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Got brains? These Brain Cupcakes are an easy and fun Halloween dessert recipe. You can use this same decorating method with any cake and frosting combination, so whip up a batch for your next Halloween party!
🧠 Zombie Brain Cupcakes for Halloween
When spooky season arrives, cute is OUT and creepy is IN. No more adorable Flamingo or Hamburger Cupcakes — come Halloween time, we go full-on scary with our sweets. It’s all about the Spiderwebs, Skulls, and Monster cupcakes now!
These brain cupcakes are another addition to our library of Halloween desserts. I’m sharing a full cupcake and frosting recipe down below, in case you want to recreate these from top to bottom. I made them with a moist spice cupcake and an easy almond buttercream on top, and this combo is a family favorite we return to year after year.
But the genius of these brain cupcakes is that the easy brain decorating technique can be used with any cupcake and frosting combination, so don’t feel constrained if you already have favorite recipes you want to use. And if you’re ready for more spooky sweets, don’t miss our popular Witch’s Brew Halloween Punch, Red Velvet Marshmallow Spiderweb Cake, or Zombie Brain Brownie Bites!
🧾 What You’ll Need
Ingredients
These festive Brain Cupcakes are sure to tempt your pickiest zombies! Here are a few notes about the ingredients and equipment you’ll need to get started. (Links are affiliate links and I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases.)
- Spices: For the spice cupcakes, I use a mix of ground cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. You can replace them with 1 TBSP of pumpkin pie spice if you prefer.
- Buttermilk: Buttermilk gives the cupcakes a tender texture, and the acid in the buttermilk is necessary for reacting with the leaveners in the batter. If you don’t have buttermilk, you can use sour cream whisked with a bit of milk to make it more fluid as a substitute.
- Cinnamon Baking Chips: I love the burst of flavor cinnamon chips add to spice cupcakes, but if you can’t find them they can be omitted.
- Almond Extract: If you don’t like almond-flavored desserts, you can omit the almond extract and increase the vanilla extract to taste.
- Food Coloring: I used a combination of Americolor soft pink and ivory gel food coloring to get this particular color of brains.
- Cupcake pan:I recommend using a standard-sized cupcake pan for this recipe.
- Cupcake scoop:a cupcake scoop is a super clean and easy way to portion out the batter.
- Piping bags and piping tip:you’ll want a piping bag and a small round piping tip to make the brain decorations.
📋 Instructions
These Brain Cupcakes are easy to decorate, so they’re a good project for beginners or younger helpers. Here’s a quick photo tutorial to walk you through the process, and you can get full printable instructions in the recipe card below.
- Place the buttercream in a piping bag fitted with a round tip about 1/4-inch wide: a Wilton #10 tip or Ateco #12 tip will work well.
- Pipe a thin layer of buttercream on top of the cupcakes, and smooth it out with a knife or offset spatula.
- Pipe a thick line of buttercream down the middle of a cupcake.
- Then fill up the space to the right with one long buttercream squiggle, beginning at the top, widening through the middle, and narrowing at the bottom.
- Repeat on the left side, until you have formed both halves of the “brain.”
- Repeat until all of the cupcakes are decorated with brains.
💭 Variations
To increase the creepiness factor, chill the cupcakes until the buttercream is hard, then brush a thin layer of strawberry jelly over the top, for more of a “bloody brains” effect.
And if spice cupcakes and/or almond buttercream aren’t your cup of tea (or brains), try one of these recipes instead!
Zombie Brain Brownie Bites
Monster Cake
Don’t miss the step-by-step tutorial showing how to make Brain Cupcakes – check out the web story here!
Brain Cupcakes
Ingredients
For the Spice Cupcakes:
- 6.33 oz all-purpose flour, (1.5 cups)
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 TBSP ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 6 oz unsalted butter, (3/4 cup), at room temperature
- 3.5 oz granulated sugar, (1/2 cup)
- 3.75 oz brown sugar, (1/2 cup), lightly packed
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 4 fl oz buttermilk, (1/2 cup), at room temperature
- 4 oz cinnamon chips, (2/3 cup), optional
For the Almond Buttercream:
- 6 oz unsalted butter, (3/4 cup), at room temperature
- 1 lb powdered sugar, 4 cups
- 1 TBSP milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp almond extract
- 1/4 tsp salt
- pink gel food coloring – deep pink
- ivory gel food coloring
Instructions
To Make the Spice Cupcakes:
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices in a small bowl, and whisk them together. Set aside for a moment.
- Place the butter and both sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
- Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition, then add the vanilla extract.
- Turn the mixer speed to low and add about a third of the dry ingredients. Once the dry ingredients are incorporated, add half of the buttermilk and mix it in.
- Add half the remaining drys, then the rest of the buttermilk, and finish with the remaining dry ingredients. Stop the mixer when just a few streaks of flour remain. Finish mixing by hand with a rubber spatula, scraping the bottom and sides of the mixing bowl well. Stir in the cinnamon chips, if using.
- Scoop the batter into 18 cupcake liners. Bake for 20-22 minutes at 350 F, until the tops spring back lightly when touched. Cool completely before decorating.
To Make the Almond Buttercream:
- Put the butter, powdered sugar, milk, vanilla extract, 1/2 tsp almond extract, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.
- Beat the mixture on low speed until the powdered sugar is moistened. Raise the speed to medium and beat for about 2 minutes, until light and fluffy. Taste the buttercream, and add additional almond extract if you would like a stronger almond flavor.
- If the frosting is very stiff, add small amounts of milk until it is the consistency you want. Add 2 drops of pink food coloring and 1 drop of ivory, and mix them in. Add more food coloring as necessary to get a color you like.
- Almond Buttercream can be made in advance and stored in the refrigerator for up to a week. If you have made it in advance, let it come to room temperature and re-beat until light and fluffy before using.
To Decorate the Cupcakes with Brains:
- Place the buttercream in a piping bag fitted with a round tip about 1/4-inch wide: a Wilton #10 tip or Ateco #12 tip will work well.
- Pipe a thin layer of buttercream on top of the cupcakes, and smooth it out with a knife or offset spatula. It doesn’t need to be perfect, it’s just going to be the base of the brains.
- Pipe a line down the middle of a cupcake, then fill up the space to the right with one long buttercream squiggle, beginning at the top, widening through the middle, and narrowing at the bottom. Repeat on the left side, until you have formed both halves of the “brain.” Repeat until all of the cupcakes are decorated with brains.
- Brain Cupcakes can be stored, well-wrapped, in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
MEASURING TIPS
Our recipes are developed using weight measurements, and we highly recommend using a kitchen scale for baking whenever possible. However, if you prefer to use cups, volume measurements are provided as well. PLEASE NOTE: the adage “8 oz = 1 cup” is NOT true when speaking about weight, so don’t be concerned if the measurements don’t fit this formula.
Click here to learn more about baking measurements and conversion.Nutrition
About Elizabeth LaBau
I’m Elizabeth, but you can call me SugarHero! I’m a former pastry chef turned blogger, cookbook author, and baking instructor, and I consider myself sugar’s #1 fan. Learn more from my About page, or connect with me on social media:
That rhyme was amazing. You should seriously think about pursuing poetry.
Coming in 2014, a complete rebranding as PoetryHero! Watch out y’all.
These are adorable! I love them! I’ve never been very good at frosting cupcakes, but I love the way yours came out! So cute for Halloween.
Thanks Kristi! The genius of these is that they’re pretty much foolproof–if they don’t turn out well, tell people they’re intestines and they’ll understand why the squiggles are all loopy… 🙂
I LOVE how these look disguisting but they still sound delicious… you don’t see that very often, so you? The almond buttercream must be amazing, I want to try these as soon as possible 😉
Haha, yes, they’re definitely a study in contradictions!
LOVE the Raven-esque poem. And the “Choose Your Own Adventure” reference. And the cupcakes, which I can assure everyone are every bit as delicious as they sound.
OMG these are awesome!! Disgustingly awesome! LOL
“Disgustingly awesome” is always my aim!
Ha brilliant “brains” think alike! These are awesome!!! I LOVE spooky creepy Halloween food! and of course, like usual, your photos are incredible.
Hah, all that’s missing from these photos is a gross black jell-o brain! Care to help a sister out? 🙂
Awesome… very creative.. I love these cupcakes 🙂
Thanks so much sowmya!
Oh my goodness. I am so impressed with your poetry! You are full of pleasant surprises. Are you an underground slam poet? Your secrets are safe with me.
Am I a poet? You might inquire
But odds of a true response are dire.
I cannot tell, I won’t comment,
My lips are sealed, I shan’t relent.
My poetic soul a question mark
The answer always in the dark.
Unless I respond in rhyming verse…
Oh curse.
Can I just eat that almond buttercream with a spoon? 🙂 I’ve decided I like most holidays simply for all the sugar I can use! These look (ghoulishly) delicious!
Yes–one buttercream-filled spoon is on its way! And sugar is definitely one of the biggest perks of holiday celebrating.
These are absolutely fantastic! Just a great, creative idea.
Thank you so much, Iris! The best part is that they’re probably some of the easiest “themed” cupcakes I’ve done–bonus!
My first thought was those prehistorically terrifying trilobyte things. But these are magnificent and that recipe sounds pretty solid.
Oooh, that’s a good call. I might need to work up a gray version for Dinosaur Week or something. P.S. Just took a peek at your website and you are hilarious! So glad to have come across it!
How fun are these cupcakes?! Perfect food for those awesomely gruesome Halloween parties 😉
These are SO COOL! Love how the cupcakes are spiced perfectly@
What a fun recipe! Everyone enjoyed this and will certainly make it again with such rave reviews thanks! great conversation piece!
My kids are going to LOVE these gruesome cupcakes for Halloween!
Hi Beth! I’d love to know what your kids think of them. Hope they bring some smiles to your boys and ghouls!
These Halloween cupcakes are so cool! I had to make them as soon as I saw them. They’re even more tasty than I imagined!