Eyeball Cupcakes

These adorable eyeball cupcakes are great for Halloween! They’re a fun and spooky treat made with homemade icing and swirled green cake batter! Check it out with this easy recipe!

You’ll love the flavor of the homemade buttercream icing and the cake looks extra spooky with the swirled lime green and white effect. It’s the perfect treat to share at halloween parties, fall gatherings, and school or work events during the Halloween season.

You can’t go wrong with this easy recipe. The tradeoff for using a boxed mix to start is that we’re making homemade buttercream. It’s a great way to top your recipes off with a delicious and indulgent icing while still saving time with the boxed mix to begin with.

This post contains links to products I like and think will be useful to you. If you click through and make a purchase I make a commission.

I love starting my holiday recipes with a boxed mix because it saves time and effort. You really don’t need to go to all the trouble of dragging out all the ingredients, they’re already in the mix and ready to go.

Baking can be tedious at times and since we’re spicing this recipe up with some Jello and swirling effects on the cupcakes it’s not a bad trade off, time wise. Another thing to keep in mind is that if you have little ones helping in the kitchen it’s a lot easier to let them help without fear of a flop when everything is premixed!

Is buttercream icing hard to make?

Buttercream frosting or icing whichever you like to say…always a source of debate in our house…but nonetheless! Buttercream is not hard to make. We’re whipping up a batch from scratch to top off these eyeball cupcakes and make them look extra festive and spooky.

The thing to remember about buttercream is that you should add your ingredients slowly because you want to get to the right consistency without having to go back and forth too many times.

Another key is to make sure your butter is room temperature. It’s so much easier to work with! Ideally when baking you should let all of your ingredients reach room temperature for optimum results!

Can I make these eyeball cupcakes gluten free?

Yes you can! Use a boxed mix that suits your needs wherever necessary. It’s a great swap to make if you want to be sure that these cupcakes can be enjoyed by anyone and everyone.

More and more people are recognizing gluten sensitivities so even if they don’t have a full blown allergy they will be thrilled to know they can enjoy these cupcakes without any unhappy side effects.

That’s another great aspect of starting with a boxed mix. You can use whichever brand, type, etc that you have on hand or that you like.

What you’ll need to make eyeball cupcakes at home:

To make the cupcakes we will need a white cake mix, water, canola oil, eggs, and lime Jello! For the frosting we will be using butter, vanilla coffee creamer, orange Jello, powdered sugar, orange food coloring, and sugar candy eye decorations. 

Don’t forget you can find all the ingredients in a nice printable list at the bottom of the post with the step by step instructions and shopping links too!

Kitchen essentials for tasty monster halloween cupcakes:

When you head into the kitchen to make some of these great recipes you’ll want to have the best tools on hand.

I like half sheet baking pans that are quality (hello no noisy pops or sloshed cookie dough from twisting), I line my cookie sheets with silicone baking mats. These are great for all kinds of baking and not just cookies! My husband loves them for making biscuits, pizzas, and more!

Of course mixing bowls, a mixer, spatula, and some whisks should be on your list if you don’t have ones that you love. I also like to have a set of cooling racks so that my recipes can properly cool before they’re scarfed down by my family!

How to make the monster eye cupcakes and homemade buttercream frosting:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray or line a standard 12-cavity muffin tin.

In a large mixing bowl filled with the cake mix, add in the water, oil, and egg whites. Using a hand or stand mixer, mix on medium until well incorporated.

Evenly divide the batter into 2 bowls. Add the lime jello to one bowl, and in the 2^nd bowl, leave uncolored. 

Alternate layering the batter into the muffin tin, first with the green and then with the white, until each cavity is about 2/3 full. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before frosting.

In a large mixing bowl or stand mixer, cream the butter, and beat until light and fluffy. 

Slowly mix in the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time until creamy and peaks form. Add 1-3 tablespoons of the vanilla coffee creamer in between the powdered sugar as needed.

Add 1-3 drops of the orange food color to the frosting. Add frosting into the large, prepared piping bag. 

Frost your cupcakes and garnish with candy monster eyes if desired and enjoy!

Looking for more Halloween treats to try?

Here are some more delicious halloween treats that you won’t want to miss. These eyeball cupcakes are just the beginning! We have lots of delicious snacks and recipes that you can make for your festive events and family gatherings.

• Halloween Desserts in a Cup
• Halloween Dirt Shake
• Dirt Pie Recipe
• Dirt Cake Recipe
• No Bake Pumpkin Cream Cheese Dessert
• Cookie Monster Fudge

Printable Halloween Eyeball Cupcakes Recipe: