Easy Halloween Desserts - Character Cupcakes
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We are a big desserts family. And while I would love to have the time and energy to construct a homemade Haunted cookie Mansion, that is just unrealistic for me. Instead I focus on high impact, low effort.
Halloween is probably my kids’ second favorite holiday, and that is only because they don’t get a lot of presents. I think they enjoy the actual day the most. As we approach this Halloween, I know that it won’t be the same due to COVID. So I have been wracking my brain trying to think of creative ways to have fun at home.
These cupcakes ticked all the boxes - high impact (they loved deciding which character they would eat), low effort (box cake mix and store bought icing), and a fun way to spend an afternoon during the spooky season with my littles.
Halloween baking ideas usually require a lot of supplies or are just too gross for little kids. These Halloween cupcakes are great for little ones. The best part is that I only had to buy one thing to design these cupcakes!
Here’s everything you need for these easy Halloween desserts:
Box of cake mix (I got 22-24 cupcakes from one box)
Can of icing - white or light in color
Oreos
Pretzels
Food coloring
Toothpicks
Cupcake liners
Ziploc bags
I went basic with flavors, but you could also have fun with this! Pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting anyone? You can make simple pumpkin cupcakes using box mix and a can of pumpkin. I also love a spice cake with white frosting.
Each of these Halloween cupcakes can be mimiced easily by eye. All the details in this easy halloween baking idea were done using a Ziploc bag as a piping bag. I put the bag in a plastic cup and fold the top over the sides of the cup. Then I load the bag with my icing and seal it making sure to get all the air out of the bag. Then I snip a small hole in one of the bottom corners for the icing to come out of.
The trick is cutting the hole in a way that creates the look you want. For example, the icing on the mummy cupcake calls for wide straight lines so a larger snip done at an angle will achieve that. However, if you’re looking to add small dots like the eyes of the ghost cupcake, it is better to cut a very tiny bit off the bag to get a small dot when pressure is applied to the bag.
Here’s tips to make each one look of these cupcakes as authentic as possible
Ghost Cupcake
The ghost is made using white frosting and chocolate frosting that I happened to have on hand. You could also dye some of your white frosting a dark color.
Make a scalloped line about 3/4 of the way down the cupcake. Fill in the top 3/4 with icing. Smooth it over with a spatula or butter knife.
Use the dark frosting to create the small eyes and mouth .
Pumpkin Cupcake
I frosted this cupcake with just a spatula originally. Then I took a toothpick and dragged it up and down to create the definition.
A little twirl of green frosting for the leaves and a small pretzel for the stem are the finishing touches.
This is a baking idea for kids as the toothpick lines are a great fine motor activity. You could even have kids draw shapes or letters on the pumpkins with their toothpick.
Gravestone Cupcake
Ice the center of the cupcake with green frosting. Sprinkle crumbled Oreos on the top.
Trim the sides off one side of an Oreo to create the gravestone shape. Using a Ziploc with a small hole snipped in the corner pipe ‘RIP’ on the Oreo.
PRO TIP: If you’re serving these to people on Halloween, wait until the last minute to add the Oreo gravestone. If they sit out, they get soggy and unpleasant.
Frankenstein Cupcake
This guy is far easier than he looks. Ice the cupcake with a shade of green and smooth the frosting with a spatula.
Pipe the hair, mouth, and bolts with a darker color. The hole on the piping bag can be any size as this one can look imperfect and still be perfect.
Add candy eyes and voila.
Monster cupcakes
The impact on these Halloween monster cupcakes comes from two factors: using candy eyes in a few different sizes and using a toothpick to texturize the fur.
PRO TIP: Wait to do these cupcakes last. You can use whatever leftover colors you have as a base to make fun monster colors. I used leftover orange icing for one and the Frankenstein green mixed with some blue for the other.
Mummy Cupcake
The trick here is getting a wider more linear streak of icing from your Ziploc, which can be accomplished through snipping a wider edge in a diagonal line.
Put the eyes down first and pipe around them.
Bat Cupcake
And here is where you can use the other half of your Oreo. Pop it right on top of a cupcake iced with whatever color you want. Using the same Ziploc that was used on Frankenstein, I piped 8 legs.
Add two small dots of frosting on top of the cookie to glue the candy eyes in place.
There you have it. Seven easy Halloween desserts that your kids will love to eat and make! The only downside is that there is really no workaround for the dishes. With all the color mixing, there are bound to be a few bowls and spoons by the end. It’s worth it for the memory.