I was out and about town the other day looking for what Halloween items had been marked down already to see if there was any decorations I needed for the house. I was at Target and stumbled upon Peeps. Now for me Peeps have always been an Easter treat. It never occurred to me that there would be Halloween peeps. These were cute! Ghosts and gravestones. I certainly wasn’t going to hold those until next year so I figured I’d put them to use this last weekend.
We had a house full of friends staying with us for a charity bike ride that we participated in, so what better way to use a house full of tasters. In my world there is nothing better than when I want one cupcake and I have five other willing participants that want to eat the other 23 cupcakes. Win/Win
I went simple and easy with these. I doctored up a packaged cake mix, piped pudding in the middle of the cupcakes and decorated them with crushed Oreos, cool whip, more pudding and those adorable Peeps. These are so simple to make and would be really great for a Halloween gathering. I must say, I piled the frosting up pretty high, which makes them hard to eat without a fork. But if you keep the frosting at a reasonable amount, they are great for any gathering. I also saw some Gummi worms out there. You could also crush up the Oreos to look like dirt with a Peep gravestone and use the worms to crawl out of the top. Halloween cuteness!
Ingredients
- 1 package Betty Crocker Triple Chocolate Fudge Cake Mix
- 1 package instant chocolate pudding mix (3.9 ounces)
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- 3/4 cup sour cream
- 3/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup warm water
- 3 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 box instant chocolate pudding mix (3.9 ounces)
- 1 3/4 cup whole milk
- 12 ounce container whipped topping, thawed
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°
- Line muffin tins with paper liners
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat together cake mix, pudding mix, sour cream, oil, water, eggs, almond extract. Mix for about 2 minutes on medium speed. One mixed fold in the chocolate chips with a spatula.
- Using a large cookie scoop, distribute the batter into 24 muffin wells.
- Bake in the oven 19-23 minutes, or until the tops of the cake spring back when lightly touched.
- Allow cupcakes to cool inside muffin tins for about 10 minutes before removing from the tin. Cool completely on wire rack.
- In a large bowl beat pudding mix and milk on medium speed until combined and thickened. Fold 1 cup whipped topping into the mix. Cover and refrigerate for one hour.
- Using a sharp knife, core the center of each cooled cupcake. Reserve the pieces that you have removed.
- Fill a large Ziploc bag with chilled pudding and pipe pudding into the center of the cupcakes. Cover the pudding with reserved cake pieces.
- Fill a large piping bag with remaining whipped topping. Pipe onto cupcakes. Sprinkle with crushed Oreos and top with a Peep ghost.
- Refrigerate until ready to serve.
2 comments… add one
Tally February 19, 2016, 2:53 am
Yum!!!!! So easy too. Can’t wait to try
serena February 19, 2016, 5:09 pm
Thanks Tally!