These mini Halloween cupcakes are a party on your plate – easy to pop, adorable to look at, and a sweet burst of spooky joy.

The equation of Halloween + cupcakes + marshmallows = one of my favorite and easy Halloween cupcake ideas to make at this time of the year.

Why Halloween mini cupcakes with marshmallows, you ask?

Well, because these Halloween treats are bite-sized!

This makes them perfect for Halloween get-togethers, school parties, or at the office for older ghouls and goblins. 

As for the marshmallows – they serve like a white canvas for your spooky creations! Turn them into skeletons, ghosts, pumpkins, mummies, or whatever your imagination calls for.

So easy and adorable!

Why You’ll Love This Mini Halloween Cupcakes Recipe

1. Easy to Make: The simple instructions with pictures of these mini cupcakes for Halloween will have you gobbling them down in no time. 
2. Kid-Friendly: Kids will enjoy designing creative and spooky faces on the marshmallows.
3. Switch Things Up: You can customize the decorations to fit your overall Halloween theme.
4. Versatile Treat: Ideal for Halloween-themed celebrations, your kid’s lunchbox, or as a festive dessert.

Ingredients Needed for Mini Halloween Cupcakes

• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 tsp vanilla paste 
• 1 tsp butter
• 1 tsp baking powder

For cream and decor:

• 1 cup sour cream or heavy cream
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon red food coloring
• 10-12 marshmallows

Step-by-Step Preparation with Pictures

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C).

2. Grease a 12-cup mini cupcake tin or mini cupcake pan with butter. Set aside.

3. In a large mixing bowl whisk together the egg, sugar, vanilla paste, and sour cream. Beat the mixture with a stand mixer or electric hand mixer.

4. Add flour and baking powder.

5. Blend the dough until smooth.

6. Pour the batter into the cups of the mini cupcake tin. Make sure to leave room to rise.

7. Bake for 20 minutes.

Once the muffins have baked, take the cupcake tin out of the oven and let the mini muffins sit to cool down.

8. While the cupcake base is cooling, make the frosting.

Mix sour cream with sugar and red food dye in a medium mixing bowl. 

9. Whisk the mixture. If your sour cream is runny, you can add a thickener such as cornstarch or powdered sugar.

10. Now have fun decorating!

Make cute swirls of red icing on top of cupcakes using a piping bag or fork.

Dip a toothpick in the red food coloring and draw skeleton faces on the marshmallows.

Get your kids involved and watch them have fun drawing the skeleton faces. These can be easily turned into mini ghost cupcakes or spooky pumpkin cupcakes.

Place the marshmallow skull on the red frosting.

Viola! Don’t they look adorable?!

Variation Ideas

• Use plain yogurt: Preferably whole or 2% is a great substitute for sour cream.
  
  
• Vegetable oil: You can use any vegetable oil instead of butter to grease the mini muffin tin.
  
  
• Vanilla extract: Instead of using vanilla paste, you can opt to use vanilla extract for these Halloween treats.
  
  
• Chocolate: If a vanilla cupcake is not your favorite flavor, you can always turn to the flavor you enjoy eating! Use your favorite boxed cake mix to simplify this spooky treat even further. Make chocolate batter and turn these into chocolate cupcakes. They’ll look no less stunning!
  
  
• Looking for sugar alternatives? Try using coconut sugar, agave nectar or syrup, molasses, or maple syrup!

Serving and Presentation Ideas for Mini Halloween Cupcakes

Want to shake things up with this mini Halloween cupcakes recipe?

Below are a few ways to experiment with the presentation so that your party guests want to sink their fangs into these sweet treats:

• Turn these into spider web cupcakes, by using pieces of black licorice over the top of cupcakes to weave creepy spider webs. Similarly use dark melted chocolate to draw friendly ghosts on the marshmallow, the way I did with these chocolate covered strawberry ghosts.
  
  
• Pair these with spooky graveyard dirt cups decorated with gummy worms.
  
  
• Switch up the color of the cream for these Halloween cakes! Use orange food coloring for orange frosting or any color of food dye you choose to decorate them.
  
  
• Add candy eyes or chocolate chips to the marshmallows to design cute characters. 
  
  
• Pretzel sticks are fantastic Halloween decorations! I like making skeletons by breaking some pieces up to create a skeletal frame with half of a jelly bean for a skull. I also use them as pumpkin stems to top these Halloween cakes.

Tips for Success

• Keep that oven door closed while baking! Constantly opening and closing the door to your oven changes the temperature within it enough to affect how well your cupcakes bake.
  
  
• You can use fun Halloween-themed mini cupcake liners to add a spooky feel to these delicious mini cupcakes.
  
  
• Want to make a ruffly swirl on top of the cupcake? Use a closed star tip with a piping bag to get this effect. A small round piping tip will give you a smooth effect that looks amazing, too!

Storage of These Mini Halloween Cupcakes

• Store these Halloween desserts in an airtight cupcake container on the counter away from sunlight if they are going to be served at a Halloween party that day.
  
  
• After all the decoration is done, use a deep container so all your hard work does not get stuck to the lid.
  
  
• You can also make these festive cupcakes a few days ahead of time. Keep them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
  
  
•  Using a paper towel to line the container is key to reducing moisture and preventing the cupcakes and their decorations from turning into a soggy mess in the fridge.

One Last Thing

You’ll love that this is a super easy recipe for Halloween treats that your kids can decorate in so many ways!

Plus, they are of the perfect size for any Halloween gathering.

Plating them on a ghoulishly decorated table will make a fun addition to the treats being served at Halloween parties.

I love serving these festive cupcakes as a dessert around Halloween along with this tasty Halloween stuffed peppers dish.

I hope these mini Halloween cupcakes bring loads of giggles and smiles to your family and friends this spooky season!

Your Turn

If you make these super cute mini Halloween cupcakes, please take a moment to let me know how you liked them by leaving a rating and a comment below on the

Also Try These Delicious Halloween Recipes

• Green Monster Muffins: A Spookily Healthy Halloween Recipe
• Chocolate Mummy Cupcakes: Easy Halloween Recipe
• Easy Veggie Skeleton Tray: Cute Platter For Halloween Party
• 19 Spooky Hocus Pocus Snack Ideas For Your Halloween Party