These cute and spooky Gluten-Free Ghost Cupcakes are perfect for Halloween! These super easy cupcakes are vegan, allergy-free, and perfect for kids! Made with a simple black chocolate cupcake base and dairy-free vanilla buttercream frosting. Whether you need a unique Halloween party treat or a simple non-candy dessert, these are a must!
Are you ready for a CUTE (and spooky) overload? Just in time for Halloween, these ghost cupcakes are THE thing you need to bake! Halloween may be all about "the candy", but a homemade non-candy and allergy-free treat is way more fun, right? With celiac disease and food allergies, we need out non-candy Teal Pumpkin goodies and having an edible sweet treat to enjoy that's allergen-free is even better! (Plus, what's cuter than these little ghosts!?)
Perfect Allergy-Free Halloween Treat
The Teal Pumpkin Project is an effort by the food allergy community to signal to trick-or-treaters that "this house" is food allergy-friendly and provides non-food toys and trinkets in addition to or lew of candy. But if you want to throw an allergy-friendly Halloween party, the addition of a free-from treat is a must! These adorably spooky cupcakes are:
- Gluten-Free
- Vegan
- Allergy-free (Dairy-Free, Soy-Free, Egg-Free, Nut-Free, Peanut-Free, Wheat-Free, Sesame-Free, Corn-Free, Coconut-Free)
- Low in Sugar
Black Chocolate Cupcakes
The cupcake base for these Halloween Ghosts is a simple chocolate cupcake with BLACK food coloring! Extra dark and spooky, but still super easy to make!
Ingredients you need:
- Gluten-Free Baking Flour
- Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- Baking Powder
- Granulated Sweetener
- Bob's Red Mill Egg Replacer
- Pure Vanilla Extract
- Black Food Coloring
- Neutral Flavored Oil
- Unsweetened Non-Dairy Milk
Black Food Coloring
You have a few options for the coloring. I'm all about natural food dyes, but if that's not a necessity for you, have no fear!
- You can use plain old black food colorings.
- You can use natural powdered black coloring.
- You can ditch the dye and use BLACK cocoa powder. You would use this in place of the normal cocoa powder called for in the recipe.
- You can try blending a bunch of natural colors together (I did not try this, but...)
- You can use a small amount of activated charcoal.
Dairy-Free Vanilla Buttercream
What makes these ghosts, is the spooky swirl of white frosting! All you need to do is whip up a batch of my classic vegan vanilla buttercream frosting, nothing fancy!
- Stick of Vegan/Soy-Free Butter
- Powdered Sweetener
- Touch of Water or Non-Dairy Milk
- Pure Vanilla Extract
Piping the Frosting
Since you want big swirls for the frosting, you can fill a plastic Ziplock bag with the prepared frosting, snip the corner and apply the frosting. I taped 0.6" circle tip to the end of the piping bag for better guidance.
Decorating the Cupcakes
But wait, there's one last thing! The EYES! I saw this pack of Wilton Candy Eyeballs at Walmart, which actually inspired this entire recipe. The large candy eyes are "a great way to put a face on a cupcake" as the package says. Yes, indeed and these eyes are what makes these cupcakes so darn cute! The pack comes with 24 eyes so you have enough for a dozen cupcakes (but this recipe only yields 10 cupcakes). You want the large size, not the small size.
Additional Baking Tips and Storage Instructions
- I always like to make my cupcakes ahead of time, the day before, and then frosting them once they are 100% cool. Simply store them in an airtight container at room temperature once they've cooled from the oven on a wire rack (Pro Tip: place a napkin or paper towel in the container to prevent moisture.)
- Once you frost the cupcakes, you'll need to store the cupcakes in the fridge in a closed container to prevent the frosting from spoiling.
- Make sure you stick the eyes in the frosting while the frosting is still "wet" and hasn't dried and set.
- Before serving the cupcakes, bring them to room temperature for best taste!
- You can store the finished cupcakes in the fridge for up to 1 week. You can freeze unfrosted cupcakes for up to 6 months. Thaw them in the fridge and then frost and decorate as instructed.
Gluten-Free Ghost Cupcakes Recipe
Gluten-Free Ghost Cupcakes (Vegan, Allergy-Free)
These cute and spooky Gluten-Free Ghost Cupcakes are perfect for Halloween! These super easy cupcakes are vegan, allergy-free, and perfect for kids! Made with a simple black chocolate cupcake base and dairy-free vanilla buttercream frosting. Whether you need a unique Halloween party treat or a simple non-candy dessert, these are a must!
- Prep Time: 10 Minutes
- Cook Time: 18 Minutes
- Total Time: 28 minutes
- Yield: 10 Cupcakes 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
Black Chocolate Cupcakes:
- 1 ½ Cups Gluten-Free Baking Flour
- ½ Cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- 1 Tsp Baking Powder
- 1 Cup Granulated Erythritol (or preferred granulated sugar)
- 1 Prepared Bob's Red Mill Egg Replacement
- ¾ Cup + 1 to 2 TB Unsweetened Non-Dairy Milk
- ¼ Cup Neutral Oil (or melted Vegan/Soy-Free Butter)
- 2 Tsp Black Food Dye*
- 1 Tsp Pure Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Extract
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting:
- 1 Stick of Softened Vegan/Soy-Free Butter
- 3 Cups Powdered Erythritol (or preferred powdered sugar)
- 1-3 Tsps of Water or Unsweetened Non-Dairy Milk (as needed)
- 1 Tsp Pure Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Extract
- 20 Large Candy Eyes
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine all the dry cupcake batter ingredients and whisk together. Then add the wet ingredients, except the black dye, and mix together to form a thick brownie-like batter.
- Slowly add in the black food coloring until you get a black batter.
- Line or grease a standard cupcake pan for 10 cupcakes. Add about 3 tablespoons of the cupcake batter to each mold.
- Bake the cupcakes for 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick comes out mostly clean. Allow the cupcakes to cool slightly before transferring them out of the pan and onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- To make the frosting, combine a softened stick of butter and the powdered sweetener in a bowl and cream them together with the vanilla extract using a hand mixer or stand mixer. Add water or non-dairy milk as needed.
- Add the finished frosting to a pastry gun or pastry (plastic) bag to frost the cupcakes with large swirls to create the ghost.
- While the frosting is still wet, add 2 candy eyes to each cupcake.
Notes
*You can use more or less dye depending on what you use (powder vs. liquid). Just until it gets dark enough.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Cupakes
Keywords: Halloween, Halloween cupcakes, cupcakes, vegan cupcakes, gluten-free cupcakes, chocolate cupcakes, black chocolate, gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian, allergy-free, dairy-free, egg-free, soy-free, nut-free, peanut-free, coconut-free, corn-free, sesame-free, kid-friendly
Now that you have a recipe for perfect gluten-free ghost cupcakes for Halloween, that hardest decision you'll need to make is...Are these too cute to eat or...?
More Halloween Treats To Try:
- 4-Ingredient Homemade Mounds Bars
- Easy Gluten-Free Chocolate Covered Pretzels
- Pumpkin Spice Roasted Chickpeas
- Healthy Peanut Butter Cup Muddy Buddies
- Mini Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins
So tell me:
+ What was your favorite Halloween candy to get when you went trick-or-treating? Junious Mints, Mounds/Almond Joys, Mini Utz Halloween Pretzel Packs
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Helen
O my gosh, how adorable are these "spooky" ghosts! Great idea!
★★★★★
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
They are so perfect for a kid's Halloween party!
Dee
Sounds yummy! Pinned. I think these will become a new Halloween tradition for us!
★★★★★
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Thanks! A new tradition here too!
Wasifa Ahmad Hasan
Oh yum!!! Need to try it this halloween.
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Enjoy!
Bjha
great recipe for this years halloween, staying home. My kids love cupcakes.
★★★★★
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Yea! Fun cupcakes are the perfect substitute for trick-or-treating!
Alyssa Hixenbaugh
These would be awesome for my nephew since he has a gluten intolerance! I will have to make a batch! Thanks for sharing!
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Hope you all enjoy!
Jed Jurchenko
Very fun! I've got a middle school baker at home who will love this. Pluse, another four kiddos who will enjoy eating them 🙂
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Super easy for the kids to make!
Lola Osinkolu
Haha this is definitely so cute( & spooky)!
★★★★★
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Haha, very spooky!
Patricia
Those are adorable. They seem easy to decorate. What a great idea.
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
They're are a perfect easy last-minute treat!