Name: Straightforward Halloween Cupcakes
Yield: 24

These straightforward Halloween Cupcakes are chocolate cupcakes with frosting and crushed Oreos, decorated to look like bats, ghosts, gravestones, spiders, and spiderwebs.

author’s note

I Wanted Cute Halloween Cupcakes Without the Fuss!

I wanted these cupcakes to be the kind of Halloween treat that looks like you spent forever making them, without actually requiring an entire afternoon of complicated decorating.

So I started with my chocolate cupcakes, which are ridiculously straightforward thanks to a doctored cake mix. I add sour cream, pudding mix, vanilla, & mini chocolate chips to make them much richer & softer than your average boxed cupcake.

Then came a reliable part: the Oreo crumbs.

Once the cupcakes are frosted & dipped in Oreos, they instantly look like little piles of dirt. From there, I realized I could use the exact same cupcake base for gravestones, ghosts, bats, spiders, & spiderwebs.

It is satisfying to setting out a tray with a mix of all five. They look impressive together, but each individual design is surprisingly simple.

Spider web with fake spiders on colored frosting.

Ghost Halloween cupcakes with white chocolate ghosts and mini chocolate chip eyes.

Ingredients

Ingredient	Tip/Swap
Cake Mix	I like Betty Crocker Super Moist Devil’s Food mix also works for a darker, richer chocolate flavor.
Sour Cream	Swap with plain Greek yogurt if needed.
Pudding Mix	Skip if you don’t have it, but texture won’t be quite as rich.
Vegetable Oil	Helps the cupcakes stay soft. Canola oil or even melted butter works as a swap.
Mini Chocolate Chips	You can also use chopped chocolate bars for bigger chunks.
Frosting	Use from-scratch buttercream or store-bought for convenience. Dye it orange, green, or purple for a festive look.
Oreos	Chocolate graham crackers can work in a pinch.

How To Make Halloween Cupcakes

Prepare: Heat the oven and line a cupcake pan with liners.
Mix Batter: In a big bowl, whisk together wet ingredients. mix in cake mix and pudding mix, then add hot water and mix in chocolate chips.
Bake: Fill liners 3/4 full and bake, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on a rack.
Frost Cupcakes: Once cool, frost using a piping bag with a round tip.
Add Oreo Crumbs: Dip frosted cupcakes into crushed Oreos.
Decorate: Add bat, ghost, gravestone, spider, or spiderweb decorations.

Tombstone treat with Milano cookies and black frosting.

chelsea’s recipe tips

Ideas For More straightforward Halloween Cupcakes

Mummy Cupcakes: Pipe white frosting strips like bandages, then add candy eyes.
Pumpkin: Frost with orange icing and draw jack-o’-lantern faces with gel.
Witch Hats: Use sugar cones dipped in chocolate and place on top of green-frosted cupcakes.
Monster Cupcakes: Have fun with colorful frosting and multiple candy eyes.
Candy Corn: Pipe yellow, orange, then white frosting for a candy corn look.
Bloody Cupcakes: Drizzle strawberry jam or red gel over white frosting and top with a mini knife candy.