Easy Chocolate Ghost Cupcakes With Marshmallow Buttercream Frosting

Looking for ghost cupcakes to make for Halloween? These chocolate cupcakes are so yummy with marshmallow buttercream frosting and they are easy to make too.

Make sure to grab the printable instructions available at the bottom of this post.

Everyone will love how frightfully delicious they are. Dessert is always a hit, and I love Halloween party food ideas that are easy to serve.

These would make an excellent treat for a family Halloween movie night!

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Marshmallow Buttercream Ghost Cupcakes Recipe

I absolutely love how simple it is to decorate homemade ghost cupcakes. They really look great and no one has to know they were this easy.

If you are transporting them to a party, I highly recommend using a cupcake carrier to keep the ghosts from getting smashed.

How many cupcakes does this recipe make?

This recipe yields about 12 to 16 cupcakes, depending on how high you fill the cupcake liners.

Why Put Sour Cream in these Cupcakes?

Adding sour cream helps keep them moist and adds flavor. It has a creamy texture which makes it an excellent ingredient for baking.

If you don’t want to use sour cream or don’t have any on hand, you can substitute it with the same amount of plain Greek yogurt.

Why Put Coffee in these Chocolate Cupcakes?

We are using cocoa powder in this chocolate cupcake recipe and coffee helps boost the flavor. It will not make your cupcake coffee flavored (though you might taste it a little bit).

The hot coffee actually makes the cupcake more chocolatey. You can substitute hot coffee with the same amount of water, if needed.

Can I use a boxed cake mix instead?

You may use any from scratch chocolate cupcake recipe or box mix instead of this one. Just follow the directions for how to fill the cupcake, make the frosting, and decorate it to look like a ghost.

Chocolate Ghost Cupcake Ingredients

Printable instructions are available at the bottom of this post.

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate and a participant in other affiliate programs, we earn a commission on qualifying purchases.

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• ½ cup high quality cocoa powder
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• Pinch of salt
• 6 tbsp butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 1/3 cup hot coffee
• ½ cup marshmallow fluff

Helpful Baking Tools:

• Muffin / Cupcake Pan
• Electric hand mixer or stand mixer
• Piping bag and decorating tips
• Wire cooling rack

How to Make Chocolate Cupcakes:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a muffin tray with cupcake liners.

Sift dry ingredients together in a small bowl: flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Whisk together butter, sugar and eggs in a large mixing bowl. Add sour cream into wet ingredients and whisk some more.

Slowly add ⅓ of the dry ingredients into the bowl of wet ingredients at a time, mixing them together.

Once all of the ingredients are well combined, pour hot coffee into the batter and stir.

Fill each cupcake liner about 2/3 of the way with chocolate cupcake batter.

Bake for 15-17 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center of one cupcake.

Allow the cupcakes to cool. You can leave them in the muffin tin for a few minutes, then carefully transfer them to a wire cooling rack.

Once cupcakes are cooled, use a knife to carve out a hole in the center of each cupcake (about ¾ of an inch in diameter and ½ an inch deep).

Fill each cupcake hole with marshmallow fluff. Now it’s time to make the frosting and decorate!

Marshmallow Buttercream Frosting Ingredients

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• 2 stick butter, softened
• ¼ cup marshmallow fluff
• 4 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 2-3 tbsp milk
• 2-3 oz. black fondant (to decorate)

How to Make Marshmallow Buttercream Frosting

Use an electric mixer on low to beat together butter, confectioners’ sugar, marshmallow fluff and milk.

Gradually increase the speed of the mixer to high. Continue beating until ingredients are well combined, smooth and form semi-stiff peaks.

Tips for Decorating Marshmallow Ghost Cupcakes

Scoop the marshmallow buttercream frosting into a piping bag with Wilton round icing tip #12 attached.

Frost each cupcake generously. Start by piping a circle around the top of the cupcake and continue to pipe in a circular motion, with each circle a bit smaller and pulling upward. This will help build the height of the frosting ghost.

How to Make the Ghost Faces:

First, roll out 2 small spheres from the black fondant – about ¼ of an inch in diameter. 

Then flatten them out and place them on the buttercream ghost, side-by-side. These will act as the buttercream ghost’s eyes.

Next, roll out another black fondant sphere, slightly larger than the eyes and flatten it out into an oval.

Finally, place the fondant oval just underneath the set of eyes. This will act as the buttercream ghost’s mouth. Boo!

If you don’ t have black fondant, you can also try using chocolate chips. Just insert the point of the chip into the frosting.

Serve and enjoy! 

More Halloween Ideas:

• Coffee Filter Bats Craft
• Maleficent Themed Party Printables
• DIY Spell Book Decorations
• Jack Skellington Printable Pillow Boxes
• DIY Halloween Decorations
• 20 Wicked Cool Witch Crafts

Chocolate Ghost Cupcakes and Marshmallow Buttercream Printable Recipe