Easy Cupcakes

Pumpkin by fence cupcake

I got the idea for this cupcake from a Halloween flier at Joann’s craft and fabric store. My husband said, “What is this–a pumpkin by a goalpost? I think it’s cute: a pretzel fence and that ever-popular Halloween candy, the mellocreme pumpkin.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; frosting tinted green; a bit of white frosting; 5 stick pretzels; 1 mellowcreme pumpkin.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake green. Use dabs of white frosting to stick pretzels together like a fence. Stick into cupcake. Add mellocreme pumpkin.

Bat cupcake

These Halloween bat cupcakes are so easy, they’ll fly out of your kitchen. Just like that bad pun should have.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; white or cream cheese frosting; 1 chocolate-covered thin mint candies (these are by Necco); 1 mini Oreo cookie; two red hot candies (cinnamon imperials).

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Use dabs of icing to secure red hots to Oreo for bat eyes. Place in center of cupcake. Cut mint in half using knife. Add, at an angle with cut sides facing up, to left and right of Oreo for wings.

Gingerbread boy cupcake

Run, run as fast and you can … and make cupcakes that look like a gingerbread man. Cute for Christmas!

What You Need: 1 cupcake; chocolate frosting; 2 white Smarties candies; 1/2 pink mini marshmallow; red gel writing icing. Of course you can switch out the candies for whatever you have on hand.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Add candies as shown for eyes and nose. Use gel to draw mouth, allowing extra gel to pool at either end to look like rosy cheeks.

Halloween Peep cupcake

What could be simpler than popping a marshmallow Peep on a cupcake?

What You Need: 1 cupcake; orange frosting; Halloween sprinkles (I just used Pillsbury’s Halloween frosting and the sprinkles that came with it); orange jack ‘o lantern Peep.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake, making a small mound of frosting in the center. Place Peep in center. Sprinkle sprinkles around edge of cupcake.

Girl clown cupcake

I used a few shortcuts to make these clown cupcakes quick and easy. I didn’t feel like mixing up icing, or even tinting frosting from a can, so I attached a star tip to Wilton icing in a tube and used that. Also, you could pipe a red mouth, but I just used licorice.

What You Need: 1 cupcake; white frosting; yellow icing in a tube; metal or plastic star tip and coupler; cherry or sour red candy balls; heart-shaped red hots (cinnamon imperials); 2 lime Runts (or other candy); red licorice.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake white. Use star tip and yellow icing with star tip to “draw” hair. Add 2 red hots with points facing inward for bows (You could also use red Runts; they are kind of heart-shaped). Place 2 lime Runts for eyes and a red cherry or sour ball for nose. Add strand of red licorice for mouth. Remember, you don’t have to have these exact candies–just use what you have on hand!

Nonpareil spotted spider cupcake

Make an easy spotted spider cupcake for Halloween using nonpareil candies. (They’re chocolate wafers coated in little white ball thingies.)

What You Need: 1 cupcake; orange icing (we just used Pillsbury’s Halloween icing); 2 red hot cinnamon imperials; black writing icing or gel in tube.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Use dab of icing to stick red candy eyes to nonpareil wafer. Place in center of cupcake. Use black gel or icing to draw eight legs.

Christmas elf cupcake

Make holiday guests happy with these happy elf cupcakes. Experiment with different colors and designs and let your creativity shine in your workshop-kitchen!

What You Need: 1 cupcake; white frosting; green sugar crystals; 2 green gumdrops; red candy for nose (we used Runts); mini marshmallows; red gel writing icing in tube.

How to Make It: Frost cupcake. Sprinkle green sugar near top of cupcake for hat (It doesn’t have to be perfect, because the brim will be covered up with marshmallows). Add row of marshmallows to brim and near edge of cupcake for pompom. Add gumdrop eyes and candy nose. Use gel to draw red mouth, letting it “blob” up a bit on either end for cheeky appearance.