Halloween Oreo Bat Cupcakes

Spooky, cute and delicious, these Halloween Oreo Bat Cupcakes are perfect for trick or treaters on the spookiest night of the year. These adorable Oreo bats sit on top of a light and fluffy cupcake and the creamiest Oreo buttercream. They’re easy and great fun to make with kids!

If you love my Halloween gingerbread skeletons and are looking for easy Halloween treats to share with your trick or treaters, then these are the cupcakes for you!

If you prefer your Halloween on the not-so-scary side, Disney-style side, rather than all that gore and scariness; I’m with you. For me it’s more Hocus Pocus than Scream, and definitely Oreo bats than the real thing.

And just look at this little guy. Isn’t he just the cutest. I swear he’s far too cute for the spookiest night of the year. I think he needs a name; what do you think?

Based on my original Oreo cupcake recipe, these cupcakes are everything you can expect from one of my favourite recipes.

They are incredibly light and fluffy, giving you pure cookies and cream joy in every bite. And that Oreo buttercream is out of this world! It’s probably my most favourite buttercream frosting ever.

But if that’s not enough, let me share with you some more reasons why you’ll love this recipe as much as I do…

• Super simple, no special skills required – just bake, cool and frost, it really is that easy
• Great to make with kids – they’ll love making the Oreo bats, if you can stop them eating all the Oreos while doing so
• Perfectly light and fluffy with a classic cookies and cream flavour – it will satisfy the biggest sweet tooth
• Insanely decadent Oreo buttercream – sweet and creamy, it’s so good you’ll want to eat it with a spoon

Ingredients

Check out my shopping list for ingredients and equipment

The recipe is a take on my classic Oreo cupcake recipe and as always there’s nothing fancy. Just simple ingredients and equipment that you’ll have in the cupboard or can find in the supermarket. Here’s what you’ll need:

• Oreo Cookies – You really need Oreos to make Oreo bats! If you’re on a budget you can swap for store-brand versions at a fraction of the cost. You can also get pre-packaged Oreo crumbs if you want something more convenient for the buttercream
• Unsalted Butter – We’ll also add ¼ teaspoon of fine sea salt to bring out the creaminess of the butter. You can use slightly salted butter and leave out the salt if you prefer.
• Self-Raising Flour – I’m using self-raising for this recipe, but you can swap for plain flour and add in extra raising agents. For every 100g of flour, you will need 1 teaspoon of baking powder.
• Eggs – I recommend using medium-sized eggs. Make sure if you keep your eyes in the fridge, you take them out and bring up to room temperature before using. This makes them super easy to whisk up and incorporate plenty of air for lovely light cupcakes. Find out more about why room temperature ingredients matter.
• Cocoa Powder – I’m using an intense or black cocoa powder for that dark Oreo cocoa flavour, but you can use regular cocoa powder if you prefer
• Caster Sugar or Superfine Sugar
• Icing Sugar or Powdered Sugar
• Baking Powder – If using plain flour rather than self-raising, add an extra 1 teaspoon of baking powder for every 100g of flour
• Chocolate – White, milk or dark will do; whatever you have available. We’ll be melting it to hold the Oreo bats together
• Sugar Eye Decorations – You can buy these ready made; I love these ones from Sprinkly, or you can make your own with white and black sugar paste
• Marshmallow Fluff
• Vanilla Extract

Recommended ingredients

BUDGET FRIENDLY: If you’re on a budget you can swap out most of the ingredients for store own-brands and many budget stores now stock good quality dupes that work just as well

Equipment you will need

Here’s the exact tools I use in my kitchen…

• Stand Mixer – I prefer to use a stand mixer for this so I can leave the butter whisking while I prep other ingredients. You can also use a large mixing bowl and a hand mixer instead
• Cupcake Tray or Muffin Tray – You want to make sure that the tin is a deep pan to give you the depth to your cupcakes. I love my Masterclass pans, they’re heavy, duty and give the perfect bake
• Food Processor – I love my Magimix for blitzing Oreos and getting the perfect texture to add to your cake batter, but you can use a mini chopper or bash them with a rolling pin if you prefer
• Angled Palette Knife or a teaspoon – For spreading the melted chocolate on your Oreo bats. Or spreading the buttercream if you don’t want to use a piping bowl and nozzle
• Ice Cream Scoop – My super top tip for getting perfectly evenly size cupcakes
• Rubber Spatula
• Baking Parchment
• Digital Kitchen Scales
• Piping Bag and Nozzle – I used a French tip or open star nozzle but you can use whichever you prefer

CONVERT TO CUPS: There is a cup conversion option in the recipe card to convert the ingredients. This is automatic and I can’t guarantee the accuracy. For best baking results, I recommend using digital scales and weighing the ingredients.

How to make Oreo bat cupcakes

Full measurements and instructions can be found on the recipe card

There are three easy steps to making they Oreo bat cupcakes – the cupcake sponge, the best buttercream ever and those adorable Oreo bats. Then all you need to do is bake, frost and decorate. Trust me, it’s easy. Here’s how you’re going to do it…

Oreo cupcake sponge

1. Crush the Oreo cookies – Break up the Oreos and add them into either a mini chopper or food processor, and pulse until they are crushed and form a sandy crumb

2. Whisk the butter and sugar – In a large mixing bowl add the butter and sugar and whisk together for 3-4 minutes, until the mixture is pale and creamy. Alternatively use a stand mixer with the paddle attachment

3. Add the eggs and vanilla extract – Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat again again until everything is well-combined. The mixture should be thick and frothy. Add the vanilla extract and whisk again

4. Sift together the dry ingredients and fold in – Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt and carefully fold into the cupcake batter using a spatula. The batter should be smooth, with no pockets of flour or cocoa powder

5. Add the Oreo crumbs – Add the crushed Oreos to the cupcake batter and fold through, making sure everything is completely mixed in

When the cupcake batter is ready, line a deep cupcake pan with cupcake liners and pop an Oreo in the bottom of each. Use an ice cream scoop and fill each liner. Bake for 18-20 minutes until springy to touch. Allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before placing on a wire rack to completely cool.

TOP TIP: If you don’t want to use intense cocoa powder, you can substitute for regular cocoa powder or leave it out all together

Oreo buttercream

1. Crush Oreo cookies – Break up the Oreos and add them into either a mini chopper or food processor, and pulse until they are crushed and form a sandy cru

2. Whisk the butter – Add the butter into a large mixing bowl and whisk with a hand mixer, on medium-high for 4-5 minutes. The butter will become pale, light and airy. It should resemble very thick cream and be easily spreadable

3. Add the icing sugar – Add the icing sugar into the butter, a tablespoon at a time. Whisk well between each addition until fully incorporate. If the buttercream feels to thick add a teaspoon of whole milk with each addition

4. Add in the Oreo crumbs – Add the crushed Oreos and give the buttercream a final whisk, making sure everything is well combined. The buttercream should be thick but still light and airy

TOP TIP: Make sure you crushed the Oreo cookies to a fine sandy texture. If you have any large cookie lumps, when you try to pipe the buttercream they will clog up the nozzle

Oreo bats

1. Melt the chocolate – Place the chocolate in a small bowl and gently melt in a microwave in 30-second blasts. Alternatively, place the bowl over a pan of simmering water and gradually melt it stirring until smooth

2. Make the bat bodies – Carefully twist an Oreo cookie in half and add a small amount of chocolate onto one half

3. Make the wings – Twist another Oreo cookie in half and gently cut the cookies into two to make wings

4. Assemble the bats – Place two wings on top of the chocolate-covered cookie and place the other half of the Oreo on top to create the bat shape. Gently press down

5. Add the eyes – Add a small amount of melted chocolate into the middle of the top Oreo cookie, and place the sugar eyes on top. Allow the Oreo bats to completely set

TOP TIP: If you don’t want to use melted chocolate, you can use a mixture of icing sugar and cool water. Make sure that the icing is thick in consistency. If it’s too runny the icing won’t set and the Oreos won’t stick together

Step-by-step live video

https://youtu.be/oIiTgzGk060

Tips for success

Although this is an easy recipe, here are a few of my top tips for making sure you won’t be tricked when baking this Oreo bat cupcakes…

• Use room temperature butter – For a light and fluffy cake and buttercream take the butter out of the fridge the night before, or 2-3 hours before you want to make the buttercream frosting (depending on how cold it is where you live). Cold butter will not give you the same aeration. For more information check out why room temperature ingredients matter
• Crush the Oreos with a rolling pin – If you don’t have a mini chopper or food processor, pop the cookies into a Ziploc bag and seal then crush them with a rolling pin. It’s a great way to get the kids involved as well. Go gentle so not to split the bag
• Don’t over-mix the cupcake batter – When folding in the flour, mix until just combined. If you over-mix, you can end up with heavy and dense cupcakes, as the gluten in the flour activates and binds everything together
• Invest in an ice cream scoop – To get your cupcakes all the same size, try an ice cream scoop for dividing the batter into the liners. You will need about 1 scoop per liner; to about ¾s full.
• Check your cupcakes halfway through – You want you cupcakes to be nicely domed and a even chocolate colour across the top. If you find some are cooking faster than others, turn the cupcake tray halfway through the baking time.
• Test your baked cupcakes – Check your cakes are baked by gently pushing a toothpick into the centre and if it comes out clean, they’re ready. If there is cake batter on the toothpick pop them back in the oven for a few more minutes. Alternatively, gently press the cupcakes with your fingers – if the cake springs back it’s ready. If you leave an indentation back in they go.

FAQs about Oreo bat cupcakes

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