Its the time of year when you want a scary treat! They’re small, they’re easy to bake, and super fun and scary! The recipe is a one bowl mixture, and can yield 45 mini cupcakes! Perfect for any type of party! The decorations are scary and amazingly easy to make!

* The Jaws are cookies, and the recipe is below as well, just keep scrolling down until you’ve passed the cupcakes! 😉 *

Here’s how you make them!

INGREDIENTS 

FOR THE CUPCAKE

• 1 1/4 cups unsweetend cocoa powder
• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour 
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 large eggs plus 1 large egg yolk
• 1 1/4 cups warm water
• 1 1/4 cups buttermilk (if you don’t have buttermilk, just add 2 tbsp of lemon juice into your milk and let it set for five min before using as buttermilk) 
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 1/4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract 

Vanilla Frosting

• 1 cup (230g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 3 1/2 – 4 cups icing sugar
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp salt
• Food Colours – Orange, Purple, Green and White

Royal Icing

• 1/2 cup icing sugar
• 1-2 tbsp milk (or as much needed)
• Food Colouring : Black , Blood Red

*SUGAR EYE BALLS – You can buy these at any baking supply store, they come in small packages of 30 eyes. They are made from sugar and are edible. *

METHOD

1. Preheat oven to 175 C (350F), with racks in upper and lower thirds. Line your Cupcake tray with cupcake forms.
2. Sift together cocoa, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer. Return bowl to mixer. Fit mixer with the paddle attachment. Add eggs, yolk, water, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla. Mix on low speed until smooth, about 3 minutes.
3. Divide batter evenly between prepared cupcake pans lined with cupcake wrappers (or forms). Bake until a cake tester inserted into centers comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Let cool in the cupcake pan on wired racks until cooled completely, roughly 20 minutes.
4. Your chocolate cupcakes are ready to be frosted!

Vanilla Frosting Method 

1. With a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy – about 2 minutes. Add 3 and 1/2 cups icing sugar, heavy cream, and vanilla extract with the mixer running on low. Increase to high speed and beat for 3 full minutes. Add up to 1/2 cup more icing sugar if the frosting is too thin or if the frosting is too thick, add a tbsp of cream. Add a pinch of salt at the end and let it blend in.
2. Split the frosting evenly in quarters, and colour each quarter with the food colouring of your choice. Ive used orange, green, purple and white (I do use white food colouring, only because it gives it a more punchy bright white effect)
3. Cover tightly and store in the fridge until its time to use it. The rising can be stored for up to 1 week in the refrigerator.

Royal Icing Method  

1. In a small bowl mix the icing sugar and milk together. Make sure to just mix with a spoon, this will go very fast. Make sure to our in the tablespoon of milk little by little and stop immediately when you feel the icing is thick and strong.
2. Split the icing into 3 small bowls and colour one with black and one with blood red. You icing can be left resting on the counter until its time to use it.

For frosting the cupcakes, Ill take you through each scary cupcake so you know exactly how to do it!   

Green Monster with Bulging eyeballs  

1. Take your green frosting, and with a spatula just spread evenly on the cupcake. Making sure its roughly less than half an inch high and completely flat from the top. Work the spatula upwards to get the height on the frosting.
2. Once the frosting is on, place your sugar eyeballs in any order, one or two, however you wish.
3. Then take your white icing and using a toothpick draw your mouth. You make a zig zag mouth or a dracula like with fangs.
4. Then take your blood like icing and with a toothpick just start dapping the eyeballs very lightly with the blood, spread it down into the green frosting. Also just swipe over the white mouth to give a little blood on there for effect. (See image below for inspiration)  

Cute Mummy  

1. Take your white frosting and out into a piping bag fitted with a no.47 nozzle (it has a straight edge on onside and a jagged edge on the other side)
2. Place your eyeballs on the cupcake. I like to place mine slightly closer to the center of the cupcake, this way the mummy looks like its literally peeking through the bands 🙂
3. Then take your piping bag and pipe from left to right covering just the bottom of the  sugar eyeballs and the top. Then continue piping in any direction, giving the effect of the bands being wrapped around the mummy. (See below for inspiration) 

Monster Claw 

1. Using your sugar paste, create little tiny claws by taking a small piece and rolling it into a small log and then pinching slightly on one end. once your created a thin peak then curl the paste slightly so it resembles a claw. You can of course use white sugar paste and the colour it any colour using food colouring, or you could just buy the desired colour of sugar paste, making things go a little faster for you 😉
2. Then take your orange frosting and put into piping bag fitted with a no.2 nozzle (this one has a very tiny round hole at the bottom)
3. Then pipe your frosting onto the cupcake in an upward motion. So start onto of the cupcake, slowly, creating a thicker blob then move your hand upwards slowly and swipe off giving it a thinner peak. Continue this until you’ve covered the entire top of the cupcake.
4. Then take your claws (I made four to five claws for my cupcakes) and place the with a little space in between each of them on the bottom half of the cupcake, making sure the curled peak is facing outwards. (See below for inspiration) 

Orange Fluff Monster 

1. Do the same as the Monster Claw cupcake, however just start with covering the cupcake in the spikes and then place your sugar eyes wherever you like. I placed them on the top half of the cupcake so it looked like a tiny monster. You can also just use one eye if you wish! (See below for inspiration) 

Purple Tentacle Eyed Monster

1. Take your purple frosting and fill a piping bag fitted with a no.21 nozzle (this one should look like a small flower at the bottom)
2. And then in a swiping upward motion, pipe out long spikes with the floral shape of the nozzle. making some big and some small, resembling wiggle worms.
3. Once the cupcake is covered, on each point at the top, take your white icing and with a tooth pick dab on a white dot. Then take your black icing and dab a smaller dot on the white one using a toothpick again. This should then be covered in tiny eyeballs. (See below for inspiration)

Dreadful Jaw Cookies

INGREDIENTS 

For the cookie

• I used the Snickerdoodle recipe, they are perfect in colour, flavour and texture for the jaws. For the recipe click here  !

Vanilla Frosting

• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 1/2 plus 1/4 (if needed) cup icing sugar
• 5 tbsp cup heavy cream
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• pinch of salt
• Food Colours – Creamy Peach colour, you can use any colour you like, baking supply stores usually carry alls orts of skinniness, just try and find something that resembles your gums as best s possible! 🙂

Royal Icing

• 1/2 cup icing sugar
• 1-2 tbsp milk (or as much needed)
• Food Colouring : Blood Red

*For the teeth I used tiny marshmallows – you can purchase these at any convenient store *

Vanilla Frosting Method 

1. Follow the recipe above for the vanilla frosting, making sure to add either more cream to make it thinner or more icing sugar to make it thicker.

Royal Icing Method  

1. Follow the steps above for the Blood icing.

ASSEMBLY OF THE JAW COOKIE 

1. Start by taking your snickerdoodle and splitting each cookie into half.
2. Once they’re halted pair them up so they all have an equal half.
3. Then take your frosting and spred the frosting on the cookie. Make sure to spread on the top halves of the cookie.
4. Then take your tiny marshmallows and place 4-5 marshmallows on both the halves in the frosting.
5. Then sandwich the halves by making sure the half without any icing is facing outward and the half with the icing in on the inside.
6. Take a toothpick and then just generously spread from one marshmallows tooth to the next the blood royal icing, giving it the effect of dripping blood from the mouth. (See below for inspiration) 

You can have fun with then as much as you want, its halloween so make them as scary or as cute as you like!

ENJOY!