Pull Apart Graveyard Cupcakes (Printable)
Spooky chocolate cupcakes topped with cookie dirt and edible tombstone decorations for Halloween gatherings.
# What You’ll Need:
→ Cupcakes
01 - 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
02 - 1 cup granulated sugar
03 - ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
04 - ½ cup whole milk
05 - 2 large eggs
06 - 2 teaspoons baking powder
07 - 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
08 - ¼ teaspoon salt
→ Chocolate Frosting
09 - 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
10 - 2 ½ cups powdered sugar
11 - ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
12 - 2-3 tablespoons milk
13 - 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
14 - Pinch of salt
→ Decoration
15 - 6-8 chocolate sandwich cookies for dirt
16 - 6-8 rectangular cookies or biscuits for tombstones
17 - Black, white, and green gel icing pens
18 - Gummy worms, candy pumpkins, or Halloween themed candies
# Directions:
01 - Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with cupcake liners.
02 - Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time, then vanilla. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt separately. Add half the dry mixture to wet ingredients, followed by milk, then remaining dry ingredients. Mix until just combined.
03 - Divide batter evenly among liners, filling each 2/3 full. Bake for 18-20 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool completely on a wire rack.
04 - Beat butter until creamy. Add powdered sugar and cocoa powder, mixing slowly. Add vanilla and milk, beating until smooth and spreadable.
05 - Arrange cooled cupcakes close together on a serving tray in a rectangular shape. Generously spread chocolate frosting over all cupcakes, creating a smooth surface.
06 - Crush chocolate sandwich cookies and sprinkle over frosting for dirt effect. Write RIP and spooky messages on rectangular cookies with gel icing pens to create tombstones. Press tombstones into cupcakes. Decorate with gummy worms, candy pumpkins, or Halloween candy.
07 - Refrigerate briefly to set decorations before serving.
# Expert Tips:
01 -
- The pull apart format means everyone gets to break off their own cupcake, which somehow makes it taste better
- Decorating is genuinely fun and you can recruit help without feeling like youre assigning chores
02 -
- The frosting needs to be spreadable but not soft, or the weight of the cookie dirt will push it right off the cupcakes
- Letting the cupcakes cool completely is non negotiable, unless you want your frosting to slide off like a sad chocolate waterfall
03 -
- If you need to make these ahead, bake and freeze the cupcakes unfrosted, then thaw and decorate the day of
- Adding a teaspoon of instant coffee to the frosting deepens the chocolate flavor without making it taste like coffee