Vegan Halloween Cupcakes: Ghosts, Monsters, and Bats

4.72 from 7 votes

These adorable vegan Halloween cupcakes require only one recipe with three creative ways to decorate! Create a spooky ghost, a monster, or a bat!

Prep Time20

Cook Time18

Cool and Decorate40

Total Time1 18

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Diet: Vegan

Servings:

Calories: 441kcal

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Using the cream center from the Oreo, roll into small balls. Press mini chocolate chip into the center.

Tips for Making Vegan Halloween Cupcakes

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.