5 Cupcake Recipes for a Delicious Horror Halloween Treat

ByIoana Balota

Cupcakes and Halloween seem to go hand in hand perfectly. They are quite an easy and delicious treat but also such a fun contribution to your décor. I prefer cupcakes for their simple preparation but also the versatility of ingredients and adorning combos. Plus, they also have the advantage that you can control the dessert portion without too much hassle.

5 Cupcake Recipes that Would Make Your Mother Proud (if she bakes passionately 🙂 )

Timeless Vanilla Cupcakes Recipe By Better Homes and Gardens

Prep: 30 minutes Stand: 30 minutes Bake: 20 minutes at 350°F Cool: 45 minutes Makes: 12 (2½-inch) or 48 (1¾-inch) cupcakes

Ingredients

  • ½ cup butter
  • 1 egg
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 1 vanilla bean, split
  • lengthwise, or 1 teaspoon
  • vanilla
  • 1½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1½ teaspoons baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ¾ cup sugar
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla
  • ½ cup whipping cream

Tips

Allow butter, egg, and egg yolks to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, line twelve 2½-inch muffin cups or forty-eight 1¾-inch muffin cups with paper bake
cups. If using vanilla bean, use a small sharp knife to scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean. Set seeds aside. In a small bowl stir together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 350°F. In a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds.
  • Add sugar. Beat on medium to high speed for 1 minute, scraping the sides of bowl.
  • Add egg, egg yolks, vanilla bean seeds (or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract), and ½ teaspoon vanilla extract.
  • Beat until combined. Alternately add flour mixture and whipping cream to butter mixture, beating on low speed after each addition just until combined (batter will be thick).
  • Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, filling each about three-fourths full. Use the back of a spoon to smooth out batter in cups.
  • Bake about 20 minutes for 2½-inch cupcakes, about 15 minutes for 1¾-inch cupcakes, or until a wooden toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean.
  • Cool cupcakes in muffin cups on wire racks for 5 minutes. Remove cupcakes from muffin
    cups. Cool completely on wire racks. Spread desired frosting onto tops of cupcakes.

Pumpkin Brown Butter Cupcakes via Martha Stewart

Sporting a combination of ingredients commonly found in a beloved autumn pie—pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves—and enhanced with brown butter and fresh sage, these cupcakes are a must for any autumn nostalgic. To cut sage into chiffonade, or very fine strips, stack the leaves, then roll up tightly before slicing thinly crosswise with a sharp knife.

Ingredients (makes 15)

  • ¾ cup (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for tins
  • 1⅔ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for tins
  • ¼ cup fresh sage leaves, cut into chiffonade (optional)
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
  • ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1 cup canned pumpkin puree (not pie filling)
  • 1 cup packed light-brown sugar
  • ½ cup granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • Brown-Butter Icing (check icing session for this one)

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 325°F. Brush standard muffin tins with butter; dust with flour, tapping out excess. In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Add the sage, if desired, and continue to cook, swirling occasionally, until butter turns golden brown. Skim foam from top, and remove from heat. Pour into a bowl to stop the cooking, leaving any burned sediment behind; let cool.
  • Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. In another bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, both sugars, eggs, and brown-butter mixture. Add flour mixture, and whisk until just combined.
  • Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes. Cupcakes can be stored overnight at room temperature, or frozen up to 2 months, in airtight containers.
  • To finish, dip top of each cupcake in icing, then turn over quickly and let set. Cupcakes are best eaten the day they are glazed; keep at room temperature until ready to serve.

Tiramisu Cupcakes Recipe Curated by Giada de Laurentiis

Still nostalgic about that yearly planned, Italian trip that you never took (or if you were fortunate enough took but still miss)? Tiramisu cupcakes will make it better! Pair them with freshly brewed coffee or espresso and start your days with the extra kick that gets you far.

This recipe is an adult intended indulgence and we chose Italian-American chef’s Giada de Laurentiis to guide us in order to get as native as possible results.

Ingredients (makes 18)

For The Cupcakes:

  • 1¼ cups cake flour (not self-rising), sifted
  • ¾ teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon coarse salt
  • ¼ cup milk
  • 1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise, seeds scraped and reserved
  • 4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into pieces
  • 3 large whole eggs plus 3 egg yolks, room temperature
  • 1 cup sugar

For The Frosting:

  • Two 6-ounce containers mascarpone cheese
  • One 8-ounce block cream cheese (at room temperature)
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons instant espresso powder
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  • Pinch kosher salt
  • Unsweetened cocoa powder (for dusting)

Directions

  • Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line 18 muffin cups with cupcake liners.
  • Sift together cake flour, baking powder, and salt. Heat milk and vanilla-bean pod and seeds in a small saucepan over medium just until bubbles appear around the edge. Remove from heat.
  • Whisk in butter until melted, and let stand 15 minutes. Strain milk mixture through a fine sieve into a bowl, and discard vanilla-bean pod.
  • With an electric mixer on medium speed, whisk together whole eggs, yolks, and sugar. Set mixing bowl over a pan of simmering water, and whisk by hand until sugar is dissolved and mixture is warm, about 6 minutes. Remove bowl from heat. With an electric mixer on high speed, whisk until mixture is fluffy, pale yellow, and thick enough to hold a ribbon on the surface for several seconds when whisk is lifted.
  • Gently but thoroughly fold flour mixture into the egg mixture in three batches; stir ½ cup batter into the strained milk mixture to thicken, then fold milk mixture into the remaining batter until just combined.
  • Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until centers are completely set and edges are light golden brown, about 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes.
  • Frosting: While the cupcakes are cooling, combine the mascarpone, cream cheese, espresso powder, sugar and salt in a medium bowl. Using a handheld mixer, beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Divide the frosting evenly on the cupcakes and spread over the tops. Dust with cocoa powder and serve. Store in the refrigerator.

Bobby Flay Throwdown Red Velvet Cupcakes

Red velvet cake seems to be such an American classic! Though on my humble, uninformed opinion, you can make any cupcake red using food coloring, you should follow a recipe in order to get as close as possible to the red velvet standards.

Ingredients (makes 24)

  • 2½ cups cake flour (not self-rising), sifted
  • 2 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1½ cups sugar
  • 1½ cups vegetable oil
  • 2 large eggs, room temperature
  • ½ teaspoon red gel-paste food color
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 1½ teaspoons baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons distilled white vinegar

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 350°F. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk together cake flour, cocoa, and salt.
  • With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, whisk together sugar and oil until combined. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Mix in food color and vanilla.
  • Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of buttermilk, and whisking well after each. Stir together the baking soda and vinegar in a small bowl (it will foam); add mixture to the batter, and mix on medium speed 10 seconds.
  • Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes. Cupcakes can be stored overnight at room temperature, or frozen up to 2 months, in airtight containers.
  • To finish, use a small offset spatula to spread cupcakes with frosting. Refrigerate up to 3 days in airtight containers; bring to room temperature before serving.

Death By Oreo Cupcakes, Recipe by Debbie W for JustaPinch

As the title suggests, you must really love Oreos to try this cupcakes recipe. It is a crowd pleaser for sure and best of all, a recipe you can use to initiate your kids in the baking industry, with resounding success.

Ingredients (24 cupcakes)

For the cupcakes:

  • 1 pkg regular size Oreos, family-size package (you’ll need 48 cookies)
  • 1 pkg mini Oreos, for decoration
  • 1 pkg chocolate cake mix/ mix according to directions on box

For the Frosting:

  • 8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
  • 8 Tbsp butter, room temperature
  • 3 3/4 c powdered sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 350. Mix packaged cake mix according to directions. (Do not bake.)
  • Line cupcake tins with liner. Place a regular size Oreo cookie in the bottom of each one.
  • Take 12 Oreos and chop coarsely. Add to the cake mix.
  • Fill the cupcake tins. They will seem overfilled because of the Oreos. They are typically filled all the way to the top of the liner; it bakes a very full cupcakes.
  • Bake for 20 min (or according to box directions).
  • Allow cupcakes to cool and prepare the frosting.
  • Cream together butter and cream cheese. Add vanilla.
  • Add powdered sugar, slowly, blending as you go. Mix until creamy.
  • Chop remaining regular-sized Oreos very fine (using the food processor is best).
  • Mix finely chopped cookies into the frosting.
  • After cupcakes are cool, put frosting on. Either spread or pipe it on.
  • Add a mini Oreo on top for decoration.

Universally Liked Cupcake Frosting (via Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes)

Buttercream

A frosting recipe that will save you from any situation and is a hit with the guests is this all-purpose, silky buttercream with a stable texture that spreads beautifully over cakes and cupcakes. For variety, you can customize it with different extracts, juices, zests, and other flavoring agents. Use food color to tint it in any shade.

Tip: Don’t worry if the mixture appears to separate, or “curdle,” after you’ve added the butter; simply continue beating on medium-high speed, and it will become smooth again.

Ingredients 5 Cups

  • 5 large egg whites
  • 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons, room temperature
  • 1½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Directions

  • Combine egg whites, sugar, and salt in the heatproof bowl of a standing mixer set over a pan of simmering water. Whisk constantly by hand until mixture is warm to the touch and sugar has dissolved (the mixture should feel completely smooth when rubbed between your fingertips).
  • Attach the bowl to the mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Starting on low and gradually increasing to medium-high speed, whisk until stiff (but not dry) peaks form. Continue mixing until the mixture is fluffy and glossy, and completely cool (test by touching the bottom of the bowl), about 10 minutes.
  • With mixer on medium-low speed, add the butter a few tablespoons at a time, mixing well after each addition. Once all butter has been added, whisk in vanilla. Switch to the paddle attachment, and continue beating on low speed until all air bubbles are eliminated, about 2 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl with a flexible spatula, and continue beating until the frosting is completely smooth. Keep buttercream at room temperature if using the same day, or transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate up to 3 days or freeze up to 1 month. Before using, bring to room temperature and beat with paddle attachment on low speed until smooth again, about 5 minutes.
  • (Optional) To tint buttercream (or royal icing), reserve some for toning down the color, if necessary. Add gel-paste food color, a drop at a time (or use the toothpick or skewer to add food color a dab at a time) to the remaining buttercream. You can use a single shade of food color or experiment by mixing two or more. Blend after each addition with the mixer (use the paddle attachment) or a flexible spatula, until desired shade is achieved. Avoid adding too much food color too soon, as the hue will intensify with continued stirring; if necessary, you can tone down the shade by mixing in some reserved untainted buttercream.

Chocolate Ganache Glaze

You can hardly go wrong with chocolate! A rich, thick chocolate glaze can compliment your cupcakes like nothing else and it is quite easy to make so even a beginner in baking ca make quite a successful entry with it.

Tip: To write messages on your choco glazed cupcakes, fill a paper cornet with 2 ounces melted, cooled white chocolate; write messages on cupcakes, working from left to right edges without stopping (practice on parchment paper).

Ingredients (makes about 1 ¼ CUPS)

  • 6 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
  • ⅔ cup heavy cream
  • 1 tablespoon light corn syrup

Directions

  • Place chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl. Bring cream and corn syrup just to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium-high heat; pour mixture over chocolate. Let stand, without stirring, until chocolate begins to melt.
  • Using a flexible spatula, gently stir chocolate and cream until totally combined; begin near the center of the bowl and gradually work your way toward the edge, pulling in as much chocolate as possible, until the mixture is smooth and glossy. (If any chocolate pieces remain, strain mixture through a fine sieve and discard solids.) If not using immediately, glaze can be refrigerated up to 5 days in an airtight container. Reheat gently before using.

Cream Cheese Frosting

The perfect match to top the red velvet cupcakes, cream cheese frosting is really simple to make. Just be patient and use room temperature ingredients and sifted confectioner’s sugar to get a versatile, tangy result.

cupcakes recipes

Cheese Cream frosting is the classic choice for topping many cupcakes, including carrot and red velvet, and is also especially good with others, such as zucchini-spice and applesauce-spice.

Ingredients (makes 4 Cups)

  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 12 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
  • 1 pound (4 cups) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
  • ¾ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

  • With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter and cream cheese until fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low. Add sugar, ½ cup at a time, and then vanilla, and mix until smooth and combined, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.
  • If not using immediately, frosting can be refrigerated up to 3 days in an airtight container; before using, bring to room temperature, and beat on low speed until smooth again.

These cupcakes are delicious for any occasion, but if you make them for Halloween you can customize them with a variety of edible cake decorations, sprinkles or toppers. Have fun!

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