Description
These Pumpkin Spice Pudding Halloween Cupcakes combine moist, spiced cake with festive Halloween decorations featuring candy moons and sprinkles. Perfectly soft cupcakes infused with pumpkin spice pudding mix and apple cider create a vibrant fall flavor, while the black and yellow candy melt decorations add a fun, spooky touch for the Halloween season.
Ingredients
Scale
Cupcakes
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 3½ teaspoons baking powder
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 (3.4 ounce) pumpkin spice pudding mix
- ¾ cup vegetable oil
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup apple cider
Decorations
- Black candy melts (quantity as needed)
- Yellow candy melts (quantity as needed)
- Yellow sugar sprinkles (as needed)
- Small lollipop sticks cupcake picks (as needed)
Instructions
- Preheat Oven: Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C) to ensure a properly heated environment for baking the cupcakes.
- Prepare Cupcake Liners: Line 24 cupcake wells with cupcake liners to prevent sticking and ease cleanup, then set them aside.
- Mix Dry Ingredients: In a mixing bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking powder, granulated sugar, and pumpkin spice pudding mix until fully combined.
- Add Wet Ingredients: Pour in the vegetable oil, crack in the three large eggs, and add the apple cider to the dry mixture. Mix on medium speed for about 2 minutes or until the batter is smooth, well combined, and creamy in texture.
- Fill Cupcake Liners: Using a spoon or ice cream scoop, fill each cupcake liner about three-quarters full with the batter to allow room for rising.
- Bake the Cupcakes: Place the tray in the oven and bake for approximately 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, indicating the cupcakes are fully baked.
- Cool: Remove the cupcakes from the oven and let them cool completely on a wire rack to prepare for decorating.
- Prepare Candy Moons: Trace circles on parchment paper using a biscuit cutter sized to your desired moon shape. Turn over and tape onto a cookie sheet.
- Melt Yellow Candy: Melt yellow candy melts and transfer to a squeeze bottle or a zip-top bag with a corner snipped off.
- Form Moons: Trace the circles on the parchment paper with the melted yellow candy first, then fill in each circle. Sprinkle yellow sugar sprinkles over the wet candy to cover any unevenness.
- Freeze Moons: Place the cookie sheet in the freezer for 10 minutes to harden the candy moons.
- Finish Moons: Once hardened, shake off excess sprinkles. Turn moons over on the cookie sheet. Dip small lollipop sticks into melted yellow candy and position them in the center on the back side of each moon. Return to freezer for another 10 minutes.
- Decorate Cupcakes: Melt black candy melts. Dip the cooled cupcakes into the melted black candy and immediately into colored sugar sprinkles to coat.
- Add Moon and Picks: Right after dipping and sprinkling, quickly place a candy moon and the small lollipop stick cupcake pick on top of each cupcake before the candy hardens to ensure they stick well.
Notes
- It is very important to add the candy moon immediately after dipping the cupcake top in melted candy and sprinkling; waiting too long will cause the candy to harden and prevent the moon from sticking properly.
- Use a biscuit cutter or similar circular cutter to get uniform moon shapes for decorating.
- Freezing the candy moons between steps helps the candy set firmly for easier handling during decoration.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cupcake
- Calories: 320
- Sugar: 28g
- Sodium: 220mg
- Fat: 15g
- Saturated Fat: 3g
- Unsaturated Fat: 12g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 44g
- Fiber: 1.5g
- Protein: 4g
- Cholesterol: 55mg
