Halloween Is A Wrap With These Spooky Cupcakes

Halloween 2015 is upon us, and if you have kids, that means Halloween-themed parties and lots of excitement for trick-or-treating. I can't imagine a better way to get in the spooky spirit than with these adorable and super easy cupcakes. I found the inspiration on Pinterest and my daughter and I whipped up a batch today. I'm including the "from scratch" directions, but feel free to use your favorite mix and/or store-bought icing. You'll get no judgement from me. (Here's a link to my chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting. You're welcome.)

After you make these little babies, upload them to the BeFunky Photo Editor to add fun goodies or speech bubbles like I did before sharing them with your friends on social media! The mummy puns are optional... but hey, why not?

To get this adorable little graphic, I uploaded my photo to the BeFunky Photo Editor, auto-enhanced it, added a vignette...

Pro Tip: Play around with different blend modes to try out multiple vignette effects.

...and a couple of speech bubbles.

Super simple, and so much fun. Now here's the recipe, so go out and get creative!

Cakes:

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 sticks butter at room temperature
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons instant espresso powder or instant coffee
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup buttermilk at room temperature
• 1/2 cup sour cream at room temperature
• 1 3/4 cups A.P. Flour
• 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon fine salt

Preheat oven to 350, and line cupcake pans with paper liners.

Combine buttermilk, sour cream, and vanilla in a bowl or measuring cup and set aside.

Over a piece of parchment, or large bowl, sift flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt together.

In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter, sugars, and coffee powder until light and fluffy. About 5 minutes on medium-high speed.

Scrape sides, add eggs, and beat again until light and fluffy. About 2 minutes.

Next, with the mixer running on low speed, add the buttermilk mixture and dry mixture, alternately, beginning and ending with the flour. Don’t over mix. Using a rubber spatula, scrape sides and bottom of bowl, making sure everything is combined.

Fill liners almost to the top. Bake in preheated oven for 18-20 minutes. Cool completely before frosting.

Frosting: