These easy Bat Cupcakes are one of my favorite, not so spooky, Halloween recipes. We are using a boxed cake mix for cupcakes that are ready in 15 minutes, then piping on a creamy chocolate frosting, followed by cute little bats made from Oreos. No decorating skills needed as these are as simple as they come, even the kids can help! This is a recipe for success if you want to make cupcakes for Halloween.
I love making holiday themed treats, not only are they delicious recipes, but the presentation is Pinterest worthy! If you are new here and want to learn more about decorating desserts, I have a ton of cake making tips and tutorials. Today I am using a boxed mix, but you could also make cupcakes from scratch. The chocolate buttercream icing is so good for those who love chocolate, but this cherry frosting would be a yummy alternative. You can even add some food coloring to make it more red for Halloween.
As you are prepping for your Halloween party, go and look at my dinner and party decor! So many DIY ideas that are budget friendly and really brings your home to life for the month of October. For a little less spooky you can make these cute pumpkins or mummy heads.
Jump to:
Why You’ll Love Halloween Bat Cupcakes
- Cute bat cupcakes are easy to make and kids love to join in on the fun.
- Doctoring up a box cake mix makes the base recipe easy peasy.
- These easy Halloween bat cupcakes are a festive dessert for your Halloween party.
- The bats are made with just a few simple ingredients readily available at your grocery store.
🧁🦇 Ingredients:
- Chocolate cake mix – choose your favorite store brand for these moist chocolate cupcakes
- Salted butter – allow time for the butter to soften
- Eggs – bring to room temperature
- Sour cream – richens the cake batter
- Milk – I use 2% or whole milk
- Vanilla extract – adds that warm vanilla touch
- Unsweetened cocoa powder – for the frosting
- Hot water or heated heavy cream – the moisture in the frosting binding it together to the right creamy consistency
- Powdered sugar – sweetens the cocoa powder
- Semi-sweet baking bar – extra chocolate
- Standard Oreo cookies and mini Oreo cookies – for decorating the top of the cupcakes with the bat wings and bat heads
- Candy eyes – to decorate the bats
For a full list of ingredients and their measurements, 📋 please view my printable recipe card at the bottom of the post.
Substitutions and Variations
- Dairy Free? Try to use a dairy free yogurt instead of the sour cream AND an alternative milk.
- Try to alternate and decorate some with Halloween candy pumpkins or chocolate spiders on top!
- You can try a devils food cake mix also. The key is to have any dark and rich chocolate cake.
- If you choose to use unsalted butter, be sure to add in ½ teaspoon of salt into the batter. It will help enhance the flavors.
🔪 Instructions:
PREP: Preheat the oven and place the cupcakes liners in the pan.
Step 1: Combine all the cupcake ingredients in a large bowl and on low speed, beat using an electric mixer or stand mixer until incorporated (be sure to scrape the sides of the bowl).
Step 2: Fill the liners halfway full.
Step 3: Bake for 15 minutes. Allow cupcakes to cool completely on a wire rack.
Step 4: Chop the chocolate into small pieces and melt in the microwave or the double broiler.
Step 5: Allow melted chocolate to cool, but not enough where it hardens.
Step 6: Whisk together the water (or cream) and cocoa powder until smooth. Beat together the butter, cooled chocolate, cocoa powder mixture, and powdered sugar in a large mixing bowl until fluffy.
Pro Tip: Make sure to have enough Oreos on hand. You won’t need an entire package, but sometimes they break, so you may need extra.
Step 7: Transfer the frosting to a piping bag with a #1M or star tip and pipe swirls on top of each cooled cupcake.
Step 8: Cut a large Oreo in half and separate the cookie from the filling. Place two halves side by side to make the wings.
Step 9: Twist off a half from a mini Oreo and place the one with the cream filling face down where the wings meet.
Step 10: Add two small dots of chocolate for “glue”, then place the candy eyeballs on.
Step 11: Add the bat toppers to the top of each cupcake.
GARNISH/SLICE/SERVE: Serve these bat cupcakes for Halloween just as they are OR enjoy with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Recipe Tips for Halloween Cupcakes with bats on top:
- The chocolate should cool just to where it is not hot to the touch.
- To get the cleanest cut for the wings, use a sharp knife making a quick, strong chop.
- For the swirl you will need a medium stiffness in the frosting consistency if order to hold the bats in place and so the frosting keeps it’s shape.
- If you are in a hurry, you can use store-bought cupcakes that are already frosted and just add the bat toppers.
- For more Halloween fun, add black food coloring to the icing.
- Tiny candy eyes are best proportioned for the mini Oreos, but to make fun bats you can use larger eyes.
Fun Fact
It is estimated that on Halloween, around 600 million pounds of candy is consumed!
Recipe FAQs
Store leftover cupcakes in an airtight container for up 1 week in the refrigerator. You can freeze unfrosted cupcakes in the freezer for up to one month.
More Fun Halloween Idea Sweet Treats
If you tried this Bat Cupcakes for Halloween Recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how you liked it in the 📝 comments below.
Bat Cupcakes – for Halloween
Ingredients
Chocolate Cupcake Ingredients:
- 1 box chocolate cake mix
- ½ cup salted butter softened
- 3 large eggs
- ¼ cup sour cream
- 1 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Frosting Ingredients:
- 1 cup salted butter softened
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ cup heavy cream or hot water
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 4 ounce semi-sweet baking bar melted and cooled
Decorating Ingredients:
- 1 package standard Oreo cookies you will not need full package, but it’s best to have extras bc of breakage
- 1 package mini Oreo cookies
- 20 pairs of candy eyeballs
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line standard size muffin tins with cupcake liners and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the chocolate cake ingredients: cake mix, butter, eggs, sour cream, milk and vanilla extract. Beat on low speed for 1 minute and then on medium-high speed for two additional minutes.
- Fill cupcake liners about halfway full.
- Bake for 15 minutes and then cool completely.
- Meanwhile, prepare the frosting. Chop the chocolate baking bar into small pieces. Use a double boiler or 30-second increments in the microwave to melt the chocolate. Stir until fully melted and set aside to cool (chocolate should not cool long enough to re-harden, just cool down so that it is not hot to the touch.)
- Use a whisk to stir together the cocoa powder and hot water (or hot cream) until smooth and shiny.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat together the softened butter, cooled chocolate bar, cocoa powder mixture, and powdered sugar. Beat until fully combined and fluffy.
- Fill a piping bag with the prepared frosting and fit with piping tip #1M (or an open star piping tip). Pipe swirls of frosting to top each cupcake.
- To make a bat topper, cut an Oreo cookie in half – a swift, strong chop with a sharp knife works best for a clean cut.
- Separate the cookie from the cream filling.
- Place two Oreo halves side by side to form the “wings” of the bat.
- Twist one half from a mini Oreo. Using the half that still has the cream filling on it, press the mini Oreo over the center point where the “bat wings” meet. The cream filling will serve as the glue to hold the bat together.
- Use a toothpick or small piping tip to dab two dots of frosting on the mini Oreo “bat face.”
- Place two candy eyeballs on the dots of frosting.
- Carefully place each assembled bat onto the top of a frosted cupcake.
Notes
- The chocolate should cool just to where it is not hot to the touch.
- To get the cleanest cut for the wings, use a sharp knife making a quick, strong chop.
- For the swirl you will need a medium stiffness in the frosting consistency if order to hold the bats in place and so the frosting keeps it’s shape.
- If you are in a hurry, you can use store-bought cupcakes that are already frosted and just add the bat toppers.
- For more Halloween fun, add black food coloring to the icing.
- Tiny candy eyes are best proportioned for the mini Oreos, but to make fun bats you can use larger eyes.
Nutrition
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