Easy Ghost Cupcakes To Make With Your Kids
These ghost cupcakes for Halloween will be a big hit with your kids this Halloween. Bake these from scratch vanilla cupcakes and add a buttercream frosting. They are so easy to make, that even the littlest witches or ghosts can help. Who doesn’t need a fun, easy Halloween dessert idea to throw together with their kids?
Jump to Recipe
Boo! Need an easy Halloween treat to make with your kids? These easy ghost cupcakes fit the bill perfectly. They are easy to decorate and look so cute. They are also SUPER tasty.
The local stores are filling up with everything Halloween, so I thought it was time to create another Halloween treat to make with your kids.
How to Make Halloween Special Even If You Can’t Go Out.
Rumor has it that Halloween is going to be cancelled in our little town. Can you imagine?
So, parents are looking for special things to do at home. I don’t know about you, but I think Halloween inspired treats are a lot of fun for kids. They will make the day seem special, even if trick and treating is cancelled.
In keeping with my other spooktacular treats, these are easy to put together. They are also so dang cute. These sweet ghosts start off as vanilla cupcakes. Just top them off with a swirl of frosting and add chocolate chips. How easy is that?
If you want to go all out you can even add candy eyes. don’t know about you, but I adore those candy eyeballs. They make such good ghost eyes.
This treat is part of my Halloween and Fall Recipe collection. You can find all my Holiday & Seasonal Recipes here, or head to the Kid-Friendly Recipes resource hub for everything in one place.
Keeping It Simple
Let’s dive into the instructions. As mentioned the base for our ghostly treats is vanilla cupcakes. I’ll give you instructions for making them from scratch. If you want to save time, just use a boxed mix, or buy them ready made.
How to Make Ghost Cupcakes With Kids
Vanilla Cupcakes
These chocolate cupcakes are very yummy. They are everything you want in a cupcake.
Moist, vanilla infused goodness that your kids will adore. To keep things easy for you, the magic happens in 2 BOWLS.
You do not need special equipment or years of baking experience. Anyone can make this cake, so it is a perfect recipe to make with kids.
Gather your kids and make sure everyone washes their hands. We need to hammer home the need for good kitchen hygiene from an early age.
What You Need To Make Ghost Cupcakes
- 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup hot water
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1 large egg
- 3/4 tsp vanilla
Preparing the muffin Trays
Preheat the oven to 180°C and line 2 x 12-hole muffin trays with paper cupcake cases. These are cute, but plain ones are just fine.
Mixing the batter
The cupcakes start by sifting together all-purpose flour, baking soda and the salt. This will keep the cupcakes light and airy. Add the sugar atir everything together until thoroughly combined. Set it aside.
In a separate bowl, pour the hot water, and then add the vegetable oil, buttermilk, and vanilla. Add the egg and whisk together.
Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the wet ingredients. Slowly mix starting at the center until everything is combined. See to it that there are no lumps, and it is smooth.
Filling Cupcake Liners And Baking
Pour or spoon the batter into the liners. Fill each cup cake liner to about 3/4 full. Bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before frosting.
Decorating The Ghost Cupcakes
Again, if you are short on time buy some frosting! No one is going to judge. Well they might, but who cares?
Here are the instructions for making your own.
Ingredients for Butter Frosting
- ⅓ cup butter
- 4 ½ cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
- ¼ cup milk
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
Making The Frosting
Beat the butter until it looks fluffy. Gradually add 2 cups of confectioners’ sugar and beat well.
Pour in the milk and vanilla, then slowly beat the remaining sugar.
If the frosting feels too thick, add more milk.
Decorating With Older Kids
Older kids and teens have the fine motor skills to get fancy. Use a large piping bag with a big round tip or cut a hole in a Ziplock bag.
Pipe ghosts onto the cupcakes by outlining the outside edge of the cupcake, before circling into the center, and then squeeze the bag and gently pull up.
Here’s a helpful video from Wilton’s that demonstrates the technique
Add the candy eyeballs! You can also substitute chocolate chips if you prefer. Don’t they look adorable?
Decorating With Younger Kids
Younger children would have hard time piping the frosting.
Watching you pipe beautiful ghost swirls is not fun for them either. We want this to be an activity you can do together.
So, if you have younger kids invite them to spread the frosting on the cupcakes and add the candy eyes.
It will not look as pretty, but your kids will not care one bit. Trust me on this. The eyes will make everything seem spooktacular.
Tips and Tricks For Making Ghost Cupcakes
- Make sure that all the ingredients are at room temperature.
- Do not over mix.
- Make sure to sift all the dry ingredients for better results.
- To know if your cupcakes are cooked, use the toothpick test.
- Ensure that the cupcake is completely cool before frosting it.
Easy Ghost Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ cup hot water
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- ½ cup buttermilk
- 1 large egg
- 3/4 tsp vanilla
- ⅓ cup butter
- 4 ¼ cups sifted confectioners' sugar
- ¼ cup milk
- Candy eyes or chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C and line a 12-hole muffin trays with paper cupcake cases.
- Sift together all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the sugar and stir until thoroughly combined. Set it aside.
- In a separate bowl, combine the hot water, vegetable oil, buttermilk, and vanilla. Add the egg and whisk together.
- Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the wet ingredients. Slowly mix starting at the center until everything is combined.
- Pour or spoon the batter into the liners. Fill each cup cake liner to about 3/4 full.
- Bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before frosting.
- To make frosting, beat the butter until it looks fluffy. Gradually add 2 cups of confectioners' sugar and beat well.
- Pour in the milk and vanilla, then slowly beat the remaining sugar. If the frosting feels too thick, add more milk.
- Fill the piping bag with frosting
- Pipe ghosts onto the cupcakes by outlining the outside edge of the cupcake, before circling into the center, and then squeeze the bag and gently pull up to make a mound.
- Place candy eyes
Notes
Looking for some More Halloween Fun?
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