Spider cupcakes are the perfect sweet treat for Halloween. The chocolate pumpkin cupcakes are deliciously moist and topped with vanilla buttercream frosting with a spider web design.
Ingredients
Chocolate Pumpkin Cupcakes
1cupall-purpose flour
½cupunsweetened cocoa powder
2teaspoonsbaking soda
1teaspooncinnamon
½teaspoonEACH: ground cloves, nutmeg, and salt
1cupcanned pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie mix, which is spiced
½cupcoconut sugar, can sub brown sugar
½cupneutral-flavored oil , like avocado, canola, or grapeseed
2teaspoonsvanilla
2largeeggs
Optional: 1 cup chocolate chips
Buttercream Icing
½cupsalted butter, at room temperature
2cupsicing sugar
2tablespoonsmilk
1teaspoonsvanilla
3drops orange food dye, see notes
Decorating
Edible spider cupcake toppers OR plastic spider rings
A toothpick
Instructions
Chocolate Pumpkin Cupcakes
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12-cup cupcake pan with liners.
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and salt.
1 cup all-purpose flour, ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder, 2 teaspoons baking soda, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, ½ teaspoon EACH: ground cloves, nutmeg, and salt
In a large bowl, whisk the pumpkin puree, sugar, oil, vanilla, and eggs.
1 cup canned pumpkin puree, ½ cup coconut sugar, 2 teaspoons vanilla, 2 large eggs, ½ cup neutral-flavored oil
Add the flour mixture to the bowl with the pumpkin and whisk to combine. If using, stir in the chocolate chips.
Optional: 1 cup chocolate chips
Divide the batter between the cupcake liners. Note: the batter will be quite thick. Bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of one of the cupcakes comes out clean. Let the cupcakes cool completely before frosting them.
Buttercream Frosting
In a large bowl, use electric beaters (or a stand mixer) to whip the butter for 1 minute. Add the icing sugar, milk, and vanilla and beat until combined. (See notes)
½ cup salted butter, 2 cups icing sugar, 2 tablespoons milk, 1 teaspoons vanilla
Remove a scoop (about ¼ cup) of the frosting and set it aside. You'll need it for the white spider web design.
Mix the orange food dye into the remaining frosting.
3 drops orange food dye
Decorate the sider cupcakes
Frost the tops of the cupcakes with the orange frosting and smooth the top as much as possible.
Place the white frosting into a piping bag with a small, round decorating tip. You can also use a plastic bag and cut one of the bottom edges to make a piping bag.
Draw a small circle in the center of the cupcake. Then draw 2 more circles so that you have three circles inside each other. (See the pictures in the post.)
Immediately after drawing the circles, take a toothpick and draw a line from the smallest circle out past the largest circle. Do this 5 times around the circles to create the effect of a spiderweb.
Top each web with a store-bought edible spider or a plastic spider ring.
Notes
Food dye varies widely in quality and strength. You may need more to achieve the color you want. If you would like your frosting thinner, add a little extra milk. If you would like it thicker, add a little extra icing sugar. We trust that if you use plastic spider rings to decorate the cupcakes, you'll let people know to remove them before they eat the cupcake.