These Halloween Chocolate Cupcakes with a Surprise Inside are so easy and lots of fun! You won’t be able to resist biting into these chocolate cupcakes topped with rich chocolate buttercream frosting and a surprise filling. A simple Halloween dessert!

Easy Halloween Chocolate Cupcakes
Easy Halloween Chocolate Cupcakes with a Surprise Inside will surely make anyone smile!
We LOVE all things Halloween. Not only are these Halloween treats made with a rich delicious chocolate cake and the most amazing chocolate buttercream frosting, but the bright orange pumpkin candy sprinkles that pour out when you bite into the cupcake is extra fun!
Cupcakes with Sprinkles Inside
With active teenagers, we’re always on the go so much, but we do our best to slow down anytime we can and make time for baking.
One day my daughter wanted to bake black cupcakes. Apparently black cupcakes are super cool right now! I had my doubts, but let her do her thing.
She made her version of black cupcakes with colorful sprinkles inside and I made these Halloween cupcakes. These definitely remind me of all the fun treats I just had at Disney’s Oogie Boogie Bash!

The surprise pumpkin sprinkles make them best Halloween treat! I am totally on board with black cupcakes now!
What I love about them is how spooky and dark they look on a party table, then when you bite into them they are full of bright and joyful candy.
What can I put in the middle of a cupcake?
If you want to add a different surprise filling into your cupcake, here are some alternative ideas for you.
- Candy sprinkles which we use for this recipe is an easy and fun filling.
- Creamy caramel would be delicious.
- Your favorite candy bar is always a winner.
- Nutella is one of our family favorites!
- Jam is a popular cupcake filling.
- Pudding makes a tasty creamy filling.
- Cream cheese whipped with a little powdered sugar makes a yummy cake filling.

More fun Halloween desserts to try!
- Mickey Mouse Halloween Cookies
- Brain Cupcakes In a Jar (Video)
- Halloween Vampire Ice Cream Floats (Video)
- Halloween Crack
- Worms and Bugs Halloween Candy Bark Treats
- Halloween FreakShakes
How to Make Easy Halloween Cupcakes
To make the chocolate cake, I used a Devil’s Food chocolate cake mix. Since I was making the chocolate buttercream frosting from scratch, using a cake box mix made baking so much quicker!
I added sour cream to my cake batter for added flavor and black food gel to make the cupcakes black for Halloween.

How do you Fill Inside Of cupcakes?
Adding a surprise inside filling into a cupcake is very easy!
After your cupcakes cool, cut a small round circle out of the middle and remove that cake. You can also use a large round frosting tip to evenly cut into your cupcake.
Fill the cupcake with your choice of filling, in this case, Halloween sprinkles. I used pumpkin sprinkles and these black and orange nonpareils.

Once you’ve filled your cupcakes with sprinkles, add the piece of cake you removed back over the filling, then frost the top of the cupcake.

This chocolate buttercream frosting recipe is incredibly smooth and rich. I love this recipe because you can create tall fluffy swirls on top of cupcakes.
Add your cupcakes to a black cake stand for a spooktacular Halloween party table. Everyone will be surprised when they take their first bite!

Halloween Chocolate Cupcakes with a Surprise Inside
Equipment
Ingredients
Chocolate Buttercream Frosting Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 ½ cups powdered sugar
- ½ cup cocoa powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
- 3-4 drops black food gel
- 2 tablespoons black sugar sprinkles
Chocolate Cake Ingredients
- 1 15.25 oz Devil’s Food Chocolate Cake Mix
- 1 ⅓ cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup water
- 2 tablespoons sour cream
- 3 large eggs
- 2-3 drops black food gel optional
- ½ cup Halloween sprinkles
Instructions
Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
- Add butter and vanilla into a bowl of a mixer and beat for a few minutes until smooth and creamy. You can also use a hand held mixer with a large bowl.
- Gently mix in powdered sugar a few cups at a time.
- Then add cocoa powder, salt and cream. Mix well for about 1 minute.
- Mix in several drops of black food gel. Keep adding color until you get the desired black.
- If your frosting is too thick, add another tablespoon of cream until desired thickness.
- Cover tightly and store in the refrigerator until ready to frost cupcakes.
Chocolate Cake
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Add black cupcake liners to a cupcake pan. Set aside.
- In a bowl, combine the cake mix, oil, water and sour cream. Mix each egg one at a time. Mix on low for about 1 minute.
- Mix in a few drops of black food gel if you desire then pour the batter into the cupcake liners.
- Bake for 18-21 minutes. Allow the cupcakes to completely cool.
- With a small sharp knife, cut a small chunk of cake out of each cupcake. Fill the hole with Halloween sprinkles. Replace the chunk of cake back into the cupcake.
- Add the frosting into a piping bag fitted with an extra large round piping tip.
- Pipe large swirls over the cupcakes and top with black sprinkles.
- For more details – visit the recipe blog post for step-by-step photo instruction.
Notes
Nutrition
Original published October 7, 20219 – Updated October 2021
Need a fun Halloween Party Idea?
Don’t miss these fun–> Halloween Party Ideas for Witch’s Night Out! Inspiration for hosting an epic gothic black and gold themed Witch Halloween Party.

I enjoy experimenting with different types of dishes, so I will definitely try this one.
This look really good thank you
I love to try a different kind of recipes, I found a new recipe here I definitely try it.
This is a very cool idea to make sweets in the form of a spider man! My son just loves everything connected with him. Thanks so much for sharing this wonderful recipe!
Wow, making such chocolate cupcakes with a surprise is a very original and cool idea! Firstly, chocolate cupcakes are always a good idea, are there people who don’t like them? Secondly, such a surprise inside will not leave indifferent either a child or an adult. Be sure to cook these cupcakes for Halloween! I love the atmosphere of this holiday, and especially non-standard treats :))) Last year I made cookies in the form of witchโs fingers, with cherry topping and nuts. Children and all guests were delighted!