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Adorably spooky Halloween Cupcakes with five different designs! Whether you want creepy spiders, wicked witches, happy pumpkins, festive Mickeys, or googly-eyed monsters, I’ve got you covered with these easy Halloween cupcakes.
I’m sharing all of my decorating tips, supplies you’ll need, and answering FAQs so you can make the best batch of cupcakes for all of your favorite ghosts and goblins!
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Easy Halloween Cupcakes Anyone Can Make
I am so excited to share these quick and easy Halloween cupcakes with you today! If you’ve been looking for Halloween cupcake ideas for a Halloween party, I’ve created five different sweet cupcake toppers that are so easy anyone can make them.
I can’t wait to show you how to make Halloween cupcakes that will be a hit with your family and friends. These are delish little sweet treats everyone will scream for.
Why you’ll love this recipe
Half the challenge with decorating cupcakes is having the right tools, so you will find everything you need in this post to make these easy and creative Halloween cupcakes. From frosting to food coloring to tips and Halloween cupcake decorations – it’s all here!
These five designs range from really, really easy to easy! Anyone can make them, and with my tips, they’ll look like a pro made them. Plus, you can make the frosting and cupcakes from scratch or use your favorite cupcake mix and canned frosting to make it even easier.
Basic Ingredients
You will need 24 cupcakes baked and cooled. You can make any flavor you like! .
Cupcake Recipes
- Homemade chocolate cupcakes recipe – my favorite one to use!
- Vanilla Cupcakes are always a classic
- Red Velvet Cupcakes are fun too!
- Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes are perfect for fall
You will also need two batches of homemade vanilla buttercream frosting, or you can use four cans of vanilla frosting instead.
Depending on which cupcakes you make, you may need some chocolate frosting, which you can make or use store-bought. Peanut Butter frosting is great too, depending on what design you’re making.
Basic Supplies
- Piping bags
- Wilton piping tips (see the list under each design for specific tips)
- Gel food coloring
- Oreo cookies
- Candy eyes (I’m a total sucker for Halloween cupcakes with eyes!)
These are just the general items you will need for all of the cupcake designs. Be sure to note the specific items for each design, including piping tips, frosting colors, and candy or cookies.
How to Make Pumpkin Cupcakes
- Orange gel food coloring
- Green gel food coloring
- ½ can chocolate frosting or use black food coloring
- Wilton #47 tip
- Wilton #5 tip
- Wilton #106 tip
Tint approximately two cups of frosting with orange food coloring. Place the frosting in a bag fitted with the #47 tip. With the flat edge of the tip pointing up, pipe orange stripes onto the cupcakes.
Transfer half a can of chocolate frosting into a piping bag fitted with the #5 tip. Pipe the jack-o-lantern face onto each cupcake cake.
For the stem, use the #106 tip to pipe a green stem for each pumpkin.
If you use my pumpkin cupcakes recipe you’d have pumpkin flavored Pumpkin Halloween Cupcakes!
How to Make Witch Cupcakes
- Green gel food coloring
- Purple gel food coloring
- Wilton Open Star Tip: 1M tip
- Oreo cookies
Color about two cups (or one can) of frosting green. Use the 1M tip to pipe a flat swirl on each cupcake. Top the swirl with an Oreo.
Add a bit of purple frosting on the cookie and top it with a Hershey kiss. These are the cutest witch hat cupcakes!
How to Make Spider Cupcakes
- White frosting
- Chocolate frosting
- Wilton #5 tip
- Oreos
- Candy Eyes
Frost each of the cupcakes with white frosting.
Place the chocolate frosting in a piping bag fitted with a Wilton #5 tip. Pipe four legs on each side of the cupcake and then press an Oreo in the center.
To make the eyes, pipe two dots of frosting in the center of the Oreo and add two small candy eyes.
How to Make Monster Cupcakes
- Purple gel food coloring
- Green gel food coloring
- Wilton Open Star Tip: 1M tip
- Candy eyes
Tint about two cups of vanilla frosting purple and another two cups green (or one can of frosting for each color). I like green and purple, but you can use any color you like.
Frost the cupcakes using a 1M tip and then place candy eyes randomly over the frosting.
They’re spooky halloween cupcakes with eyes!!
How to Make Mickey Halloween Cupcakes
These are also called Mickey Candy Corn Cupcakes!
- Orange gel food coloring
- Yellow gel food coloring
- Wilton Open Star Tip: 1M tip
- Chocolate candy melts or mini Oreos
Color 1/3 of the frosting yellow, 1/3 orange, and leave the rest white.
Use three piping bags and fit them with 1M tips. Frost a flat yellow swirl on each cupcake. Chill the cupcakes for 10 minutes.
Add a flat orange swirl and chill them again. Then add a white swirl and press two candy melts or mini Oreos on the frosting so they look like Mickey’s ears.
FAQs
I always use gel food coloring because the colors are always vibrant.
The food coloring won’t change the flavor of the frosting.
Yes, my homemade vanilla buttercream recipe is perfect for these cupcakes. You will need to make a double batch.
The easiest ones to make are the monster cupcakes.
You can store the cupcakes in the refrigerator for up to three days.
If you don’t have cupcake liners you can cut squares of parchment paper and press them into the muffin pans. Be sure to use parchment – NOT wax paper.
More Holiday Themed Desserts
- Easy Christmas Cupcakes (4 Ways)
- Halloween Cookies
- Witch Cauldron Cupcakes
- Leftover Halloween Candy Deserts
Halloween Cupcakes Recipe
Ingredients
- 24 chocolate cupcakes baked and cooled
For the Spider Cupcakes:
- ½ can chocolate frosting
- Oreos
- Candy Eyes
For the Witch Cupcakes:
- Green Gel Food Coloring
- Purple Gel Food Coloring
- Oreos
- Hershey’s Kisses
For the Pumpkin Cupcakes:
- Orange Gel Food Coloring
- Green Gel Food Coloring
- ½ can chocolate frosting
For the Monster Cupcakes:
- Purple Gel Food Coloring
- Green Gel Food Coloring
- Candy Eyes
For the Mickey Halloween Cupcakes:
- Orange Gel Food Coloring
- Yellow Gel Food Coloring
- Chocolate Candy Melts or Mini Oreos
Instructions
- Decide what designs you’re going to make and assemble the items you need.
- Spider Cupcakes: Frost each cupcake with white frosting. Place chocolate frosting in a piping bag with a Wilton #5 tip. Pipe 4 legs on each side of the cupcake. Press an Oreo in the center. Pipe two dots of frosting in the center of the Oreo and add two small candy eyes.
- Witch Cupcakes: Dye one can (about 2 cups) of frosting green. Use a Wilton 1M tip to pipe a flat swirl on the cupcake. Top with an Oreo. Add a bit more frosting and then top with an unwrapped Hershey’s Kiss. (If desired, use a different color frosting for that part, I used purple).
- Pumpkin Cupcakes: Frost one can (about 2 cups) of frosting orange. Place frosting in a piping bag fitted with a Wilton #47 tip. Pipe stripes onto the cupcake with the flat edge of the tip pointing up. Add chocolate frosting to a bag fitted with a #5 tip and pipe the face. Use green frosting with tip #106 for the stem.
- For the Monster Cupcakes: Color a can (2 cups) frosting purple and another can green (or any colors you want). Frost cupcakes using a 1M tip and place candy eyes randomly over the frosting.
- For the Mickey Halloween Cupcakes: Color 1/3 of the frosting yellow, 1/3 orange and leave the rest white. Use three piping bags with 1M tips. Frost a flat yellow swirl on each cupcake. Chill 10 minutes. Repeat with orange, then chill, then repeat with white. Press two candy melts or mini Oreos on the frosting to resemble Mickey ears.
- Store cupcakes in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Recipe Notes
- My vanilla buttercream will work great but if you’re short on time or want easy, use the canned frosting.
- You can make chocolate frosting to use for the pumpkins and spiders, or buy a can to save time.
- For the purple and green, check out the baking aisle because some brands of canned frosting sell colors (sold with sprinkles you can set aside for another use). It’s easier than trying to color the frosting.
- I recommend using Gel food coloring (Wilton or similar) because it won’t thin the icing to get the vibrant colors you want like regular food coloring will.
- My vanilla cupcake or red velvet cupcakes would be good here too. Or pumpkin cupcakes!
Recipe Nutrition
Learn how to make Halloween Cupcakes! These easy, cute, fun and spooky ideas for 5 different cupcake decorations are simple to do, no fail and anyone can make them. Kids will love these!
Last Updated on September 21, 2022
