Creepy Eyeball Cupcakes for Halloween

Now that we’re getting some cooler weather in Texas, I’ve been in the mood to bake. During the holidays, I bake all the time whether it be simple chocolate chip cookies or crazy treats for Halloween. With the holidays upon us, I’ve been practicing some recipes to try for my guests. I fell in love with creepy eyeball cupcakes that I did a test run for Halloween.

They’re creepy but so much fun. I know all guests will love them, no matter how old they are. I’ve posted the recipe below, it looks like a difficult recipe but it isn’t hard at all! It’s worth all of the work because they turn out amazing. Your guests will love every bit of these.

Now, let’s get cooking CREEPY EYEBALL CUPCAKES.

Cupcake Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 C flour
• 2 C sugar
• 1 C dark cocoa
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 C whole milk
• 1/2 C oil
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1 C boiling water

Frosting Ingredients:

• 1 C of unsalted butter (softened)
• 4 C powder sugar
• 4 TBSP heavy whipping cream

Royal icing ingredients:

• 2 egg whites
• 1 C powder sugar
• ½ tsp cream of tartar
• Gel food coloring, red, black, green and orange
• 1 roll wax paper

Let’s start baking:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.Next line each cupcake tin with paper liners. Begin mixing the flour, sugar, dark cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt together in a bowl.
2. In a second bowl add the eggs, whole milk, oil, and vanilla. Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Begin to beat all of the ingredients together for three minutes on medium.
3. After these ingredients are mixed slowly begin to add the boiling water, a little amount at the beginning, stirring as you add, then pour the remaining boiling water in. This may cause the batter to be a little runny but that is okay.
4. Now scoop the batter into the lined cupcake tins until about 3/4rds filled.
5. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.
6. Remove the cupcakes from the oven allowing them to cool for 10 minutes.
7. Finally, remove each cupcake from the pan placing them on a wire rack to completely cool.

On to the frosting:

1. Cream powder sugar and butter until mixture is light and creamy. If for some reason it doesn’t cream you can add a few drops of heavy whipping cream until it creams.
2. Test to see if the frosting can form and hold a stiff peak by getting a spoonful of frosting and turning the spoon upside down to see if the frosting stays on the spoon or falls off. If it stays on the spoon, you’re in good shape if not, add more powder sugar 1/4 cup at a time and mix well.
3. Once frosting is ready, you can place it into a pastry bag with a large tip (we used a 13-inch tip). Twist the open end of the pastry bag and push the frosting to the top and frost the cupcake edges inward to the center of the cupcake.

And now the royal icing:

1. Combine all ingredients except food coloring in a mixing bowl mixing on medium speed for 4 minutes. If icing isn’t still enough, you’ll want to add 1/4 cup powder sugar until stiff.
2. Divide the icing equally into four bowls.
3. Add several drops of each of the food coloring into each of the bowls mixing well.
4. Spoon each of the different colored icings into individual piping bags using a #2 tip.

On to making those eyes:

1. Lay out the wax paper on a cookie sheet.
2. Tape down the sides so they don’t roll up.
3. Starting with either the green or orange icing begin making the eyes, either round circles or egg shaped.
4. Allow to dry for several minutes then with the black icing make an eyeball in the circle of each of your orange or green eyes.
5. Set aside to harden.
6. Test after a couple of hours to make sure that they are fully dried. If not allow them to set overnight.
7. With the piping bag filled with red icing begin making the bloodshot lines on the cupcake.
8. You can follow the example on the picture of the cupcakes.
9. Allow to dry before adding the dried eyes to the center of each cupcake.

Since I’m in the kitchen so often during the holidays, I love to have the best appliances. I currently own a Samsung Hub Refrigerator.  I never knew refrigerator could actually keep me organized. It has a built in calendar that I’m able to keep all of our upcoming events on.

My husband and I share the calendar so we can remember any upcoming appointments, birthday parties or holiday events. We also utilize the Samsung Hub to keep an ongoing grocery list. I usually do my shopping on Sunday mornings so we both add items that we need throughout the week which makes grocery shopping so much easier. If there is ever a question whether we have a certain item or not, I’m able to take a peek into my refrigerator straight from the grocery store. Yep, I just open up the Samsung app and with cameras that are located in my refrigerator I can see what we have and what we don’t have. It’s one of the most amazing appliances I’ve ever seen.

What is a kitchen without an amazing oven? I never realized how much an oven really matters until I got a new one. My old oven wasn’t cooking evenly, the door didn’t shut all the way, and I seriously thought it was going to blow up on me. Once I got a new one and baked my first set of cookies, I was amazed. All the cookies cooked the same unlike before when half were burnt and the other half were uncooked. Ovens have come a long way, one of the best features they know have is wifi.

You can turn off and on your range or even adjust the temperature all from your smart phone. The possibilities are endless and these types of features make cooking for the holidays even more fun!