Simple Halloween Cupcakes to Impress

Halloween has quickly become a major holiday. Stores start to carry decorations months in advance, and we start to feel the pressure to have a “Pinterest-worthy” holiday before the summer is even over.

Cupcakes are the perfect way to get into the holiday spirit and share some of the spook with your kids, friends, or co-workers without overexerting yourself or having to plan too far in advance.

This Cupcake Bites recipe is easy to use for the batter and frosting. I made some mini cupcakes and some regular-sized cupcakes, and then had some fun decorating them! 

Candy Corn: Divide the frosting into 3 bowls, two with 1 1/2 cups each and the third with 1/2 cup. Color the two larger bowls of frosting orange and yellow, and leave the remaining 1/2 cup of frosting white. Pipe the frosting onto mini-cupcakes using a star tip, starting with yellow, then orange, and finally white, so the cupcakes resemble a piece of candy corn.

Brains: This one is so simple to make and gets extra creepy points for looking so real. Use 17 drops of red food coloring and 5 drops of green food coloring for every 1 cup of frosting to achieve the right color. Use a circle tip and piping bag or just cut the corner off of a plastic, resealable food bag to pipe squiggles on each side and 2 lines down the middle.

Eyes: Reserve just 1/4 cup of the frosting and add 8 drops of green food coloring to it to use later on for the iris of the eye. Frost each cupcake with white frosting, and then use red food gel to make thin lines on the cupcake. Use a toothpick to spread them out to look like veins. Place a small circle of green frosting in the center of the eye, then add a dot of black food gel for the eye’s pupil.

Monster Eyes: Frost the cupcakes and then dip them in black sugar sprinkles. Use small round colored candies to make the glowing eyes. Angling the eyes slightly “in” will make them look extra angry.

Mummies: This one was a Test Kitchen favorite. Again just keep the frosting white and spread a thin layer on each cupcake. Stick two candy eyes (these can be found at most craft or grocery stores) to each cupcake. Then, using a flat petal tip, pipe strips across the cupcake at different lengths and angles, being careful not to completely cover the eyes.

These simple decorating tips for cupcakes are sure to impress and get you in the creepy, crawly spirit! Be sure to let us know how your cupcakes turned out, or if you have any other easy ideas to dress up your cupcakes for Halloween.