Brownie Bottom Halloween Cupcakes

Brownie Bottom Halloween Cupcakes have a layer of dark chocolate brownie topped with orange cake batter and finished off with buttercream and sprinkles. They are the perfect mix of semi-homemade and “from scratch” to be easy but really fun and festive for your next Halloween party!

Are you ready for Halloween?! For some reason, I love Halloween stuff even more than I love Christmas decorations. Not the gory stuff, but the fun Halloween things. I’m drawn to nearly every pumpkin I see at the stores.

BROWNIE BOTTOM HALLOWEEN CUPCAKES

I’ve loved following Cupcake Diaries 30 Days of Halloween the past few years so I’m really excited to be a part of the series this year! Scroll down to the bottom for more creative Halloween treats and crafts.

Today happens to be my 7th wedding anniversary (!) and we got engaged on Halloween! Another reason it’s one of my favorites.

These Brownie Bottom Halloween Cupcakes are really simple. Start with a base of my favorite dark chocolate brownies then take some help from a white cake mix for the next layer.

I dyed it orange with a new food coloring kit I ordered and they turned out beautifully – bright & vibrant. I know some people are anti-food coloring but I very rarely use it so whatever, I’m not worried about it.

I think the brownie layer is dark enough when you use dark cocoa powder, but you could add a few drops of black food coloring if you want it even darker.

For the buttercream, I tried a new Pillsbury Buttercream mix I picked up at Target. You just add butter and water and I really liked it. If you want to make it from scratch, go for it. (You can find my favorite “from scratch” buttercream frosting recipe here.)

I stocked up on Halloween sprinkles and cupcake wrappers at HomeGoods last year so I had plenty to choose from.

TIPS TO MAKE THESE CUPCAKES A SUCCESS

• I used a small cookie scoop for the brownie portion & a medium cookie scoop for the cake portion & they filled perfectly
• Use a jumbo or large frosting tip to pipe on the frosting (Wilton 2D) – I just used a zip top bag, no pastry bag or coupler
• If you’re using the food coloring kit I used (Wilton Color Right Performance Color System), I used: 19 drops of orange, 12 drops of yellow, 4 drops of red, and 1 drop of brown for the orange you see.
• Use Hershey’s Special Dark cocoa powder to get the really dark brownies. Or regular cocoa powder & a couple drops of black food coloring.
• Serve them after a dinner of spooky spaghetti and meatball eyeballs.

Brownie Bottom Halloween Cupcakes

Melissa Williams | Persnickety Plates

Brownie Bottom Halloween Cupcakes have a layer of dark chocolate brownie topped with orange cake batter and finished off with buttercream and sprinkles. They are the perfect mix of semi-homemade and “from scratch” to be easy but really fun and festive for your next Halloween party!

4.64 from 22 votes

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 30 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 24 cupcakes

Calories 118 kcal

Ingredients

 

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For the brownie layer:

• 1 cup granulated white sugar
• ½ cup all purpose flour
• ⅓ cup Hershey’s Special Dark cocoa powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon baking powder
• 2 large eggs
• ⅓ cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

For the cake layer:

• 15.25 ounce white cake mix + ingredients called for on box
• orange food coloring exact blend given in “Tips” above

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line two cupcake pans with 24 liners. Set aside.

To make the brownie layer:

• In a medium bowl, add the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking powder. Stir to combine.
• In a large measuring cup, add 1/3 cup vegetable oil then add the eggs and vanilla, Mix with a fork right in the measuring cup until well combined.
• Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix with a spatula until just combined. Set aside.

To make the orange cake layer:

• In a large bowl, make the white cake as called for on the box then dye orange (exact drops I used given in “Tips” above).

To assemble

• Add a small cookie scoop (approx. 2 teaspoons) of brownie batter to the bottom of each cupcake liner.
• Follow with a medium cookie scoop (approx. 1.5 Tb) of cake batter to the top of the brownie batter.
• Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
• Let cool then frost with buttercream and add sprinkles.
• Enjoy!

Notes

Recipe adapted from Two Sisters Crafting

Funfetti is fun in place of the white cake mix.

Orange dye is optional. 

Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to a week (they won’t last that long!)

Nutrition

Serving: 1gCalories: 118kcalCarbohydrates: 26gProtein: 2gFat: 1gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 16mgSodium: 180mgPotassium: 43mgFiber: 1gSugar: 16gVitamin A: 23IUCalcium: 46mgIron: 1mg

Nutritional information is an estimate and provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.

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