October is undoubtedly the spookiest month of all, but the Halloween fun can last year round! These spider cupcakes can be made for Halloween or, by getting creative with the decor, can be enjoyed on demand—why wait a year to treat yourself with this recipe? Baking is a perfect way to destress from a busy week of tests and quizzes! While baking can be lots of fun, it can also seem complicated sometimes. From my own experience, baking endeavors often start off with the vision of creating the perfect dessert only to result in recipes turning out to be far more challenging than expected. But what’s most important is that you’re enjoying what you’re doing. With this in mind, here is a sweet treat that bakers of all skill sets can enjoy making: Spider Cupcakes. 

Ingredients:

For the cupcakes

• 2 cups of all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 4 eggs 
• 2 cups of canned pumpkin puree
• 2 cups of brown sugar
• 1 cup of olive oil

For the frosting

• ½ cup of unsalted butter, softened
• 12 ounces of cream cheese, softened
• ⅛ teaspoon of salt
• ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 1 ½ cups of powdered sugar

For decorations

• Oreos (choose your favorite flavor!)
• 1 cup of chocolate chips
• 40 candy eyes

Before you start, here’s a quick reminder to preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Now’s let’s begin baking! 

• Start by mixing your dry ingredients together. This includes the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg.
• Now, it is time to combine the wet ingredients. Go ahead and add the eggs, pumpkin puree, sugar, and oil into another bowl. Mix these ingredients together thoroughly. 
• Combine the mixed dry and wet ingredients together. Stir all the ingredients together gently.
• Add the combined batter to each cupcake liner, so that each liner is nearly full.  
• The ingredients are now ready to be placed into the oven! Bake the cupcake batter for 20-24 minutes. 
• Before adding the frosting, the cupcakes need to be cooled; cooling should take approximately 1 hour.
• Now, it is time for the frosting! To prepare the frosting, begin mixing together the butter and the cream cheese.  Slowly add in the salt, vanilla, and powdered sugar and continue mixing. 
• With the cupcakes baked and the frosting prepared, you can now begin decorating! Add your preferred amount of frosting to each cupcake. 
• Add one-half of an Oreo to the middle of each cupcake (the side with the cookie, not the frosting should be facing up). 
• Melt the chocolate chips and pour the mixture into a piping bag. Using the chocolate mixture, create eight spider legs on your cupcake. 
• Using the melted chocolate as “glue” add the spider eyes onto the oreo on your cupcake. 
• Refrigerate the cupcakes so that they are cooled to your liking. 

With your cupcakes all prepared, you have reached the best part of the baking process: the taste test! It is now time to enjoy your cupcakes and share them with loved ones. 

Much credit to TexanErin Baking for providing this recipe!