22 Frighteningly-Cute Halloween Cupcakes
These easy Halloween cupcake recipes are the perfect treats for pumpkin carving, scary movie watching, or costume crafting. Not only are they sweet to eat, but they’re also fun Halloween crafts for the whole family. Start with one of our from-scratch Halloween cupcake recipes or pick up undecorated cupcakes at your local bakery and transform them into spider webs, witches’ hats, or even tiny monster faces. All you need to make these Halloween cupcake decorations are some zip-top bags, candy eyes, and your favorite frosting. Store-bought frosting works fine in most recipes, though you may need to thin it for the more intricate designs. You’ll find all the Halloween cupcake ideas you need to keep your ghouls and goblins satisfied.
Red Velvet Cobweb Cupcakes
Red Velvet Cobweb Cupcakes Recipe
These festive Red Velvet Cobweb Cupcakes are as delicious as they are detailed.
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How to Make Bat Cupcakes
Learn how to make scary-good bat cupcakes using chocolate cookie pieces and frosting.
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Black Kitty Cat Cupcakes
Black Kitty Cat Cupcakes Recipe
Don't be afraid of these black cat cupcakes... they are devilishly good!
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Chocolate Cupcakes with Meringue Ghosts
Chocolate Cupcakes with Meringue Ghosts Recipe
Vanilla Meringue Frosting creates too-cute ghosts and delightfully a sweet bite topping your chocolate cupcake.
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Trick or Treat Cupcakes
Trick or Treat Cupcakes Recipe
This cupcake is the showcase for our Halloween thrills. For the parade of goblins, ghosts, and monsters looking for something sweet, we top it with anything we can find on the candy aisle. There's no trick to this treat—it's scrumptious any time of year.
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How to Make Groot Cupcakes
JK Denim from Koalipops shows you how to make easy (really!) Groot cupcakes from Guardians of the Galaxy. Download your own Groot stencil here.
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Almond Spider Cakes
A web of sugary goodness awaits you in these Halloween cupcakes. Almond paste in the batter and a colorful almond glaze give these cakes a distinctive nutty taste that kids will love. Top with plastic or gummy spiders for a spooky touch.
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Little Monster Cupcakes
Little Monster Cupcakes Recipe
Decorate cupcakes for Halloween by creating not-too-scary monster faces on top of the cupcakes using colored frostings and an assortment of candies.
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Superman Cupcakes
Superman cupcakes are a great way to celebrate the next big super hero movie, your child's birthday party, or even Halloween! (Click here for the stencils.)
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Orange Angel Food Cupcakes with Candy Corn Buttercream
Orange Angel Food Cupcakes with Candy Corn Buttercream Recipe
This citrus-flavored spin on angel food cake is perfect as the base for colorful Candy Corn frosting! Pile the cupcake high with buttercream and enjoy this Halloween treat.
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Spiderman Cupcakes
Are your spidey senses tingling? These Spiderman cupcakes will be a hit at your child's next birthday party or any festive celebration. Please do not try to climb any walls or jump off of any buildings. (Click here for the stencils.)
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Black Sesame Cupcakes
There's nothing artificial about these dramatically hued treats. Supermoist (and whole-grain) chocolate cupcakes get their blackout color from black sesame seeds and antioxidant-rich dark cocoa powder. These desserts are delicious and better for you, with every bit of fun, festive flair you crave.
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Chocolate Spider Cupcakes
Chocolate Spider Cupcakes Recipe
These spooky spiderweb cupcakes for Halloween are easier to decorate than you think. Simply frost in white icing, then pipe black icing in concentric circles and drag a toothpick through them to create the webbed effect. For kid-friendly cupcakes, use water instead of bourbon in the frosting.
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Carrot-Coconut Spice Cupcakes
Carrot-Coconut Spice Cupcakes Recipe
Looking for some not too scary Halloween snacks? These Carrot-Coconut Spice Cupcakes will to the trick. Try this spin on carrot cupcakes by added shredded coconut to the batter and toasted coconut on top!
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Chocolate Cupcakes with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting
Chocolate Cupcakes with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe
Instant coffee granules enhance these cupcakes' already rich chocolatey flavor. Top with a vanilla cream cheese frosting and add your favorite Halloween-inspired toppings, like licorice, jelly beans, or even plastic cake toppers (like the black cat shown here).
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Skeleton Cupcakes
Give your chocolate cupcakes a scary skeleton makeover! Frost Chocolate Cupcakes with a dollop of homemade white frosting, then top with a chocolate wafer and upside down mini chocolate cupcake. Add brown M&Ms for eyes and black licorice for a nose. White jelly beans transform this skeleton into a tasty, toothy treat.
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Heavenly Candy Bar Cupcakes
Heavenly Candy Bar Cupcakes Recipe
Tempted to break into those bags of candy you've stockpiled for trick-or-treaters? Melt a few Milky Ways in a saucepan and bake them into these ultra-rich cupcakes. Top with Chocolate-Marshmallow Frosting and chopped candy garnishes.
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Devil's Food Cupcakes with Marshmallow Filling
Devil's Food Cupcakes with Marshmallow Filling Recipe
These devilish cupcakes feature a hidden treasure of ooey-gooey marshmallow cream filling. Your little ghosts and goblins are sure to devour these tasty treats!
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Chocolate-Coconut Cupcakes
Chocolate-Coconut Cupcakes Recipe
Nothing could be better than a chocolate cupcake topped with marshmallow frosting, except maybe one topped with marshmallow frosting AND ganache. If you want to pin this, we suggest swirling the ganache to look like spooky spiderwebs.
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Pumpkin Spice Latte Cupcakes
Pumpkin Spice Latte Cupcakes Recipe
Loaded with toasty fall flavors, a batch of these easy PSL cupcakes will have you in sweater weather mode faster than hitting the Starbucks drive-thru.
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Spun-Sugar Cobwebs
Spun-sugar recipes typically involve flinging hot liquid sugar across a setup of dowels and newspaper. It's messy and, frankly, a little bit frightening. Here's a much easier method that requires nothing more than a few forks and a small upturned bowl, and you can do it on your kitchen counter. The results--golden, airy sugar webs--make excellent Halloween cupcake toppers. (This recipe makes extra, so you can choose the prettiest ones.) For a bigger cobweb to top a cake, just use a large bowl. Make sure you do this on a dry day, though; humidity will make the webs collapse.
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Mini Ghost Cupcakes
At just 15 cents per serving, these mini cupcakes are easy to prepare and to work into your budget. Bake 3 dozen Mini Chocolate Cupcakes, then pipe whipped topping into a ghost shape and use chocolate chips for the eyes and nose.