Easy Halloween Cupcakes and Gift Wrapping Idea

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of The J.M. Smucker Company. The opinions and text are all mine.

Halloween is just around the corner, and I was recently challenged by The J.M Smucker Company to show you how I “mix up a moment” and make baking for Halloween a fun family activity.

Landon and I created cupcakes with cute decorations I found at the craft store, plus I’ll show you how to package individual Halloween cupcakes as gifts.

I went a little crazy in the craft store, there were so many adorable decorations I wanted to add to the cupcakes:

• edible pumpkins and ghosts

• little wooden pumpkins

• spider webs

• and small Halloween clothespins

Easy Halloween Cupcakes and Gift Wrapping Idea

I went a little crazy in the craft store, there were so many adorable decorations I wanted to add to the cupcakes: edible pumpkins and ghosts, little wooden pumpkins, spider webs, and small Halloween clothespins.

 

 

Halloween is about the only day I let Landon eat as much candy as he wants, and I have to admit Don and I also pour over all his loot and pick out our favorites after we come home from trick or treating.

Thankfully, after overdoing it, we all don’t have much of an appetite for sugary candy after that for a while, and I end up donating the rest of the candy.

I was asked to make something fun with Pillsbury™ Funfetti® Halloween Cake Mix and Pillsbury™ Funfetti® Halloween Vanilla Flavored Frosting.

So yesterday I headed to Walmart, where the Halloween line can be found in the Bake Center, which is really easy to find at the end cap in our Walmart when you walk toward the food section.

Landon and I have loved baking together since he was little, and we usually make cookies or cupcakes.

Here he is when he was little, at 4 years old, baking in our kitchen. It’s one of my favorite pictures of him with his cousins.

 

 

By now he’s old enough that he can read the recipe to me and measure the ingredients, and then he’s in charge of putting the cupcake liners into the tray and filling them after we’ve made the batter.

It’s a team effort until it comes to cleaning up the mess in the kitchen — he usually just runs off and yells, “Let me know when they are done!” When I use a box mix, I typically add something to it, and this time I added some green protein/fiber powder. It was an easy addition to make these cupcakes more nutritious.

Landon helped me fill the cupcake liners. Here is an easy trick: place the prepared mix in a plastic bag, cut off one corner, and that makes it really easy to fill the cups uniformly.

 

Decorating these cupcakes was especially fun because I bought so many items to decorate the top of the cupcakes and the gift bags with, and Landon loved piping on the frosting.

 

I used Pillsbury™ Cream Cheese Frosting because it is white and that made the decorations stand out more — I didn’t want to overdo it with the color orange. But we used the sprinkles that came with the Halloween frosting on some — how cute are those tiny bats?

 

 

I don’t know who was giddier to use those little edible ghosts on the cupcakes, Landon or I.

 

 

After they were all decorated, I cut cardstock to size to make a sturdy bottom for the bag, put it into the cellophane bag, added one of the spider webs and then a cupcake. Landon closed the bags with those cute little clothespins.

 

 

One tip: refrigerate the cupcakes for a bit before you bag them so the frosting doesn’t get stuck on the side of the bags.

I also cut the bags a bit shorter so it was easier to get the cupcakes into the bag. Finally, I added a little wooden pumpkin to the outside of the bag. It’s always a pleasure to give family and friends a handmade gift.

I know Landon will beam with pride when he gives these cupcakes to his neighborhood friends. Guess we’ll have to make another batch when it’s actually Halloween — this was just a trial run.

 

 

These cute Halloween cupcakes were easy to make, they were inexpensive, and it was so much fun to decorate with Landon. The next time you are at Walmart, stop by the Bake Center and think of stocking up on Pillsbury™ Baking Mixes and Frostings so you already have them at home when the kids want to bake for Halloween.