As a kid I dreamed of candy. And of course I always loved Halloween -trick or treating was so much fun! Neighbors giving away endless amounts of candy and all I was required to do was ring the doorbell?! Carrying one of those cute little plastic jack-o-lantern buckets to collect my candy in, with candy spilling out over the top, was definitely one of the highlights of the year!
And these Halloween Jack o'lantern Candy Cupcakes are just that - cute little jack o'lantern buckets filled with chocolate cupcakes that are filled with candies and topped with even more candies. Childhood dreams really do come true...
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These Halloween candy cupcakes are perfect for a Halloween party because they are simple and fun to make and easily transported to wherever you are going! You're probably going to dig into that Halloween candy before Halloween anyway, so why not use some to top these cupcakes off with it? The fun part is topping it with your favorites. I bought a variety bag and used some candy I had in the house but you could use any candy you desire. You can also use your favorite scratch chocolate cupcake recipe, a box mix or store-bought. And because these cupcakes aren't scary looking they are great for kids (any age) and adults alike!
🥘 Ingredients
For this jack o lantern cupcakes recipe, you'll need:
- Cupcakes *you can buy plain cupcakes (or already iced), use a box cake mix, your favorite chocolate cake recipe, my Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake or my Old Fashioned Sour Cream Chocolate Cake. You could also use vanilla cupcakes or pumpkin cupcakes
- Scaries (Halloween smarties) * or substitute regular smarties
- Frosting: you can use store-bought, your favorite frosting, my Whipped Cream Buttercream Frosting or my Chocolate Frosting (without butter), chocolate frosting, vanilla frosting or orange frosting
- black licorice
- a variety of candies for topping
- orange paper ice cream/dessert cups (6 oz)
- black marker
Besides going door to door to get candy, there are very few things that are more fun than busting something open to have candy spill out of it. And that's what Pinata Cupcakes or surprise middle cupcakes are. The candy surprise inside makes this cupcake even more satisfying because there's even more candy to be had than the candy you see on top!
🔪 Instructions
- When cupcakes are cooled, use an apple corer to remove centres of cupcakes and set aside centres
- Fill cupcake with smarties or other small candies to ¾ full
- Cut centres in half and only put top half back into hole in cupcakes
- Top cupcakes with frosting. Draw jack-o-lantern faces on orange cups. Gently set cupcake inside orange cup. Add a piece of black licorice as the handle, securing on each side of the cupcake (it should slide in and stay on each side of the cupcake, but you can use a little icing to make it stick if you need to)Top with candies and serve! *See recipe card for full instructions
👪 Serving Size
This jack-o-lantern cupcakes recipe makes 12 servings. However, you can half, double or triple the recipe by clicking on the blue serving number and selecting the number of servings you'd like. The ingredient quantities will automatically adjust.
🍽 Equipment
And pinata cupcakes are surprisingly easy to make - all you need is an apple corer and 6 oz orange paper dessert cups (affiliate links) and a black marker. If you are making them from scratch you'll need a muffin tin and cupcake liners, as well as a pastry bag, coupler and tip.
🚗Transporting
If you need to transport these Halloween chocolate cupcakes, use the cups with lids, cover with plastic wrap or just put into a taller container and add the licorice on when you get to where you are going
🌡️Storage
Store these Halloween cupcakes at room temperature for up to 3 days. It is not necessary to refrigerate them (unless you use a frosting that requires refrigeration). You can also make these cupcakes in advance and freeze them (but do not fill and frost them until after they are fully defrosted.
So, if you have a Halloween gathering, party or potluck coming up, then why not take along these easy Jack o lantern cupcakes?!
⭐ Reviews
Did you make this recipe? Please RATE THE RECIPE below!
🎃Halloween Jack o'lantern Cupcake Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 12 chocolate cupcakes
you can use any chocolate cake recipe, use a cake mix or store-bought cupcakes * I recommend my Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake (see NOTES) which I used for these - 2 boxes smarties ('scaries') or candies (to fill cupcake) * Scaries are the Halloween smarties
- 3 cups chocolate frosting * I recommend my Chocolate Whipped Cream Buttercream frosting (see recipe NOTES)
- 12 pieces black licorice
- variety of candies for topping
- 12 orange paper ice cream/dessert cups (6 oz)
- black marker
Instructions
- Bake cupcakes as per recipe instructions
- When cupcakes are cooled, use an apple corer to remove centres of cupcakes and set aside centres
- Fill cupcake with smarties or other small candies to ¾ full
- Cut centres in half and only put top half back into hole in cupcakes
Decorating
- Top cupcakes with frosting
- Draw a jack o'lantern face on each orange cup (you'll want to draw a variety of faces)
- Gently set cupcake inside orange cup.
- Add a piece of black licorice as the handle, securing on each side of the cupcake (it should slide in and stay on each side of the cupcake, but you can use a little icing to make it stick if you need to)
- Add candies to the top of each cupcake and serve!
Colleen
Definitely the stuff of childhood dreams, Terri! These cupcakes are adorable and so fun. I love how simple they are and so creative!
Sabrina
These are absolutely the cutest! What a fun great idea, I can’t wait to surprise my kids with these, thanks!
Kristen
Terri these are so freakin cute - what a great recipe to involve my daughter in, she will love this!
Terri Gilson
Thanks, Kristen! Your daughter will love helping! My 12 year old daughter drew all the Jack o’lantern faces- I am not that artistic 🙂
Katherine | Love In My Oven
Oh my gosh these are the CUTEST!!! My kids would absolutely love them!! Perfect for Halloween!
Terri Gilson
Thanks Katherine! My kids and their friends definitely enjoyed them!
Sean@Diversivore
Awww, these are tons of fun! Such a great way to really take the Halloween theme to a cupcake. And I love that they stay separate and neat too - perfect for kids at a Halloween party!
Terri Gilson
Thanks, Sean!