Halloween Ghost Cupcakes That Are Scary Cute & Easy to Make
Halloween ghost cupcakes are the perfect mix of spooky and sweet for your next Halloween dessert table!
Whether you’re planning a classroom party, a haunted house gathering, or a cozy night in with Halloween movies, these treats are easy to make, kid-approved, and guaranteed to be the star of your party!
With just a few simple ingredients and some fun decorating tips, you’ll have adorable cupcakes that are just the right amount of creepy-cute.
How to Make Ghost Cupcakes
Before you start making this Halloween dessert, scroll down to print the full recipe and gather all your ingredients.
- You will bake soft and fluffy vanilla cupcakes tinted with hints of yellow and orange to resemble candy corn.
- While they cool, whip up a creamy buttercream frosting and divide it into three bowls — coloring two portions in orange and yellow for the base, and keeping one white for the ghostly swirl.
- Using piping bags, layer the icing in candy corn colors, finishing with a tall swirl of white frosting on top.
- Finish them off with candy eyes for a cute ghost face and you’re done!
Yes! You can bake the cupcakes a day ahead. Store them unfrosted in an airtight container at room temp. Frost and decorate the day of serving.
Absolutely! A vanilla or white cake mix will work just fine—just follow the box instructions and add the food coloring to the batter.
A large round tip works best for creating the classic ghost swirl, while closed star tips help give the colored layers that ruffled candy corn look.
USA Pan Bakeware Muffin Pan, 12-Well, Aluminized Steel
Bake Choice Non-stick 200pcs Standard Cupcake Liners for Baking, Natural, Food-grade Cupcake Wrapper, Greaseproof Parchment Muffin Liners16 Inch Piping Bags Disposable, 50 Pcs Large Pastry Bags, Icing Bags, Cake Decorating Bags, Decorating Bags Large Piping Bags, Frosting BagsKasmoire 9 Pcs Round Piping Tip,Macaron Piping Tip,Cake and Cookie Decorating Plain Tube SetAmericolor Soft Gel Paste Food Color, 0.75 Ounce, Electric OrangeWilton Icing Colors, 1-Ounce, Golden YellowBetty Crocker Gel Icing, Black, 0.67 ozCandy Eyes Sprinkles for Cake Decorating Edible, Halloween Eyeball Sprinkles for Cookie Baking Ice Cream Brownie Cupcake Toppings
If you love festive and flavorful cupcake recipes, be sure to check out these Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes are packed with warm spices and melty chocolate chips—perfect for fall baking.
Halloween Ghost Cupcakes
Ingredients
For the Cupcakes:
- 1 ⅓ c. All-purpose flour
- 1 ¼ tsp. Baking powder
- ½ tsp. Kosher salt
- 6 tbsp. Unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 c. Sugar
- 1 large egg plus 1 egg white at room temperature
- 1 ½ tsp. Pure vanilla extract
- ½ c. Skim milk
- 2 drops yellow food coloring
- 2 drops orange food coloring
For the Frosting:
- 1 c. Unsalted butter softened
- 4 c. Powdered sugar
- 4 tbsp. Pure vanilla extract
- 4 tbsp. Heavy cream
- ½ tsp. Kosher salt
- 1 drop yellow food coloring
- 1 drop orange food coloring
- Candy eyes for garnish
Instructions
Bake the Cupcakes
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and add cupcake liners to pan, set aside.
- Add flour, baking powder and salt to a large bowl, mix well.
- In a separate large bowl, using a stand mixer or hand mixer, cream butter and sugar until it becomes light and fluffy.
- Beat egg into mixture until well combined, then beat in egg white and add the vanilla.
- Mix well.
- Alternating, add the flour and milk as you continue to blend ingredients.
- Divide the batter evenly into cupcake liners, each cup should be 3⁄4 full.
- Bake until the tops are golden, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven and transfer the cupcakes to a wire rack for cooling.
Make the Frosting
- Beat butter in a large bowl using a hand or stand mixer until slightly whipped.
- Add 1 cup of powdered sugar at a time and mix on low until blended. Increase speed to high and continue beating. Repeat with the remaining powdered sugar.
- Beat in 2 tbsp of heavy cream and the vanilla extract until combined. You can add in heavy cream if needed for desired consistency. Add salt and mix to combine.
- Evenly divide the frosting into 3 separate bowls, color one bowl with the yellow food coloring drops and the other with the orange drops.
- Fill 3 pastry bags with each color. Use a closed star tip for the yellow and orange, use a round tip for the white pastry bag.
- Pipe 3 layers with each pastry bag of frosting onto the cooled cupcakes, finish by adding the candy eyes to each cupcake.
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