Halloween Spider Cupcakes (chocolate Pumpkin)

Spider cupcakes are the perfect sweet treat for Halloween. The chocolate pumpkin cupcakes are deliciously moist and topped with vanilla buttercream frosting with a spiderweb design.

A hand holds a vibrant orange cupcake, festively transformed into a Halloween spider cupcake with white icing spun like a web and topped with an intricate black icing spider. Blurred Halloween cupcakes create a spooky backdrop. - 1

When I bring out a tray of these Halloween cupcakes to share, there are always smiles. They look spooky and taste delicious, and the kids love playing with the spider ring decorations.

If you’re looking for spooky Halloween cupcake ideas, these spider cupcakes are what you need. They’re made with our incredibly moist chocolate pumpkin cupcakes, which have a mild pumpkin flavor and are delicious all on their own.

But when topped with orange buttercream icing, they start to look like Halloween. To finish them, we draw a spider web design on the top (it’s easy!) and put a little spider on top. They are the perfect way to celebrate Halloween.

Key ingredients

All-purpose flour
Unsweetened cocoa powder
Canned pumpkin puree
Brown sugar
Neutral-flavored oil
Eggs
Chocolate chips

Six chocolate pumpkin cupcakes on a marble surface, adorned with orange frosting showing the steps to make a spiderweb pattern. A small black plastic spider is playfully perched on the finished cupcake in the bottom row. - 2

Work pretty quickly when making the spiderweb pattern, as you don’t want the icing to harden. It’s best to work with one cupcake at a time.

How to make Halloween spider cupcakes

We start by making our favorite chocolate pumpkin cupcakes. To make them, you’ll whisk the dry ingredients (flour, etc.), whisk the wet ingredients (pumpkin, oil, etc.), and then combine them. Easy!

Now, to make the spider web design

Using white icing, draw a small circle in the middle of the cupcake.
Draw a slightly bigger circle around the first one.
Finally, draw one more circle around the first two smaller ones.
Right away (before the icing has time to harden), drag a toothpick from the center circle to the outer circle. Do this five times around the circles to create the look of a spider web.

What to use as Halloween cupcake toppers

We like to top our spider cupcakes with plastic spider rings. These are the ones that you can find in any dollar store. You’ll need to remove them before you eat the cupcakes, but they’re inexpensive and spooky looking.

The other alternative is to buy edible spiders. These are made from sugar and can be found in specialty baking stores or online.

Tips for making the spider web design on cupcakes

For the whitest icing, you’ll want to use pale-colored butter. Grass-fed butter is generally quite yellow, so avoid that for this recipe. Look for conventional butter without any added food dye.
The icing shouldn’t be too thick, or it won’t be easy to draw the lines through the circles with a toothpick.

Spider cupcakes in orange and chocolate are adorned with white web designs and creepy plastic spiders, neatly arranged on a surface. Some boast plain orange frosting, while additional plastic spiders linger around, adding an eerie touch to the scene. - 3

These cupcakes are delicious even without the spiderweb design. For a simplified version, you can skip the spiderweb.

Storage instructions

How long will these cupcakes last? They will keep fresh for 3-4 days in a covered container on your counter.
Can I freeze these cupcakes? Yes! If possible, freeze the cupcakes without icing, as the spider web design can get smudged after freezing and thawing. While they might look a little messy, they still taste great!

If you want more inspiration, check out my Halloween recipes !