Skeleton Cupcakes Recipe

How to make it

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• Heat oven to 350°F. You'll need 24 regular-size muffin cups lined with paper, foil or Halloween-themed liners.
• Beat cake mix, buttermilk, eggs and oil in large bowl with mixer on medium speed 2 minutes or until just blended. Divide batter between muffin cups (1/4 cup batter per cup).
• Bake 24 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack 15 minutes before removing cupcakes to rack to cool completely.
• Tint chocolate frosting black with food color; frost cupcakes.
• To decorate: Slightly flatten marshmallows with palm of your hand. Insert a broken length of breadstick or lollipop stick into each marshmallow. Place some black frosting in a microwave-safe custard cup and microwave about 5 seconds, until thin and runny. Paint skeleton faces onto marshmallows with a fine paintbrush.
• Using the photo as a guide, cut fruit leather into bat wings with scissors; press in decorating sugar to coat. Roll fruit leather scraps into small balls, then shape into bat heads with ears; coat heads in sugar. Attach 2 nonpareil candies for eyes with a dab of frosting.
• To assemble: Using photo as guide, stand bat wings upright in frosting on top of cupcakes. Insert a skeleton head behind wings into middle of cupcake. Attach a bat head in middle of wings with frosting.
• Plan Ahead: You can bake cupcakes 2 weeks ahead and freeze. Frost and decorate up to 1 day ahead, cover and keep at room temperature.