Hi Everyone,
I am Getting ready for Halloween. I have a fabulous, easy cupcake recipe for you that will please kids and adults of all ages. They are my ohhhh so scary Graveyard Cupcakes. Okay, I don’t think they are scary, but kind of cute. I’ll let you be the judge. Check out these cuties.
Aren’t they a adorable? They are a scrumptious, chocolate, moist cupcake that is topped with a sweet buttercream frosting and decorated for Halloween. The decorations are very easy to make too. I love that about them. Let me share with you the making of these Halloween gems.
The first thing I do is gather all of my ingredients together. It makes it so much easier when putting everything together. Here are the ingredients for the cupcakes. I used Dixie Crystals Sugar, a Southern favorite brand that has been around since 1917. Plus, I used an egg, milk, melted butter for moisture and of course flour, salt and baking soda. For a little bit of flavor, I used vanilla extract. Love my vanilla extract. Gives it such a nice flavor in chocolate.
I used just a mixing bowl, and whisked everything together. I did all I could to keep my fingers out of the bowl. The chocolate is so rich and decadent and with Dixie Sugar it added a very nice sweetness to the cupcakes. Here are the cupcakes before going into the oven.
The cupcakes take about 15 minutes to make. They smell amazing. While the cupcakes were cooling I used the time to prep for the decorations. By the time I was done the cupcakes were cool enough to frost. For the decorations, I used a Chocolate Sandwich Cookies for the dirt. I scraped out the frosting in the center of the cookie and pulsed the wafer portion of the cookie sandwich in my mini food processor to make it look like dirt. I used oblong cookies for the tombstone. I used a serrated knife to trim the bottoms of the cookie and with a black frosting pen I wrote RIP. Pretty cool. Then I used Gummy Sculls and Pumpkin Candies for extra decorations. I love the look of the little pumpkins.
The next step was to make the frosting. I used 2 sticks of softened butter, 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract and 3 1/2 cups of Dixie Crystals Powdered Sugar. For the green color, I used a few drops of green food coloring. I used green to look like grass. I beat everything together until was the consistency that I wanted.
I got my assembly line all ready to go. I frosted 3 cupcakes at a time and then added my decorations. I found it easier doing it this way. Decorating was easy. I frosted the cupcakes with a thin layer of frosting. I didn’t want to make it to high, since I was adding decorations to it. I made a slight slit in the back of the cupcake to fit the tombstone, added a little bit of pulsed cookies for the dirt and then added my pumpkin or scull next to the tombstone and put in a Happy Halloween sign. It was really fun to make.
This would be a fantastic recipe to make with kids. they would have a blast decorating the cupcakes. You can find more fun ideas on Dixie Crystals Sugar website Kids in the Kitchen section. They even have recipes on how to make homemade colored bath crayons. I don’t think you need to have kids to make these? I want to make them. You should check it out!
I have to say I am really proud of these cupcakes. I am not a food decorator person. I am not good at frosting or decorating. I try and it comes out messy. So with these cupcakes, I am proud to say I made them. They are so pretty I don’t even want to eat them.
- Cupcakes:
- 1 cup + 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 ¼ tsp. baking soda
- ½ tsp. salt
- ¾ cups Dixie Crystals Pure Cane Sugar
- 1 egg
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- ¾ cup milk (I used non-fat)
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 12 black cupcake liners
- Frosting:
- 2 sticks (1 cup) butter, room temperature
- 3 ½ cups Dixie Crystals Powdered Sugar
- 1 tbsp. vanilla extract
- 3 - 5 drops green food coloring
- Decorations:
- 12 pumpkin candies or 12 Gummy Skulls
- 9 chocolate sandwich cookies, with center frosting removed
- 12 oblong cookies to make tombstone (I used Milano’s)
- 1 black frosting pen to write RIP on cookie
- 12 Halloween Signs (optional)
- To make cupcakes:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Line a standard muffin pan with cupcake liners; set aside.
- In a bowl sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt; set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the Dixie Crystals Pure Cane Sugar and egg until smooth. Add vanilla extract, milk and butter. Mix until well combined. Mix in flour mixture until no lumps remain.
- Evenly divide the cupcake batter into the prepared cupcake baking pan. Bake in oven for 15 - 18 minutes. Insert a toothpick to the center of the cupcake. If it comes out clean, it is done.
- Let cupcakes cool in pan for 10 minutes. Take out of pan and put on a cooling rack to cool completely.
- While cupcakes are cooling you can prepare the decorations.
- For the dirt: Take the frosting out of the center of the chocolate sandwich cookie. Discard the frosting (or eat it) and take the chocolate cookie wafers and pulse in a mini food processor or place in a baggie and with a rolling pin, roll over cookies until a fine powder.
- For the tombstone: With a serrated knife; cut off the bottoms of the oblong (Milano's) cookie to make a flat edge. I put the cookie next to the cupcake to see what size would look best. I cut off about a ½". With the black frosting pen, write RiP on the tombstone.
- To make frosting:
- In a large mixing bowl, beat together softened butter, Dixie Crystals Powered Sugar, and vanilla extract; until a creamy constancy; about 3 minutes. Add 4 - 5 drops of food coloring to get the green color you desire; make sure it is beat in well.
- To put together cupcakes:
- Frost the cupcakes with a butter knife. Add a small slit in the back of the cupcake and add the tombstone. Take ½ teaspoon of the dirt (pulsed chocolate cookie) and lay in the front of the tombstone. Add the pumpkin or gummy skull near the tombstone. Place Happy Halloween sign into cupcake.
I had such a great time making these cupcakes. I am really excited to see what everyone else is making for Halloween Treats. Make sure you check out what the #SundaySupper gang put together. If you’re looking for more fun recipes, check out Dixie Crystals.com. There are 1000’s of recipe, videos and cookbooks to inspire you to create something awesome this upcoming holiday season.
Dixie Crystals is having a fun contest called Scary Scramble. Just unscramble the recipe name and you could win a Kitchenaid Stand Mixer. It is a fun contest and a great prize. The contest runs until October 19th. For more information just go to http://www.dixiecrystals.com/scaryscramble.
For more information about Dixie Crystals you can check out these links:
- Website: http://www.dixiecrystals.com/
- Additional site link: Kids in the Kitchen landing page
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DixieCrystalsSugar
- Google+:https://plus.google.com/u/0/+DixiecrystalsSugarProducts/posts
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dixie_crystals/
- Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/dixiecrystals/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/DixieCrystals
Have a great Sunday and a wonderful week.
Toodles,
Jennifer
Join the #SundaySupper conversation on twitter on Sunday! We tweet throughout the day and share recipes from all over the world. Our weekly chat starts at 7:00 pm ET. Follow the #SundaySupper hashtag and remember to include it in your tweets to join in the chat. To get more great Sunday Supper Recipes, visit our website or check out our Pinterest board.
Bewitching Breakfast Treats
- Pumpkin Chocolate Cheesecake Muffins by April Golightly
- Pumpkin Spice Donuts by Life Tastes Good
Fang-tastic Candy Treats
- Creepy Pumpkin Seed Brittle by Sunday Supper Movement
- Easy Halloween Fudge by The Dinner-Mom
- Soft and Chewy Apple Cider Caramels by Serena Bakes Simply From Scratch
Boo-tiful Cakes and Pies
- Cheesecake Mummies by Bobbi’s Kozy Kitchen
- Cinnamon Frosted Pumpkin Spice Layer Cake by Crazed Mom
- Gluten Free Spooky Chocolate Cupcakes by Fearless Dining
- Graveyard Cupcakes by Peanut Butter and Peppers
- Halloween Cupcakes by Recipes Food and Cooking
- Halloween Whoopie Pies by The Chef Next Door
- Mini Jack-O-Lantern Cakes by Renee’s Kitchen Adventures
- Mummy Apple Hand Pies by Eazy Peazy Mealz
- Pumpkin Chocolate Ganache Cake by Taste And See
- Pumpkin Cupcakes by Flour On My Face
Spooktacular Cookies
- Gingerbread Zombies by Family Foodie
- Halloween Spider Cookies by Moore or Less Cooking
- Halloween Sugar Cookie Bars by Savory Experiments
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies by Alida’s Kitchen
- Witch Hat Cookies by Dizzy Busy and Hungry
Other Bone-chilling Goodies
- Bloody Crème Brûlée by That Skinny Chick Can Bake
- Haunted Halloween Ghosts by Shockingly Delicious
- Individual Candy Corn Fruit Salad Dessert by Hot Eats Cool Reads
- Monster Munch Popcorn Snack Mix by A Dish of Daily Life
- Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Cobbler by The Gold Lining Girl
- Vampire Collins Cocktail by kimchi MOM
Join the #SundaySupper conversation on twitter on Sunday! We tweet throughout the day and share recipes from all over the world. Our weekly chat starts at 7:00 pm ET. Follow the #SundaySupper hashtag and remember to include it in your tweets to join in the chat. To get more great Sunday Supper Recipes, visit our website or check out our Pinterest board.
This post is sponsored by Dixie Crystals in conjunction with a social media campaign through Sunday Supper LLC. All opinions are my own.
SO cute and festive! My family wants cupcakes for every occasion—so they’d love these!
Thank you Liz! 🙂
Your cupcakes are really fun and festive and they look easy enough for anyone to make!
Thank you Renee! They are really easy to make. Plus they taste good too. 🙂
These are so fun! Such a great idea!
Thank you so much! They are fun to make too!