These adorable vegan Halloween cupcakes require only one recipe, with three creative ways to decorate them! Create a spooky ghost, a Frankenstein inspired monster, or an Oreo bat!
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Baking with my kids is one of my favorite activities during any holiday! We love making a mess in the kitchen and creating something cute, fun, and delicious in the process.
All of the ingredients and decorations in these cupcakes are vegan!
Not sure which Halloween candy is vegan? Check out my Essential Guide to Vegan Halloween Candy!
These cupcakes are made with a vegan buttercream frosting, vegan butter, and a light and fluffy chocolate batter using white flour.
The result is a light and fluffy cake with a creamy, buttery frosting.
With some simple decorations you can find at any grocery store and a little natural food coloring, you have three individual cupcake designs to WOW your friends and family!
They’ll never know these cupcakes are 100% vegan and a delicious plant-based dessert! Just watch them disappear!
Check out these other vegan Halloween recipes!
- Graveyard Pudding Cups
- Candy Corn Fruit Parfait
- Pumpkin Fruit Tray
- Pumpkin Veggie Tray
- Vegan Trail Mix
- Vegan Pumpkin Brownies
- Vegan Pumpkin Smoothie
- 50 Vegan Halloween Recipes
💗 Why You’ll Love These Vegan Halloween Cupcakes
- Vegan ingredients
- Allergy-friendly
- One recipe, three ways to decorate!
- They are super cute, fun, and festive!
- Perfect for Halloween celebrations
- Make with the kids for a weekend Halloween activity!
🥣 Ingredients and Notes
Cupcake Batter
Plant-Milk and Apple Cider Vinegar: Combining these two ingredients creates vegan buttermilk, giving these cupcakes a nice tang and complimenting the chocolate flavor.
All-Purpose Flour: Helps structure the cupcakes while also creating a light crumb.
Cacao Powder: Both cacao and cocoa powder will work in this recipe.
Baking Soda and Baking Powder: Work in conjunction to leaven the cake.
Organic Cane Sugar: I always bake with organic cane sugar rather than white granulated sugar to ensure it is vegan-friendly.
Vegetable Oil: I choose to use regular vegetable oil, but you could use coconut oil or avocado oil if you like.
Vanilla Extract: Helps to bring out the flavor of the chocolate.
Vegan Buttercream
Vegan Butter: Baking sticks work best for this recipe. I recommend using Earth’s Balance.
Organic Powdered Sugar: Opt for organic to ensure it is vegan.
Vanilla Extract: Adds flavor to the frosting.
Non-Dairy Milk: Gives it enough moisture to make the frosting nice and fluffy.
Cupcake Decorations
For the Monster
- Green Food Coloring
- Black Sugar Sprinkles
- Candy eyes (see below for how to make a vegan version)
- Dairy-Free Chocolate Chips
- Black Decorating Gel
For the Ghost
For the Bat
- Oreo Sandwich Cookies
- Candy eyes (see below for how to make a vegan version)
- Black Decorating Gel
🛠 Tools and Equipment
- Cupcake tins to bake the cupcakes.
- Cupcake liners to line the cupcake tins.
- Use a frosting tip and a frosting bag to frost the cupcakes.
- Mixing bowls to combine the ingredients.
- Hand-mixer to whip the frosting and the cake batter.
👩🏻🍳 How to Make Vegan Halloween Cupcakes
Make the Chocolate Cupcake Batter
Step 1: Preheat oven to 350° F. Combine non-dairy milk and apple cider vinegar in a bowl. Whisk together and set aside for 10 minutes. This creates vegan buttermilk.
Step 2: Whisk together the flour, cacao powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.
Step 3: In a large bowl, combine the vegetable oil, sugar, and vanilla extract. Whisk together to combine. Add the non-dairy milk. Whisk until incorporated.
Step 4: Add the dry ingredients to the bowl with the wet ingredients. Fold together until combined.
Step 5: Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners. Fill the liners ¾ of the way full. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow the cupcakes to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
How to Make the Vegan Buttercream Frosting
Step 1: Bring the vegan butter to room temperature. Do not melt the vegan butter. It must be at room temperature.
Step 2: Whip the butter with a hand-mixer at medium speed until creamy.
Step 3: Add the powdered sugar ½ cup at a time until absorbed before adding the next cup until all of the sugar has been added.
Step 4: Add the non-dairy milk one tablespoon at a time, whipping as you go. Add the vanilla extract. Continue to whip for an additional 30 seconds.
Decorate the Monster Cupcakes
Step 1: Transfer ⅓ of the frosting to another bowl. Add the green food coloring and stir until you get the desired color.
Step 2: Top the cupcakes with the green frosting. Smooth the top with a knife so that the frosting is flat on top. Add the black sugar sprinkles to a shallow bowl. Dip the top of the cupcakes in the black sprinkles.
Step 3: Add two candy eyes to the front of the cupcake and two chocolate chips, flat side out, to the sides. With the black gel pen, draw a line with two lines crossing over to create a scar.
Decorate the Ghost Cupcakes
Step 1: Transfer ⅓ of the vanilla frosting to a piping bag with a frosting tip. Pipe the frosting into a swirl. Add two mini chocolate chips to the center for the eyes and one regular chocolate chip to the center for the mouth.
Decorate the Bat Cupcakes
Step 1: Twist the Oreo cookies to separate the two cookies from the cream center. Usually, the cream will stick more to one side. Scrape any extra cream off the side of the cookie with the least amount of cream.
Step 2: Break that cookie in half. Press the two halves to the back of the cookie with the cream.
Step 3: With the black food gel, make two dots for the eyes. Press the candy eyes on the black food gel. This will help them stick. Draw a smile under the eyes with the black food gel.
Step 4: Frost the cupcake with vanilla frosting so that it’s about ¾ of an inch high. Gently place Oreo bat at the center. The frosting will hold the bat in place.
⚖️ Serving Size
This recipe makes 12 cupcakes in total. It will make four ghosts, four monsters, and four bats.
📝 Expert Tips for Making the Best Vegan Halloween Cupcakes
- Don’t overmix the cake batter.
- Fill the cupcake tins ¾ of the way full. Don’t overfill them.
- Store the frosting in the refrigerator until you are ready to frost and decorate the cupcakes. Allow it to come back to room temperature to make it easier to pipe and frost.
- Gather all the decorations and create stations for decorating with the kids.
🫙 How to Store
Store the cupcakes in the fridge in an airtight container. They will last for 3-4 days in the fridge. The buttercream frosting will be okay at room temperature for a few hours, but it can soften a bit if it is left out too long.
I prefer storing the cupcakes in the refrigerator until I’m ready to serve them.
❓ FAQS
You do not need a piping bag or a piping top, although it does make it easier to pipe the frosting. If you don’t have a piping bag, fill a zip lock bag with frosting and cut off the tip.
The store-bought candy eyes that I have seen have gelatin, which means they are not vegan. However, you can make your own, like I did, using this recipe for homemade googly eyes from Petite Allergy Treats. You can also use some of the cream from the Oreos to roll into small circles and place a mini chocolate chip in the center to create your own bat eyes.
🎥 Video
🎃 More Vegan Halloween Recipes!
Recipe
Vegan Halloween Cupcakes: Ghosts, Monsters, and Bats
Ingredients
Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes
- 1 cup non-dairy milk
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- ⅓ cup cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup cane sugar
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Vegan Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
- 1 cup vegan butter Earth Balance or similar brand
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoon non-dairy milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Monster Decorations
- black decorating gel
- green food coloring
- 8 candy eyes
- 8 dairy free chocolate chips
Ghost Decorations
- 8 mini dairy free chocolate chips
- 4 dairy free chocolate chips
Bat decorations
- 4 Oreo cookies or similar brand
- 8 candy eyes
- black decorating gel
Decorate the
Instructions
Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 350° F. Combine the non-dairy milk and apple cider vinegar in a bowl. Whisk together and set aside for 10 minutes. This creates vegan buttermilk.
- Combine the all-purpose flour, cacao powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk together to combine.
- Combine the vegetable oil, sugar, and vanilla extract in a large bowl. Whisk together to combine. Add the vegan buttermilk. Whisk together until completely combined.
- Pour the dry ingredients into the bowl with the wet ingredients. Stir until combined. Don't overmix.
- Line the muffin tin with cupcake liners. Fill the liners ¾ of the way full. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow the cupcakes to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Vegan Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
- Bring the vegan butter to room temperature. Do not melt the butter. It must be at room temperature.
- Whip the butter with a mixer at medium speed until creamy.
- Add the powdered sugar ½ a cup at a time until it is absorbed before adding the next cup until all of the sugar has been added.
- Add the non-dairy milk one tablespoon at a time, whipping as you go. Add the vanilla extract. and continue to whip until the buttercream is light and fluffy.
Decorate the Monster Cupcakes
- Transfer ⅓ of the frosting to another bowl. Add the green food coloring and stir until the desired color is achieved.
- Top the cupcakes with the green frosting. Smooth the top with a knife so that the frosting is flat on the top. Add black sugar sprinkles to a shallow bowl. Dip the top of the cupcakes in the black sprinkles.
- Add two candy eyes to the front and two chocolate chips, flat side out, to the sides. With the black gel pen, draw a line with two lines crossing over to create a scar.
Decorate the Ghost Cupcakes
- Transfer ⅓ of the vanilla buttercream frosting to a piping bag. Pipe the frosting into a swirl. Add two mini chocolate chips to the center for the eyes and one regular chocolate chip to the center for the mouth.
Decorate the Bat Cupcakes
- Twist to separate the Oreo cookies from the cream center. Usually, the cream will stick more to one side. Scrape any extra cream off the side of the cookie with the least amount of cream. Break that cookie in half. Press the two halves to the back of the cookie with the cream.
- With the black food gel make two dots for the eyes. Press the candy eyes on the black food gel. This will help them stick.
- Draw a smile under the eyes with the black food gel pen.
- Frost the cupcake with vanilla frosting so that it's about ¾ of an inch high. Gently place Oreo bat at the center. The frosting will hold the bat in place.
How to Make Vegan Candy Eyes
- Using the cream center from the Oreo, roll into small balls. Press mini chocolate chip into the center.
Notes
- Don’t overmix the cake batter.
- Fill the cupcake tins ¾ of the way full. Don’t overfill.
- Store the frosting in the refrigerator until ready to frost, and decorate the cupcakes. Allow it to come back to room temperature to make it easier to pipe and frost.
- Gather all the decorations and create stations for decorating with the kids.
- Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container for 3-4 days. Remove and let it come to room temperature for 1 hour before serving.
Pauline
Sorry it took me so long to comment on these fun cupcakes. They were a huge hit! Chocolaty and moist. My decorating was not a cute as yours although my bats were very popular. But I wanted to ask you if I was to use this recipe would it Ben enough for a cake. Either a square or round one?
My vegan grandsons birthday’s coming and would love to use this recipe. It actually rose! I have had bad luck with vegan baking until I met these cupcakes!
Alison Corey
Absolutely! You can certainly make this recipe into a cake! I recommend using an 8 inch round, or 8 inch square pan. Be sure to line with parchment paper. You will likely need to bake a little longer. I would recommend 30-35 minutes.
Vegan potluck
Good, but my cupcakes stuck to the cupcake liners.
Does anyone have a trick that would make them come out with ease?
Alison Corey
Cupcakes will stick to liners for a few reasons. One is it could be your cupcake liner. The least expensive ones tend to stick more than ones that are made with parchment paper. Another reason is that this recipe is low in fat. Because it is plant-based and doesn’t contain any oil it has a higher propensity for sticking. For next time I suggest using a parchment paper cupcake liner, or using a non-stick cooking spray on the inside of the liners. This will keep them from sticking.
jordan
I had so much fun decorating these! They were insanely easy.
Sisley White
These are so cute. I know so many people who would love these as normally cupcakes at Halloween don’t really come in a vegan option.
Angela
These cupcakes are so cute! I will have to remember them when Halloween comes around. The cupcake came out so light and fluffy!
Ashley
I can’t believe these are vegan! They’re not only adorable but super tasty!
Alison Corey
Thank you! I’m so glad you like them!
Lisa Huff
Seeing these cute cupcakes has gotten me all excited for Halloween! Love how easy they look to make. They’re all so cute not sure I could even pick a favorite.
Alison Corey
Thank you so much! They are so fun to make with the kids too!