With Halloween fast approaching, my kids and I wanted a new spooky dessert for our party table. We already had our party snacks, banana mummies and dirt cups ready, but this year we decided to add festive gluten-free Halloween cupcakes.
My son is obsessed with spiders right now, so Spider Cupcakes quickly became the top request. We had a blast baking and decorating these together. The hardest part was waiting for the cupcakes to cool so we could decorate them.
To keep the kids from gobbling up the warm cupcakes while they cooled, I let them share one warm cupcake and then we ran to the store for plastic spiders and spider web decorations. By the time we returned, it was frosting time.
Although the spider web design looks detailed, it’s very simple to make. Below I’ve included step-by-step photos and clear instructions to bake the cupcakes and decorate them like spider webs.
How To Make Dairy Free + Gluten Free Halloween Cupcakes
Ingredients for the cupcakes:
- 1.5 cups gluten free flour
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup + 2 tbsp coconut cream
- 1/4 cup coconut milk
- 1/2 cup coconut oil
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/8 tsp salt
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Stand mixer or hand mixer
- Standard 12-cup cupcake/muffin pan
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Whisk the dry ingredients — flour, baking powder and salt — together in a bowl and set aside. Follow these mixing steps:
1. Add the sugar and coconut oil to your mixer and mix on low for two minutes until the mixture is slightly slushy.
2. Add the eggs and mix for one minute. Then add the coconut milk, coconut cream and vanilla, mixing another minute until smooth.
3. Gradually add the dry mix to the wet ingredients, about 3/4 cup at a time, and mix for two minutes on medium. The batter will be smooth but thick.
4. Use a 1/4-cup measuring cup to fill each muffin cup about 2/3 to 3/4 full.
5. Bake for about 25 minutes. Test with a toothpick — it should come out clean when the cupcakes are done.
6. Transfer the cupcakes to a cooling rack and allow them to cool completely, at least an hour, before decorating.
How To Decorate Spider Cupcakes
You will need:
- Black frosting
- White icing
- Piping bag or a resealable plastic bag
- #3 Wilton decorating tip (or similar)
- Paper towel
- Toothpick
Spread black frosting evenly over each cooled cupcake so the top is smooth and flat. Fit your decorating tip into the piping bag (or cut a small corner from a Ziploc bag and insert the tip) and fill the bag with white icing. Then follow these decorating steps:
Step 1: Pipe a filled white circle in the center of the black-frosted cupcake.
Step 2: Pipe three concentric circles around the center circle.
Step 3: Place a toothpick in the center circle and drag it outward to the cupcake edge to form a radial line.
Step 4: Wipe the toothpick clean on a paper towel between pulls so the white center stays bright and the black frosting doesn’t smear into it.
Step 5: Rotate the cupcake slightly (about an inch) and repeat, continuing around the cupcake.
Step 6: When complete, you should have about eight evenly spaced radial lines forming a simple spider web pattern.
Gluten Free Halloween Cupcakes – Printable Recipe
Gluten Free Halloween Cupcakes
Makes 12 standard cupcakes. This recipe is gluten free, dairy free and peanut free by ingredients.
Dessert
American
dairy free cupcakes, gluten free cupcakes, halloween cupcakes
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- 1.5 cups gluten free flour
- 2 eggs room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup + 2 tbsp coconut cream
- 1/4 cup coconut milk
- 1/2 cup coconut oil
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/8 tsp salt
Topping
- 1 cup frosting black
- 1/4 cup icing white
Instructions
Cupcakes
-
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
-
Mix the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder and salt) and set aside. Add sugar and oil to the mixer and mix on low for two minutes until slushy.
-
Add the eggs and mix for one minute.
-
Add coconut milk, coconut cream, and vanilla. Mix until smooth.
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Add the dry mix in batches, mixing two minutes on medium each time. Batter will be thick and smooth.
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Scoop batter using a 1/4 cup measure into each cupcake cup, filling 2/3–3/4 full.
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Repeat until all cups are filled.
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Bake for 25 minutes.
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Remove and test with a toothpick; it should come out clean.
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Cool completely on a rack for at least an hour before decorating.
Decorative Spider Web Topping
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Spread black frosting smoothly over each cooled cupcake.
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Fill a piping bag fitted with a small tip with white icing.
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Pipe a filled circle in the center, then pipe three concentric circles around it.
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Use a toothpick to drag from the center outward to create radial lines, wiping the toothpick after each pull.
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Rotate the cupcake slightly and repeat until you have about eight lines forming a spider web.
Recipe Notes
To make 24 cupcakes, double the ingredients.
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