Usher in Halloween fun with colorful candy corn-inspired cupcakes

Most of us either love or hate the striped, sweet candy, but these candy corn cupcakes will delight you, whether or not you like the real deal. These cupcakes are made to look just like candy corn, so you’re free to enjoy, especially around Halloween. Don’t be frightened: You don’t need a lot of time, special skills or special tools to make these treats.

Whichever side of the fence you fall on when it comes to candy corn, I know you’ll love these festive cupcakes. These adorable cupcakes will let everyone know Halloween is around the corner. Whether you’re entertaining kiddos in a classroom or sharing goodies with your co-workers, you’ll definitely impress with these sweet treats.

If you’re like me, you’ve had your share of Pinterest-fail projects. Who has time for that? These holiday treats aren’t difficult to make or time-consuming. If you’re really short on time, then buy a boxed cake mix (choose a white cake mix) to use. Same goes for the frosting. I used a can of prepared white frosting for these, but if you’d like to make your own, then try this SheKnows recipe for low-fat vanilla frosting.

You won’t need special tools either. To frost the cupcakes, all you need is a baggie with a tiny portion of the corner cut off to serve as your frosting bag — it works like a charm.

Candy corn cupcakes recipe

These Halloween cupcakes are so festive, and everyone will get a kick out of how they look like candy corn. Don’t worry, you don’t have to be a pro baker to make these adorable treats. A tip for easily removing the cupcakes to reveal their true colors is to bake them in silicone baking cups. You can also lightly spray paper liners with nonstick cooking spray, and make sure the cupcakes cool completely before removing.

Yields 12

Prep time: 10 minutes | Bake time: 20 minutes | Inactive time: 30 minutes | Total time: 60 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 2/3 cup vegetable shortening
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup cold buttermilk
• Yellow food color
• Red food color
• Silicone or paper baking liners
• Nonstick cooking spray (if using paper liners)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 12-count muffin tin with silicone baking cups (or paper wrappers lightly sprayed with nonstick cooking spray).
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
3. To a large bowl, add the shortening and sugar. Use a mixer to blend both together until smooth. Add each egg to the bowl one at a time and then the vanilla extract. Continue to blend until smooth.
4. A little at a time, add the flour mixture to the shortening mixture, and blend until incorporated. Add the milk to the bowl, and blend to combine.
5. Divide the batter equally between 2 clean bowls.
6. To make the yellow batter, add about 4 to 6 drops of the yellow food color to the first bowl of batter, and stir to combine.
7. To make the orange batter, add 2 to 3 drops of the red food color and 2 to 3 drops of the yellow food color to the second. Stir to combine.
8. Spoon about 1-1/2 tablespoons of the yellow batter into each of your lined cups. Use your finger or a toothpick to help spread the batter evenly across the liner. Next, spoon the same amount of the orange batter over the yellow batter. The cups should be about 2/3 of the way filled, but don’t worry if they’re not, as the frosting will add to the height.
9. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean.
10. Remove from the oven, and let the cupcakes cool for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack.
11. Let the cupcakes cool completely before removing them from the liners.
12. Frost the cupcakes with your favorite white frosting by piping the frosting from the bag over the top outer edges of the cupcake. Gradually pipe the frosting around, toward the center of the cupcake, building on your initial row of frosting. End with a peak at the top center of the cupcake.

These Halloween treats are adorable.

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