Easy Halloween Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting (12 ways)

Learn how to make these easy Halloween Cupcakes which have a simple vanilla cupcake base and are topped with a colorful bash of Halloween-themed Buttercream Frosting, which looks super spooky and so cute.

Halloween is the best time to get into the kitchen and make spooky treats for kids and adults. I love baking for Halloween. Here I have made 12 cupcakes, and all of them have a same vanilla cupcake base, followed by a vanilla buttercream frosting which I have used with different colors to make twelve differnt varities of Halloween cupcakes. Here you will find the recipe for Pumpkin Cupcake, Ghost Buddies Cupcake, Frankenstein Cupcake, Slime Cupcake, Brain Cupcake, Ghost Cupcake, Jack-O'- Lantern Cupcake, Cookie Monster Cupcake, Spider Cupcake, Mummy Cupcake, Monster Eyeball Cupcake, & Witch's Hat Cupcake.

All of these Halloween Cupcakes have a buttercream frosting to it which makes them extra delicious and of course they are super spooky and so adorable. Just perfect for your Halloween Party!

Plan your Halloween Party

12 Simple Halloween Cupcake Designs

Even if you're a beginner, you can easily make these Halloween Cupcakes with a handful of nozzles, vanilla cupcakes, buttercream frosting, gel food coloring, dark chocolate and some candy eyeballs you can easily make these in no time.

• Pumpkin Cupcakes
• Ghost Buddies Cupcake
• Frankenstein Cupcake
• Slime Cupcake
• Brain Cupcake
• Ghost Cupcake
• Jack-O'- Lantern Cupcake
• Cookie Monster Cupcake
• Spider Cupcake
• Witch's Hat Cupcake
• Mummy Cupcake
• Monster Eye Cupcake

Start by making a batch of Cupcakes

I have used a batch of Vanilla Cupcakes as the base for these Halloween Cupcake designs. However, feel free to use your favorite kind of cupcakes like Chocolate Cupcakes Red Velvet Cupcakes, or even Chocolate-filled cupcakes.

HINT: Whichever Cupcake you're using remember to cool it down completely to room temperature before you add the frosting or else the frosting will melt over freshly baked cupcakes.

A Sturdy Buttercream Frosting

For the perfect Halloween Cupcake Designs you would want to use a perfect sturdy Buttercream frosting. You could use Cream Cheese frosting or Swiss Meringue Buttercream frosting or whipped cream frosting as well. However for the perfectly defined intricate details I would advise you to use a perfect Buttercream frosting.

Vanilla Buttercream frosting is great because its not too sweet and not even too tarty! And the best part is that its perfectly tintable with any color of your choice.

I strongly recommend you to use gel food coloring to tint the buttercream frosting as the color of gel food coloring is much more defined than any other regular brands liquid food coloring.

Halloween Pumpkin Cupcakes

Every Halloween party needs to have this Pumpkin Cupcake to it. Its just super cute and decks up the platter like nothing else. For this Halloween Pumpkin Frosting you will need vanilla buttercream frosting, two piping bags, buttercream frosting divided into two parts - 1 is orange with orange gel food color added to it and the other one is green.

I used large petal tip Wilton #125 to make the pumpkin and a small star tip Wilton #21 to make the leaves.

• Use the large petal tip first to make the orange pumpkin design. Start from the edges in a vertical line and finish to the tip.
• Use a small star tip with green frosting to make two small leaf designs on the top.

Halloween Ghost Buddies Cupcakes

This one is so easy. I use a simple Wilton #1A round tip & orange colored buttercream frosting to make the base and then use some vanilla buttercream frosting in a knife to trace out the Halloween Ghost shapes.

• Use a round tip in a piping bag with orange colored buttercream frosting and add it to the cupcake
• Even it out using a butter knife
• Use a tiny portion of vanilla buttercream frosting to draw two ghost shapes
• Top with melted dark chocolate to make the eyes and mouth of these ghost buddies.

Halloween Frankenstein Cupcakes

• Use a round tip Wilton #1A with green-colored buttercream frosting and add it over the cupcake
• Use a butter knife to smoothen the top
• Top with black sprinkles to make the hair of Frankenstein
• Add Candy Eyes and Pretzel sticks around the sides to make Halloween Frankenstein Cupcakes.

Halloween Slime Cupcake

• Use Wilton #21 with green colored buttercream frosting
• Pipe a perfect spiral frosting over a cupcake
• Top with Candy Eyes on the top, haphazardly and its done!

Halloween Zombie Brain Cupcake

• For this use pink tinted buttercream frosting. I add a drop of Pink food color and about 3 drops of white food color to give the pink a pastel tint which looks quite like an open brain color.
• Use a small round tip like Wilton #7 to pipe two vertical lines in the center of the cupcake
• Just wriggle around the edges to make the brain

Halloween Ghost Cupcake

• Simply use a small round tip like Wilton #12 and vanilla buttercream frosting to make a spiral design over a cupcake
• Top with chocolate chips to make the Halloween Ghost eyes and its done!

Jack-O'-Lantern Cupcake

• Use a large petal Wilton #125 with orange tinted buttercream frosting to make the base. Start piping from the edge and go down vertically.
• Use a small round tip Wilton #4 with brown tinted buttercream frosting to make the eyes and mouth of Jack-O'-Lantern
• Use a small open star tip Wilton #21 with green tinted buttercream frosting to make the petals.

Cookie Monster Cupcake

• Use an open star tip Wilton #21 with purple tinted buttercream frosting and make star designs on the cupcake.
• Leave a small portion in the center to make the mouth of the cookie monster
• Fill it with melted dark chocolate
• Top with three Candy Eyes on the top

Halloween Oreo Spider Cupcake

• Use a large round tip Wilton #12 with vanilla buttercream frosting and pipe over the cupcake
• Smoothen it out with a butter knife
• Stick an Oreo to it
• Use some melted dark chocolate or a bit of buttercream frosting to stick candy eyes over the oreos
• Use a small round tip like Wilton #7 with brown tinted buttercream frosting and make the tentacles of the spiders. Its nothing just three horizontal lines starting from the base of the Oreo going upto the rim of the cupcake

Witch's Hat Cupcake

• Use a spiral round tip like Wilton #12 with green tinted buttercream frosting and pipe over the cupcake
• Stick an Hershey's Kiss candy over an oreo with some buttercream frosting
• Use a small round tip like Wilton #7 with orange tinted buttercream frosting and pipe it around the edge of the Hershey's kiss candy.

Halloween Mummy Cupcake

• Use a small round tip Wilton #12 with vanilla buttercream frosting and pipe it in a zig zag fashion
• Top with two Candy Eyes

Monster Eye Cupcake

• Use a small round top Wilton #12 with red tinted buttercream frosting to pipe over the cupcake in a spiral design
• Top with a green M&M and Candy Eye in the center
• Add some red candy melts around the edges to make the nerve designs

More Halloween Desserts Recipes