#Kitchen #Recipe and #HealthyFood: Alyssa Rivers October 20

Alyssa Rivers October 20 लेबलों वाले संदेश दिखाए जा रहे हैं. सभी संदेश दिखाएं

बुधवार, 20 अक्तूबर 2021

Halloween Cupcakes

Halloween cupcakes are as tasty as they are cute! Moist vanilla cupcakes are frosted with timeless Halloween characters for an unforgettable treat!

Need more inspiration for your Halloween party? I’ve got you covered. A themed charcuterie board, mummy hotdogs, and mummy cookie bites are all sure to be a hit. They look as good as they taste!

Various Halloween cupcakes served on black netting.

Halloween Cupcake Recipe With Frosting Ideas

My kids love Halloween. As soon as October rolls around, decorations are up in our house. Costumes and decorations aside, one of the best things about Halloween is the treats! One of our favorite traditions is decorating cupcakes. It’s so fun! With just frosting and little candies, I love to see what my kids come up with. They always turn out so cute! Since Halloween is almost here, what better way to celebrate than with some yummy themed cupcakes? I’m sure your family will love these just as much as mine does!

These start with the perfect vanilla cupcake base, supremely moist and sweet! Then, we frost them with the most buttery, homemade frosting! It’s so good, I always catch my girls eating it straight from the bowl. You can also make these with cream cheese or chocolate buttercream frosting. I’ve included 4 fun tutorials to get you started. From Dracula to Frankenstein, these designs are super easy to achieve! And, to make your life a little easier, my Halloween cupcakes use a lot of basic ingredients so they’re the perfect thing to whip up last minute for a party!

Ingredients for Halloween Cupcakes

Don’t let the long list of ingredients fool you. Making Halloween cupcakes is super easy and uses all the staples in your pantry! For decorating, feel free to use whatever candies your heart desires! I’ve included a few ideas below to get you started, but coming up with your own designs is the fun part!

Vanilla Cupcake Base

Cake Flour: Cake flour is very fine and will give your Halloween cupcakes the perfect, light texture!
Granulated Sugar: A must for the perfect sweetness!
Baking Powder and Baking Soda: You need both of these ingredients for your cupcakes to rise properly.
Salt: Salt is a flavor enhancer, so I add it to my cakes to make them taste better overall!
Buttermilk: This is my secret ingredient! It makes your cupcakes super moist because of its high fat content. Surprisingly, it’s really easy to make at home! You can find my recipe here.
Milk: Use whole milk if you can! The high fat content will make your cupcakes moist and soft.
Clear Vanilla: I like these cupcakes to be bright white, so I use clear vanilla and egg whites! You can certainly use regular vanilla, too, it will just darken your cupcakes a little bit.
Vegetable Oil: Added for moisture and to bind all of the fats together!
Egg Whites: Because I want these cupcakes to be white, I omit egg yolks completely.

Frosting

Unsalted Butter: Butter is the yummy base of your frosting. Make sure it’s room temperature! Everything will mix together more smoothly.
Powdered Sugar: Powdered sugar is added for an amazing sweetness and smooth texture.
Milk: Add milk to adjust consistency!
Pure Vanilla Extract: Pure vanilla will give your frosting a better overall flavor compared to using imitation vanilla. You’ll love how rich and yummy it is!
Salt: A pinch of salt will make your frosting taste better!

How to Make Your Cupcakes and Frosting

Making Halloween cupcakes is fun and easy! All it takes is a few steps of mixing and baking. Then you can decorate however you’d like!

Preheat Oven, Prep Pans: Let’s make some cupcakes! To begin, preheat the oven to 350° and line two muffin tins with cupcake liners.
Mix Dry Ingredients: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Mix, Prep Egg Whites: Add the buttermilk, milk, vanilla, and oil to the dry ingredients and beat with the paddle attachment of a stand mixer or a hand mixer just until fully combined. In a separate bowl, whip the egg whites until you get medium stiff peaks and gently fold into the batter.
Bake: Scoop the batter into the cupcake liners until they are ⅔ of the way full. Bake for 20-22 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean and the tops of the cupcakes bounce back when lightly pressed.
Frost and Design: Frost the cupcakes as desired. Check the pictures in this post for a step-by-step tutorial for some cute Halloween designs!

Frosting

Mix Ingredients: Add butter, powdered sugar, milk, vanilla and salt to the stand mixer bowl. Stir to incorporate all the ingredients, then turn the mixer on high speed and beat until the frosting is white and fluffy, about 10-15 minutes.
Add Color: Add food coloring to small bowls of frosting. You can use any fun combinations you want! In my designs, I use black, gray, green, and red.

Dracula Design With Candy Corn Fangs

No Halloween cupcakes are complete without Dracula! Here’s how I got my design! He’s almost too cute to eat.

Frost Top: Frost the top of your cupcake completely with white frosting. I like to use a knife to get this nice and smooth. Use a piping bag with a small, rounded tip and make 2 dots in the center of the cupcake for your Dracula’s eyes.
Add Eyes and Mouth: Next, we’re going to detail with a small detailing tip. Using black frosting, carefully draw the hairline and fill in completely. Then, add 2 black dots for eyes and a line for a mouth.
Add Red Details: Still using a very small detailing tip, this time with red frosting, add a thin red line underneath the mouth.
Cut and Attach Fangs: Cut the white ends off of 2 pieces of candy corn. These will act as fangs! Place them in the mouth area and your Dracula cupcakes are ready to go!

Process shots of making a Dracula cupcake design.

Easy Frankenstein Design

It’s alive!! This green monster is the perfect addition to any Halloween party.

Green Layer: Frost the top of your cupcake with green frosting. I like to use a butterknife to get everything smooth.
Add Hair: Using a medium-sized, round tip and black frosting, I start to shape some messy hair for our Frankenstein!
Adding Details: Next, I use a medium-sized, round tip with white frosting to make 2 dots for the eyes. Then I go in with a very small tip and black frosting to create pupils and scars. To finish up, I use red gel frosting to create a squiggly mouth!

Step-by-step photos of making a Frankenstein cupcake.

Simple and Cute Mummy Design

This design is one of my favorites! It’s so simple but looks adorable!

Frost Black Layer: To begin, frost your cupcake completely with black frosting.
Add Eyes: Use a medium-sized, round tip and white frosting to create 2 dots for the eyes. Using an even smaller tip, use black frosting for the pupils.
Add Cloth Wraps: Using a flat piping tip and white frosting, create long strips of cloth. Layer these until all but the eyes on your cupcake are covered!

Eyeball Halloween Cupcake Design

Out of all of these designs, the eyeball is the easiest to make in my opinion! To simplify things a little, I use little plastic eyes!

Place Plastic Eye: To begin, place your plastic eye in the center of a frosted white cupcake. Feel free to frost this design instead of using a decoration!
Add Vein Details: Using red gel frosting, create little veins that snake out to the edge of the cupcake.

Process shots of making an eyeball cupcake.

Halloween Cupcake Tips

Now that you’ve learned how to make your cupcakes look good, here are tips and tricks on making them taste just as good! You’ll want to make these all in October!

Use Room Temperature Ingredients: The secret to smooth cakes and cupcakes is to use room temperature wet ingredients. Allow milk, eggs, butter, and buttermilk to come to room temperature before mixing together.
Don’t Overmix Egg Whites: You only want to whisk your egg whites together until you reach medium peaks. Mix more, and the your egg whites will break apart. This will keep your cupcakes from being light and fluffy.
Additional Flavors: If you’re wanting to switch up your cupcakes’ flavor a bit, feel free to fill them with chocolate frosting, chopped nuts, caramel sauce, or even lemon curd!

Storing Leftover Halloween Cupcakes

If these adorable cupcakes don’t get devoured, here is how to store them for later! Note: Unfrosted cupcakes will keep much longer than frosted cupcakes. Keep in mind if you’re planning on making cupcakes in advance!

At Room Temperature: Since these cupcakes have a buttercream-based frosting, you can store them at room temperature. If you’re using a cream cheese based frosting instead, they’ll need to be stored in the fridge. At room temp, your frosted cupcakes will last for 2-3 days. Make sure they’re in an airtight container or wrapped tightly with plastic wrap. This way, they won’t dry out as quickly.
Unfrosted cupcakes will last for up to one week, covered or in an airtight container.

Halloween Cupcakes

Halloween cupcakes are as tasty as they are cute! Moist vanilla cupcakes are frosted with timeless Halloween characters for an unforgettable treat!

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword halloween cupcake ideas, halloween cupcakes

Prep Time 40 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes

Servings Cupcakes

Calories 161kcal

Author Alyssa Rivers

Ingredients

2 ¼ Cups Cake Flour
1 ½ Cups Granulated Sugar
1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
½ Teaspoon Baking Soda
½ Teaspoon Salt

Wet Ingredients

1 Cup Buttermilk
¼ Cup Milk
2 Teaspoons Clear Vanilla
½ Cup Vegetable Oil
4 Egg Whites

Frosting

16 Tablespoons unsalted butter, two sticks room temperature
3 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons Milk
1 ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
A big pinch of salt

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350° and line two muffin tins with cupcake liners.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Add the buttermilk, milk, vanilla, and oil to the dry ingredients and beat with a stand mixer or a hand mixer just until fully combined. In a separate bowl whip the egg whites until you get medium-stiff peaks and gently fold into the batter.
Scoop the batter into the cupcake liners until they are ⅔ of the way full. Bake for 20-22 minutes, until a toothpick, comes out clean and the tops of the cupcakes bounce back when lightly pressed.
Frost the cupcakes as desired. Check the pictures in this post for a step-by-step tutorial for some cute Halloween designs!

Frosting

Add butter, powdered sugar, milk, vanilla, and salt to the stand mixer bowl. Stir to incorporate all the ingredients, then turn the mixer on high speed and beat until the frosting is white and fluffy about 10-15 minutes.

Nutrition

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M&M Cookie Bars

M&M cookie bars are everything you love about blondies and candy in one! Golden, buttery, and ready to feed a crowd, this is the dessert recipe your family will not be able to get enough of!

Blondies are one of my favorite treats. They’re so delicious no matter what you add to them! For more golden-brown, chewy deliciousness, try out my Nutella blondies and brown butter blondies with toffee and walnuts! Pumpkin caramel blondies are also tasty and perfect for fall!

Whether you’ve got an event coming up that you want to make a killer treat for, or you’re just having a craving for M&M’s, this is the dessert for you. These tasty bars take all of the goodness of M&M cookies combined with the rich, chewy flavor of a blondie. M&M’s make everything better. This is one of my favorite dessert bar recipes to make, truly! Not only do they incorporate one of my favorite candies, but they are so thick and buttery! They turn out perfectly every time I make them. I swear my kids have a sensor for when these are made. They’re always eaten up at lightning speeds. So, speaking from experience, hide a few for yourself or else you’ll regret it!

Another great thing about M&M cookie bars is that they’re perfect for whipping up last minute. It’s easy to make big batches of these. M&M bars utilize so many simple ingredients! Then, you just mix up your batter, pop ’em in the oven, and go! And I mean, come on, who doesn’t love M&M’s? It’s a classic crowd-pleaser that is sure to bring happiness wherever it goes. Each bite of these bad boys is a soft, buttery delight. And if you need more M&M desserts in your life, I highly suggest trying my brown butter M&M cookies and M&M-filled oatmeal cookie ice cream sandwiches!

Ingredients Needed for M&M Bars

What’s better than a tasty M&M dessert? An M&M dessert that uses ingredients you already have in your pantry. Let me tell you- these bars are perfect for when you want dessert without a grocery trip! You can find measurements for each ingredient in the printable recipe card at the end of the post!

All-Purpose Flour: Gives your M&M cookie bars structure and keeps them from being too dense.
Baking Soda: Without baking soda, your M&M bars won’t be light and chewy!
Salt: Salt is added to enhance and balance flavors.
Unsalted Butter: I like using melted, unsalted butter for an added richness and fat content. It will help your bars be soft and moist. Gives them the best flavor, too!
Brown Sugar: Brown sugar is a must here! It gives your bars a deep sweetness.
Granulated Sugar: Added to sweeten up the bars. Granulated sugar melts down amazingly when baked.
Eggs: Eggs will bind all of your ingredients together and provide structure.
Vanilla: You can’t go wrong with vanilla! A little pure vanilla extract adds a nice depth of flavor.
M&Ms: You can use any kind of M&M’s you want! Feel free to experiment with minis, peanut, or almond M&M’s!
Mini Chocolate Chips: I like adding mini chocolate chips to my batter for a little extra indulgence. You can omit these or add more, depending on how chocolatey you want your M&M bars to be!

This is a tried and true recipe you can’t go wrong with! In just a few steps, you’ll have tasty M&M cookie bars in the oven. Really, the hardest part is waiting for them to get done!

Preheat and Prep Pan: To begin, preheat the oven to 350° Fahrenheit. Line a 9×13 pan with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray. Set aside.
Sift Dry Ingredients Together: Next, in a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda and salt and set aside.
Mix Sugars and Wet Ingredients: In the bowl of a mixer, add the melted butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar. Using the paddle attachment, beat on medium-high until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs one at a time until fully combined. Add in the vanilla and mix until combined.
Finish Batter, Add M&M’s: Mix dry ingredients with the sugar mixture on medium low until combined. Stir in the M&Ms and chocolate chips by hand.
Bake: Spread the dough into the prepared pan and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean from the center. Allow to cool completely before serving.

M&M cookie bars maintain the great taste of a classic chocolate chip cookie but with the fun of M&M’s added in! These simple tips can ensure you make the most delicious cookie bars possible. They’ll become a favorite for sure!

Sift Dry Ingredients: Sifting your dry ingredients together will not only make your cookie bars lighter in texture, it will also help the ingredients mix together more evenly than if they were just mixed together with a whisk or spoon.
Melted Butter: Using melted butter in this recipe will give your cookie bars a chewier texture, as opposed to the more cake-like texture that softened butter gives.
Holiday M&Ms: There’s no shortage of holiday colored M&M’s, so if you feel inclined to make holiday themed M&M cookie bars, go ahead and use the colored M&M’s of your choice! You can also try using mini M&M’s instead of the regular size.
Serve With: These M&M cookie bars are amazing on their own, but you can serve them à la mode, too! This is also a fun recipe to customize with toppings. They’re sooo good with a little fudge or homemade caramel drizzled on top.

How to Store M&M Cookie Bars

These M&M bars usually don’t last too long, simply because everyone eats them so quickly! If you end up having leftovers, they’re easy to store and enjoy later.

At Room Temperature: M&M Cookie Bars will keep for 3-4 days in an airtight container.
Reheating: For that just-out-of-the-oven experience, pop your cookie bars in the microwave for 10 second intervals until warmed through!

M&M Cookie Bars

M&M cookie bars are everything you love about blondies and candy in one! Golden, buttery, and ready to feed a crowd, this is the dessert recipe your family will not be able to get enough of!

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword cookie bars, M&M Cookie Bars

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 35 minutes

Total Time 55 minutes

Servings Bars

Calories 438kcal

Author Alyssa Rivers