back up in the piping bag.

Melting your chocolate using a double boiler method

1. Place chocolate melts or bits in a large heat-proof bowl.
2. Place bowl over a saucepan with a small amount of water. The base of the bowl shouldn't touch the water.
3. Bring to a simmer over low heat. Cook, stirring the chocolate constantly, until melted and smooth.
4. Remove from heat and immediately transfer chocolate to a piping bag (WITHOUT a metal tip or it will set too quickly).
5. Use as needed. If your chocolate sets too quickly, use a hair dryer on low/medium heat to warm it back up in the piping bag.

Storing Easy Halloween Cupcakes

Keep cupcakes in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days. If you live in a hot or humid environment, refrigerate the cupcakes.

Making the buttercream in advance

You can make the buttercream 1-2 days in advance. Cover the bowl tightly in cling film and refrigerate. When you want to use it, allow to come to room temperature then beat for 2 minutes on high speed to fluff it back up again.

You May Also Like

• Peanut Butter Spider Cookies
• Easy Pumpkin Muffins
• My Favourite Snickerdoodles (No Chilling)