These vegan halloween cupcakes are just the treat you need to make this spooky season. With a delicious, light and airy chocolate cupcake base and some fun spooky themed icing decoration, they are both yummy and fun.

With a bit of spooky coloured icing, spooky eyes and fun Halloween sprinkles – these little creepy cupcakes will bring the fun to your halloween party. Make these for your Halloween get together or cozy, family night in. My kids absolutely adored these and they are a firm favorite this time of year.

One the chocolate cupcakes have cooled down you can go about icing these fun designs. You don’t have to copy these exact ones – as you can get creative once you have googly eyes and a piping bag.

I love that these purple ones have a more moody air about them, so these could work well for a grown up Halloween party. Whilst the little monsters are fun for little ones.

Other Halloween type colors to frost the cupcakes in could be orange, green, black or blood red!

You may also enjoy these brilliantly vegan Halloween Recipes

Equipment Needed

1. Cupcake Tray
2. Baking Cases – can be Halloween themed
3. Mixing Bowl and additional bowls for frosting
4. Spatula
5. Electric Whisk
6. Piping Bag or 2-3 Sandwich bags (depending on how many color frosting used)

How to make these vegan halloween cupcakes

Ingredients (Makes 12 cupcakes)

Cupcake Ingredients

• 1 ¼ cups (155g) plain flour
• 1 cup (200g) caster sugar
• ½ cup (50g) unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 cup (240ml) oat milk (or any plant milk)
• ⅓ cup (80ml) neutral oil (sunflower, canola, or light olive)
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar (or white vinegar)
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• ½ cup (120ml) hot coffee (or hot water, but coffee boosts chocolate flavour)

Frosting Ingredients

(see troubleshooting tips below)

• 1 cup vegan butter
• 3–4 cups powdered sugar (sifted for smoothness)
• 1–2 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
• Food colouring (gel or liquid, check it’s vegan-friendly; some natural colourings use beet, spirulina, turmeric)
• Optional: 2–4 tbsp plant milk (soy, oat, almond, etc.) this may be needed if frosting is too stiff
• Optional: Halloween Cupcake Liners, Fun Halloween Sprinkles and Spooky Eyes

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and line a muffin tray with cases.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients.
3. In a separate bowl, mix the plant milk and vinegar. Let sit for 2 minutes to curdle (this makes vegan “buttermilk”).
4. Add oil and vanilla to the buttermilk, stir well.
5. Pour wet ingredients into the dry and mix gently until just combined.
6. Stir in the hot coffee last (batter will be thin).
7. Divide evenly into the cases (about ¾ full each).
8. Bake for 18–22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
9. Let cool completely before frosting.
10. Beat the vegan butter with an electric mixer until creamy and fluffy (about 2–3 minutes).
11. Slowly add sifted powdered sugar, about 1 cup at a time, beating on low until incorporated.
12. If it’s too thick, add the optional more plant milk a teaspoon at a time. If too thin, add a bit more sugar.
13. Once smooth and fluffy, divide into bowls if you want multiple colours.
14. Add food colouring a little at a time, mixing thoroughly. Please see troubleshooting tips below for vegan frosting.
15. The dark coloured cupcakes pictured uses a purple gel coloring, with fun halloween sprinkles
16. The more novelty “monster” cupcakes is plain white frosting, simply piped into shapes and faces. The googly eyes really brings these ones to life
17. Store them in the fridge for the frosting to remain in shape for 2-3 days.

Troubleshooting Tips

I find vegan frosting can be hit and miss sometimes. Here are some tips for troubleshooting:

• Gel colouring generally doesn’t mess with the ratio of the liquid to powdered sugar. It also gives a more vibrant color, which is what we want for halloween cupcakes.
• Use vegan sticks or block butter, for example Earth Balance, Naturli, Flora Plant, etc. Using a vegan butter with a higher fat content is ideal.
• If the mixture is appearing too stiff, add a small bit of plant milk to loosen, but add it like 1 tsp at a time so not to overdo it
• If the mixture is appearing too viscous, then add more powdered sugar to the mix.
• If you don’t have a piping bag, don’d worry. Turns out, mine got thrown away recently so I used a sandwich bag. Simply add the frosting to a sandwich bag and seal shut, then with a scissors, cut a small hole in the bottom corner of the bag to allow the icing to be piped out.
• You can easily use an orange colored icing to make little pumpkin cupcakes

Continue to Content

Spooky Vegan Halloween Cupcakes

Yield: 12

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Additional Time: 40 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes

These spooky Halloween vegan cupcakes are so fun to make. They have a light and airy chocolate cupcake base, using fun Halloween themed paper casings. They are frosted into funny, monster faces or more dark and moody purple cupcakes. The googly eyes and halloween colored sprinkles really bring these halloween cupcakes to life!

Print

Ingredients

Cupcake Ingredients

• 1 ¼ cups (155g) plain flour
• 1 cup (200g) caster sugar
• ½ cup (50g) cocoa powder (unsweetened, good quality)
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 cup (240ml) oat milk (or any plant milk)
• ⅓ cup (80ml) neutral oil (sunflower, canola, or light olive)
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar (or white vinegar)
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• ½ cup (120ml) hot coffee (or hot water, but coffee boosts chocolate flavour)

Frosting Ingredients

• 1 cup vegan butter
• 3–4 cups powdered sugar (sifted for smoothness)
• 1–2 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
• Food colouring (gel or liquid, check it’s vegan-friendly; some natural colourings use beet, spirulina, turmeric)
• Optional: 2–4 tbsp plant milk (soy, oat, almond, etc.)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and line a muffin tray with cases.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients.
3. In a separate bowl, mix the plant milk and vinegar. Let sit for 2 minutes to curdle (this makes vegan “buttermilk”).
4. Add oil and vanilla to the buttermilk, stir well.
5. Pour wet ingredients into the dry and mix gently until just combined.
6. Stir in the hot coffee last (batter will be thin)
7. Divide evenly into the cases (about ¾ full each).
8. Bake for 18–22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
9. Let cool completely before frosting.
10. Beat the vegan butter with an electric mixer until creamy and fluffy (about 2–3 minutes).
11. Slowly add sifted powdered sugar, about 1 cup at a time, beating on low until incorporated.
12. If it’s too thick, add the optional more plant milk a teaspoon at a time. If too thin, add a bit more sugar.
13. Once smooth and fluffy, divide into bowls if you want multiple colours.
14. Add food colouring a little at a time, mixing thoroughly. Please see troubleshooting tips below for vegan frosting.
15. The dark coloured cupcakes pictured uses a purple gel coloring with fun halloween sprinkles
16. The more novelty "monster" cupcakes is plain white frosting, simply piped into shapes and faces. The googly eyes really brings these ones to life
17. Store them in the fridge for the frosting to remain in shape for 2-3 days.

Notes

• Gel colouring generally doesn't mess with the ratio of the liquid to powdered sugar. It also gives a more vibrant color, which is what we want for halloween cupcakes.
• Use vegan sticks or block butter, for example Earth Balance, Naturli, Flora Plant, etc. Using a vegan butter with a higher fat content is ideal.
• If the mixture is appearing too stiff, add a small bit of plant milk to loosen, but add it like 1 tsp at a time so not to overdo it
• If the mixture is appearing too viscous, then add more powdered sugar to the mix.
• If you don't have a piping bag, don'd worry. Turns out, mine got thrown away recently so I used a sandwich bag. Simply add the frosting to a sandwich bag and seal shut, then with a scissors, cut a small hole in the bottom corner of the bag to allow the icing to be piped out.
• Cool the cupcakes down quicker in order to frost them by popping them in the refrigerator.

Recommended Products

As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.

• 
  200 Pcs Halloween Cupcake Liners with 12 Pcs Cupcake Toppers, Standard Size Cupcake liners for baking, Halloween Baking Supplies and Decorations
• 
  Piping Bags and Tips Set, Reusable Cake Decorating Supplies with 2 Reusable Bags, 12 Icing Tips, 2 Silicone Rings, 2 Couplers and 3 Scrapers, Cake Baking Tools for Cookie Icing Cupcakes
• 
  12 Color Food Coloring Liqua-Gel Decorating Kit – U.S. Art Supply Food Grade, 0.75 fl. oz. (20ml) Bottles, Non-Toxic Primary Popular Colors
• 
  C&h Powdered Sugar 4 Lbs (1)
• 
  Watkins All Natural Original Gourmet Baking Vanilla, with Pure Vanilla Extract, 11 ounces Bottle, 1 Count (Packaging May Vary)
• 
  Anthony's Organic Cocoa Powder, Gluten Free & Non GMO, 2 Pound
• 
  Davis Baking Powder, 8.1 Ounce
• 
  Heckers Unbleached All Purpose Flour 5 lbs

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 1440Total Fat: 17gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 3gUnsaturated Fat: 13gCholesterol: 4mgSodium: 216mgCarbohydrates: 324gFiber: 0gSugar: 308gProtein: 3g

this is just an estimate