These Easy Halloween Bat Cupcakes are super easy to make, taking only a couple of minutes and NO special talent or equipment! Frost and go!
As I’d mentioned in my Easy Butterfly Cupcakes post... when I was a kid, my grandmother used to make “butterfly cupcakes” for us.
They were really cute, easy cupcakes - the top of each cupcake was cut off and split in half, and they were usually filled with lemon pudding.
The top pieces became “wings”, and the whole thing was dusted with powdered sugar.
As a frosting FIEND, I’m a little surprised - looking back - that I was so big on these cupcakes. There’s no frosting!
I still make those cupcakes from time to time, and I think of her when I’m making them. I have a few recipes that really make me think of my gramma, including Gramma’s Potato Salad, her Homemade Perogies Recipe, or ... Mushroom Soup and Eggs on Toast!
While I think of her often anyway, cooking any of her foods definitely brings her memory to the forefront!
The cupcake top “butterfly wings” could very easily become bat wings, after all. All it takes it a bit of food coloring, and a change of position!
If you’re looking for easy recipes for fun Halloween party food, look no further than these sweet treats!
Customizing your Easy Halloween Bat Cupcakes
While she usually kept to the same format - white cupcake, lemon pudding filling, medium-depth cut - I tend to play a bit more fast and loose with it, depending on my mood.
Historically, that’s meant playing with the following aspects... which I’m now playing with to make Easy Halloween Cupcakes:
Cupcake Flavour
While I usually stuck to light coloured or white cupcakes for a delicate look, we’re going DARK here.
While obviously I recommend my black velvet homemade cupcakes recipe, you can dye any chocolate cupcakes black - homemade or boxed chocolate cake mix - but you’re definitely going to want to start with a rich chocolate cake base.
Otherwise, it’s going to be very difficult to achieve an intense black colour.
I like to use a Black Gel Food Coloring - like you can buy at any cake decorating store - as they tend to give the most intense results.
A note of warning: You are very likely to poop funny colours after eating black velvet cupcakes. Just remember that you ate them, and don’t be alarmed! It’s not a medical issue!
This recipe - and the photos - use my Black Velvet Cupcakes Recipe, but you can use this technique with any cupcake recipe or box mix.
If you know your guests are cool with it, you can flavour a vanilla cupcake with anise extract, in place of vanilla extract. SO good - if you like black licorice!
Filling / Frosting
While I usually use a cocoa powder based chocolate frosting when making black velvet cupcakes in general, I like to use a lighter/brighter filling and/or frosting when making these bat cupcakes.
I just find that a dark chocolate icing doesn’t provide enough contrast to show the “bats” off. Some recommendations:
Pudding
Historically, I tend to prefer the texture of Jello’s “Cook and Serve” filling for making the butterfly version of these cupcakes, as they set a bit thicker when the pudding cools fully.
Between the limited availability of the Cook and Serve variety, and the more narrow availability of flavours, sometimes I’ll make this with instant pudding, just using a little less milk when doing so.
Banana Cream and Pistachio are particularly great as fillings for this!
I like the colour of the pistachio pudding as-is for these Easy Halloween Bat Cupcakes, and will sometimes add a bit of yellow or orange food colouring to lighter coloured puddings.
In general though, when I’m making BAT cupcakes, I actually prefer to use frosting.
Frosting
When making these Bat Cupcakes, I find that frosting just fits better. Also, I like the bright colours achieved with frosting better - tinting pudding can be a bit wonky.
As a base, I like to use:
- My Swiss Meringue Buttercream: When I’m feeling indulgent or bougie, or
- My American Buttercream: When I just want a decent hit of powdered sugar, without much effort!
Orange flavour extract is really great in the frosting, when it comes to these Halloween ones... especially if you flavoured the cupcakes with anise!
(Yes, it sounds weird, but it WORKS. Just see my Tiger Tail Ice Cream as an example!)
Combination Filling
Sometimes I like to add a surprise filling. Consider it a bit of a trick AND treat!
When you cut your top off at a more steep angle - cutting a cone shape into the cupcake base - you can fit more filling.
A bit of pie filling or pudding in that deeper cavity, sealed off with piped frosting is a fun alternative to a single type of filling.
Format
Adjusting the angle of your knife when cutting the top of the cupcake off can vary your end result a bit:
Shallow Cut
A shallow cut - even just slicing the top off, flat - gives you dainty “wings” ... and not much of a cavity for filling. When I do it this way, I find it works better with frosting.
Deeper Cut
A deeper cut - angling the tip of the knife downward and towards the center of the cupcake - gives bulkier “wings”, but also more room for filling.
I like how this style acts more like a cup, so tend to cut a bit deeper when I’m doing a pudding topping, or a combo topping.
Cut Diameter
The diameter of your cut - the size of the piece you cut off the cupcake - affects the size of your “wings”.
Personally, I like to cut fairly close to the edge, leaving only a small lip of the base cupcakes. I like the bigger wings - I’m not fond of tiny “wings” on top, it’s just a proportion / aesthetic thing for me.
Also: The bigger the wings, the more exposed cupcake... more excuse for more frosting / filling!
Decoration
While I normally dust butterfly cupcakes with icing sugar, I skip that for this Halloween Bat version. Why work to get that gorgeous black color, only to mute it?
If you’d like, you can use some tinted sugar or edible glitter, but really... I think these look best unadorned.
How to Make Easy Halloween Bat Cupcakes
Once you’ve made your decisions on cupcake flavour (See “, filling, and general look, you can put your cupcakes together.
These assemble very quickly - a matter of moments, really!
The recipe is in the recipe card at the end of this post, this is a pictorial walk through.
Bake Your Cupcakes
Bake your cupcakes, and allow them to cool to room temperature.
Make Your Pudding or Frosting
Frosting
I tend to use Swiss Meringue Buttercream or American Buttercream, but you can use whatever recipe you like - or even store bought. Again, whatever works for you!
Pudding
Cook and serve is best, just let it cool slightly before using it. You don’t want it molten, but you also don’t want it to cool and set before using it.
If you use instant pudding, just use about ½-2/3 of the milk called for in the directions.
Assembly
Using a sharp serrated knife, cut the top off each cupcake.
While you CAN just cut it straight across - especially if it has a decent sized dome - I like to cut in towards the center, angling the knife downward, and cutting a complete circle around each cupcake.
Neatly and evenly, cut each cupcake top in half.
If you’re using frosting, you can frost in one of 3 ways, listed in order of effort:
Spoon it
Just spoon it on, and use the back of the spoon to shape / swirl the frosting.
Simple Pipe It
Transfer your frosting to a piping bag. Cut the end off the bag - creating an opening at least ½" diameter - and pipe a swirl of frosting on each cupcake.
Pipe with a Coupler and Tip
If you have some basic cake decorating supplies, fit your piping bag with a coupler and wide tip of your choice - round or star tip.
Fill the bag with frosting, pipe a swirl of frosting on each cupcake.
Place a pair of “Bat wings” - Cut sides facing each other, a set of tips facing downward- across the center of a cupcake. Repeat with remaining cupcakes.
If you’re using coloured sugar, edible glitter, etc, just carefully sprinkle it over each completed cupcake.
Easy Halloween Bat Cupcakes - Video
(Have the sound on if you'd like to appreciate my taste in background music!)
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More Halloween Ideas
If you're still considering ideas for Halloween recipes and other ideas, be sure to check out my:
3D Halloween Bat Cupcakes
Bacon Wrapped Mummy Meatloaf
Black Velvet Cupcakes
Bloody Eyeball Cupcakes
Bloody Eyeball Halloween Punch
Breakfast Mummy Pastries
Candy Apples
Easy Spider Web Cookies
Elegant Halloween Charcuterie Board
Fudgy Halloween Brownies
Glazed Halloween Popcorn
Gluten Free Mummy Dogs
Gluten-Free Mummy Jalapeno Poppers
Halloween Shooters
Halloween Spider Web Cupcakes
How to Carve a Pumpkin Like a Pro
Lychee "Bloody Eyeball" Pancakes
Lychee Bloody Eyeball Halloween Pavlova
Mummy Dogs
Mummy Jalapeno Poppers
Nightmare Before Christmas Cookies
Spider Bread Bowl
... and check out our Holiday Recipes section for recipes to suit any holiday!
Easy Halloween Bat Cupcakes
Equipment
- 3 Muffin Tin
- 36 Cupcake Liners
Ingredients
- 3 cups Cake flour
- ⅓ cup Cocoa powder
- 2 ¼ cups Granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoon Baking powder
- 1 ½ teaspoon Salt
- 3 ½ oz Instant vanilla pudding mix*
- 1 ½ cup Buttermilk **
- 1 ½ cups Butter melted
- 6 Eggs
- 2 tablespoon Pure vanilla extract
- Black food colouring Gel works best
- 1 ½ batches Swiss Meringue buttercream
- or
- 1 ½ batches American buttercream
- Bright food colouring
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C).
- Line 3 muffin tins with cupcake liners.
- Combine flour, cocoa, sugar, baking powder, salt, and pudding mix in a large bowl (if using an electric mixer), or the bowl of a stand mixer set with a paddle attachment.
- Carefully add buttermilk, melted butter, eggs and vanilla to the bowl of dry ingredients, mixing on medium speed until smooth.
- Use food colouring to tint batter black.
- Divide batter among prepared muffin pans. Bake until knife inserted into center of batter comes out clean - about 20-22 mins .
- Allow to cool to cool to room temperature, before decorating.
- Prepare either Swiss meringue buttercream or American buttercream, following the applicable recipe. Once the frosting has come together, tint desired color(s). Set aside.
- Using a sharp knife, cut the top off each cupcake.
- While you CAN just cut it straight across - especially if it has a decent sized dome - I like to cut in towards the center, angling the knife downward, and cutting a complete circle around each cupcake.
- Neatly and evenly, use a small knife to cut each top of the cupcakes in half.
- Frost cupcakes: spoon or pipe your frosting into the cut crater on top of each cupcake. You can use a coupler and a star tip if you like, I usually just cut the end off my piping bag and do a basic swirl.
- Place a pair of “Bat wings” - Cut sides facing each other, a set of tips facing downward- across the center of a frosted cupcake.
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