Time to get spooky with these cute and fun Halloween chocolate cupcakes. Wonderfully delicious, these rich cupcakes are topped with a smooth buttercream frosting, and every bite is so yummy! The perfect bite to enjoy after a busy night of trick and treating!
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Perfect for the whole family, these super cute Halloween cupcakes are a must make! Not only do they look good, but they taste pretty amazing too!
Simple and easy to make, the homemade chocolate cupcakes are rich and moist, light and fluffy, and the buttercream frosting is just the right amount of sweet and wonderfully smooth.
Super fun to decorate, these are a great option to serve up at your spooky Halloween party!
For more Halloween sweet treats, be sure to check out my Halloween Chocolate Bark and Halloween Cheesecake!
Why you will love this recipe!
- Delicious: We decorated these cupcakes for Halloween, but this recipe is a keeper for anytime you need a chocolate treat! You won't be able to stop making these, they may become your favorite cupcake recipe!
- Great for kids: This is a simple recipe that your little ones can easily help you to make. They'll have fun decorating them too!
- Make ahead: These melt-in-your-mouth cupcakes have a good shelf life, and you can easily make them days ahead of time.
- Dietary info: These Halloween chocolate cupcakes are vegetarian.
Ingredients
For the chocolate cupcakes
- Milk: Use 2% milk. The milk must be heated in the microwave or on the stovetop before mixing with the other ingredients.
- Butter: Unsalted butter. This is melted with the milk.
- Flour: This recipe is made using all purpose flour.
- Salt: Just a pinch to enhance the flavors.
- Baking Powder: To make the cupcakes rise and become light and fluffy.
- Cacao powder: Unsweetened. For a rich chocolatey taste.
- Egg: To bind the ingredients together.
- Vanilla Extract: For sweetness and flavor.
- Sugar: Regular white sugar.
- Oil: Any neutral flavored oil like canola, vegetable or avocado can be used.
- Chocolate chips: Dark or milk chocolate works great.
For the buttercream frosting and decoration
- Butter: Unsalted and at room temperature.
- Powdered Sugar: The fine sugar produces a smooth frosting.
- Cream Cheese: Like Philadelphia. Use full fat for the best results.
- Vanilla Extract
- Food coloring
How to make Halloween Chocolate Cupcakes
Be sure to scroll down for the full recipe!
- Sift the dry ingredients into a bowl.
- Blend together the egg, sugar oil and vanilla to make a smooth mixture. Fold into the dry ingredients.
- Mix in the hot milk and butter.
- Pour into cupcake liners in a cupcake pan. Top with a few chocolate chips.
- Bake.
- Make the frosting by whipping the ingredients together. Mix in the food coloring to smaller batches.
- Decorate!
Decorating the cupcakes
We had so much fun decorating these cupcakes! We chose some classic Halloween designs:
- Mummy
- Skeleton
- Spiders Web
- Frankenstein
- Pumpkin
- Boo!
You can easily decorate with your favorite designs, candy or Halloween colored sprinkles. The fun is in the decorating, so let your creative juices flow!
You can of course use this cupcake recipe anytime of the year and decorated how you see fit!
Make Ahead and Storage
These chocolate cupcakes have a great shelf life and you can easily make them ahead of time and decorate them later. Once made, the cupcakes will keep well in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week without the frosting.
Once frosted, it's best to store the cupcakes in the fridge, and let them come to room temperature to serve. You can easily decorate them the night before.
The cakes, without frosting, can also be frozen for 2 to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature.
Recipe Notes and Tips
- Use a blender to process the egg, sugar and oil. The sugar granules should be dissolved so that the cupcakes aren't grainy.
- The milk and butter must be hot when mixed in. Warm on the stovetop, or heat in increments in the microwave. The milk should be boiling when you take it off the heat.
- The cake mixture will be runny, but have faith, they will turn out beautifully!
- Fill the cupcake liners ⅔ full to allow room for the cupcakes to rise.
- Make sure the oven is fully preheated before placing the cakes in.
- Make sure the cakes are fully cooled before decorating.
- Measurements are in grams and ml to ensure accuracy. I have included cup measurements, but for best results, use a kitchen scale to weigh.
More Halloween Recipes
- Green Halloween Sangria
- Creepy Pasta (Halloween Spaghetti and Meatball Eyeballs)
- Spooky Halloween Cocktails
- Monster Mashed Potatoes
Halloween Chocolate Cupcake Recipe
Ingredients
For the chocolate cupcakes
- 90 ml Milk (2%) (⅓ cup)
- 20 g Butter (unsalted) (1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon)
- 70 g Flour (all purpose) (½ cup)
- pinch Salt
- ½ teaspoon Baking Powder
- 15 g Cacao powder (unsweetened) (3 tablespoons)
- 1 Egg
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 100 g Sugar (½ cup)
- 30 ml Oil (2 tablespoons)
- Chocolate chips (optional)
For the buttercream frosting and decoration
- 40 g Butter (room temperature, unsalted) (3 tablespoons)
- 32 g Powdered Sugar (4 tablespoons)
- 125 g Cream Cheese (½ cup)
- ½ teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- Food coloring (colors of choice)
Instructions
Make the chocolate cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 175c / 350F.
- Place the cupcake liners into a cupcake pan.
- Sift the dry ingredients into a bowl.70 g Flour (all purpose), pinch Salt, ½ teaspoon Baking Powder, 15 g Cacao powder (unsweetened)
- Blend together the egg, sugar oil and vanilla to make a smooth mixture. Process it well for 30 seconds. Gently fold into the dry ingredients. The mixture will be stiff.1 Egg, 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract, 100 g Sugar, 30 ml Oil
- Gently warm the milk and butter, wither on the stovetop, or in increments in the microwave. The milk should reach boiling. Be careful that it doesn't bubble over.90 ml Milk (2%), 20 g Butter (unsalted)
- Pour the milk and butter into the bowl, and use a hand whisk to combine. At this point the mixture will be very runny.
- Pour the batter into the cupcake liners in the cupcake pan. Fill the cupcake liners ⅔ full, to allow the cakes room to rise. Top with a few chocolate chips.Chocolate chips
- Place the cupcakes into the preheated oven. Bake for 15 minutes. Check for doneness by inserting a toothpick into the centre of a cake, it should come out clean.
- Let the cakes cool fully before decorating.
Make the buttercream frosting and decorate
- Use a hand blender to whip the butter in a large bowl til light and fluffy.40 g Butter (room temperature, unsalted)
- Add in the powdered sugar and whip together til well mixed.32 g Powdered Sugar
- Add in the vanilla extract and mix again.½ teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- Add in the cream cheese and mix. Do not over mix at this stage, it should just be combined.125 g Cream Cheese
- Separate the cream cheese into separate bowls, color and decorate.Food coloring
Video
Notes
- Use a blender to process the egg, sugar and oil. The sugar granules should be dissolved so that the cupcakes aren't grainy.
- The milk and butter must be hot when mixed in. Warm on the stovetop, or heat in increments in the microwave. The milk should be boiling when you take it off the heat.
- The cake mixture will be runny, but have faith, they will turn out beautifully!
- Fill the cupcake liners ⅔ full to allow room for the cupcakes to rise.
- Make sure the oven is fully preheated before placing the cakes in.
- Make sure the cakes are fully cooled before decorating.
- Measurements are in grams and ml to ensure accuracy. I have included cup measurements, but for best results, use a kitchen scale to weigh.
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