Polka dot Halloween cupcakes get topped with chocolate candy dots for tasty cuteness. Easy to make with pantry ingredients, this is such an easy Halloween cupcake idea.
These Halloween cupcakes can be your October go-to party dessert. They are a cinch when you use cake mix and one of my easy frosting recipes.
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Buttercream Halloween cupcakes are so easy to make using almost all pantry ingredients. Play around with fun Halloween candy designs or stick to the punchy polka dots. They are delicious no matter what.
Ingredients in buttercream Halloween cupcakes
This recipe is so versatile, and it can be as simple or elaborate as you'd like. A Swiss meringue buttercream will make the tops shiny and smooth, but you can use an American Buttercream, or purchase cans of frosting at the store.
Here are the basic ingredients and some swaps.
- Chocolate Cake Mix - Use any flavor of cake mix if you'd like, or make your own cupcakes with a Gluten-free mix, or my tried and true Vanilla Cupcakes Recipe.
- Frosting - Use chocolate frosting (store-bought, or a whipped chocolate ganache), and a vanilla frosting tinted orange. Use store-bought or a Swiss Meringue Buttercream for a smooth look.
- Mini Chocolate Candies - Sort through a bag of mini M&Ms for the perfect candy polka dots.
How to make Halloween polka dot cupcakes
Start out with a batch of your favorite flavor of cupcakes! You can use a cake mix, chocolate, yellow, spice cake, or another.
Or try a Moist Vanilla Cupcake Recipe that is easy and never fail. You just need basic sugar, flour, and butter ingredients!
Bake the cupcakes in cute papers too. I like using dark colors because the cute designs stay true after being baked. I also make Halloween mini cupcakes as well for a variety of shapes and sizes. Try this assortment of Halloween cupcake papers.
Cake mix and canned frosting
Along with using a cake mix, try canned frosting to make these treats speedy.
A chocolate canned frosting is glossy and smooth, and you can tint vanilla canned frosting orange.
Tint white frosting orange with orange gel paste food coloring for the best color, and use a deep chocolate frosting for the other flavor. Frost half the cupcakes orange and half in chocolate. Immediately decorate with the orange and brown M&Ms.
However, if you've got some time, homemade frosting is my favorite, and you could use my popular fluffy buttercream frosting, rich milk chocolate frosting or chocolate ganache frosting. For a special treat, my Swiss Meringue Buttercream Recipe is a silky, not-too-sweet frosting that melts in your mouth.
Use mini M&Ms:
Before you frost your dot cupcakes, sort the chocolate candy mini M&Ms. You'll want mini orange and chocolate brown M&Ms. You can order them online or often find them in the candy aisle or in bags in the baking isle.
Here is the bag of mini M&Ms you'd find near the chocolate chips! You will need to sort out the orange and brown colors. It just takes a minute or two.
What to serve with easy Halloween cupcakes
If you're throwing a Halloween party, I've got some more Halloween cupcake ideas for you.
- Ghost Cupcakes for spooky treats.
- Pumpkin Decorated Cupcakes to make a pumpkin patch.
- Candy Cupcakes to use some of your Halloween candy.
I love something savory on Halloween as well to balance out the sweet.
- Mummy Mozzarella Sticks are some of the cutest savory snacks.
- Ogre Halloween Pizza is delicious and fun to create.
- Halloween Monster Chicken Sliders come together with a few simple steps.
Click over to my 15 Spooky Treats that your kids can have fun helping with to round out the party. You can also search my Halloween page for more recipe ideas.
Simply create a buffet of assorted treats and you have a party that can't be missed!
I love this time of year and the playful food we get to eat. Have fun creating, and be sure to scroll down and check out my friends' Halloween treats too!
FAQs
Yes! Feel free to use other dot candies for these Halloween cupcakes.
Yes, you can substitute the gel food coloring for a natural food coloring options, just know that the color may not be as vibrant.
If you are using a box mix, then be sure not to over bake the cupcakes.
When making homemade cupcakes, be sure there is enough oil and fat in the cake recipe to make the cupcake moist.
You can make these ahead and store them in a cupcake carrier or on a tray with a lid at room temperature. If you use Swiss Meringue Buttercream you can chill the cupcakes for easy transport.
More Halloween recipes to make
- Pumpkin Decorated Cupcakes
- Candy Cupcakes
- Ghost Cupcakes
- Mummy Mozzarella Sticks
- Ogre Halloween Pizza
- Spiderweb Caramel Apples
Fantastic Halloween Recipes
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📖 Recipe
Polka Dot Halloween Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 1 package cake mix (chocolate, vanilla, or spiced)
- 1 recipe Swiss Meringue Buttercream
- Gel-paste food coloring (orange)
- 1 recipe Whipped Chocolate Ganache Frosting
- Mini M&M's (orange and brown)
Instructions
- Prepare cake mix according to pkg directions making 19 standard-size and 24 mini cupcakes. For standard cupcake tins, fill only 19 with a cake mix so they are larger and come up over the top a little.
- Tint the vanilla frosting orange using food coloring gel.
- Frost half the cupcakes with orange frosting and half of them with chocolate frosting. Arrange orange and brown M&M's on top of frosting with the logo facing down.
- Can be made up to 5 hours ahead, or keep in the refrigerator for up to a day.
Nutrition
Halloween recipes from my friends!
Halloween Chocolate Cherry Hand Pies
Halloween Cinder Cake
Halloween Treats
Spooky Spider Chocolate Cheese Ball
Donut Spiders
Halloween Popcorn Bars
Chocolate Peanut Covered Caramel Apples
Candy Corn Truffle Bark
Mini Frankenstein Cheesecakes
Ghost Munch
Halloween Cake Pops
Tara Teaspoon
I’ve been in food publishing for over 25 years, creating recipes & food-styling for magazines, books, television, food brands, & advertising. With two cookbooks under my belt and thousands of my recipes at your fingertips, I hope you'll be inspired to spend more time in the kitchen!
Recipe by Tara Teaspoon. Photograph by Kate Sears. Prop Stylist Gerri Williams. Originally published LHJ Oct 10. Updated September 2023.
Deb @ Cooking on the Front Burner says
What a great idea and so quick and easy - fun!
Bec says
Tara, these cupcakes are absolutely adorable! I love how easy you made the recipe by using a boxed cake mix. I do have a favorite chocolate cupcake recipe that I'll probably use, but it's a total win when you can save time!
Melissa Griffiths says
How fun! And EASY! Sign this busy mama up!
Becky Tarala says
Love the simple decoration. Festive without being over the top!
Melinda Caldwell says
Perfect for my Halloween party this year. Thanks for sharing!
Wendy says
I love polka dots and these were so easy and fun to make. The kids loved helping my decorate them!
Mary Bench says
So cute and so easy! Thank you!