I’m not the only one, am I? Not gonna lie, I’ve definitely gone the store-bought route in the past.
I mean, the kids don’t really care, do they? But I do like to show up with something unique when I can, because why be ordinary?
These pumpkin cupcakes are a great compromise. Cute little pumpkins that only take a few minutes to make (aside from the bake time for the cupcakes).
What You Need to Make Chocolate Pumpkin Cupcakes
The goal with these cupcakes is EASY, so we only need a few items.
All you need are:
- 1 box of chocolate cake mix (any brand is fine) plus the ingredients called for on the box
- 1 tub of white frosting
- Orange gel food coloring
- 24 pretzel sticks
- 24 Wilton candy leaves
- 24 cupcake liners
- Shish kabob skewers
How to Make these Chocolate Pumpkin Cupcakes
Step 1 – Make Cupcakes
The first thing we need to do is bake the cupcakes according to the instructions for cupcakes on the box.
Make sure to only fill the cupcake liners to the halfway point. When the cupcakes are fully baked, remove them from the oven and let them cool completely.
Step 2 – Prepare Frosting
While the cupcakes are cooling, you can go ahead and get the frosting ready. Transfer the white frosting to a bowl and add several drops of the orange gel food coloring.
Stir well to combine completely. Add more coloring as needed to get the desired shade of orange.
Step 3 – Decorate Cupcakes
Now, we just need to turn our cupcakes into pumpkins! Frost each cupcake with a generous amount of orange frosting.
Next, use a skewer to poke a small hole in the side of each cupcake liner (near the top). Then, insert a pretzel stick to create the stem.
Add a Wilton leaf to each cupcake to finish the look.
That’s it! If the decorating step takes you more than 10 minutes, you’re doing it wrong. This should be quick and easy!
Chocolate Pumpkin Cupcakes
Chocolate Pumpkin Cupcakes
These chocolate pumpkin cupcakes are super easy to make so they're perfect for when you want to whip up a festive Fall dessert but don't have a lot of time!
Ingredients
- 1 box of chocolate cake mix, any brand + box ingredients
- 1 tub of white frosting, any brand
- Orange gel food coloring
- 24 pretzel sticks
- 24 Wilton candy leaves
- 24 cupcake liners
- Shish kabob skewer
Instructions
- Preheat the oven according to the cake mix directions.
- Combine cake mix ingredients.
- Line (2) 12 count muffin tins with cupcake liners.
- Fill each muffin well 1/2 way with cupcake batter.
- Bake according to package directions.
- Remove from the oven and let the cupcakes cool completely prior to decorating.
- Scoop the white frosting into a dish and add several drops of orange gel food coloring. Stir to combine. Depending on how 'orange' you want your frosting, you may want to continue adding drops to make the frosting more orange in color.
- Generously frost each cupcake with orange frosting.
- Use a shish kabob skewer to gently post a hole in the side of the cupcake (near the top) and then insert 1 pretzel stick so that it looks like the pumpkin's stem.
- Finally give each cupcake a Wilton leaf.
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I am thinking they would be amazing made out of a spice cake also….they look adorable. Happy Fall for sure.