Trick-or-Treat Cupcakes & Hawaiian Punch 7UP Float #SpookyCelebration

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My favorite holiday of all time is definitely Halloween. Costume parties, trick-or-treating and Halloween Baking, it is a blast! Today we have had so much fun coming up with some really cute and fun treats for the kids. When I knew that I would be working with Mars candies, I immediately knew that I wanted to make Trick-or-Treat surprise cupcakes and that is exactly what we did, using the Mixed Fun Size – 55 Piece 34.5oz Twix, Snickers, M&M plain and M&M peanut candies.

Usually when we have a great big bag of candies like this, we just eat them all up. But I knew that it would be so fun to make a real trick-or-treating cupcake, where you wouldn't know which candy you got, until you actually eat it!

Candy filled cupcakes- makes 12

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup sour cream
8-12 candy packages

Into medium bowl, mix cocoa, flour, baking powder, and salt then set aside. In a second medium sized mixing bowl, mix butter and sugar until fluffy (by hand). Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each, then beat in vanilla. Now using a mixer on low speed, add flour mixture slowly making sure it's all mixed well. Pour batter into cups, filling each cup 3/4 full and simply place chocolate in the middle of each cup. I cut the Snickers and Twix in half.

Bake 20 to 25 minutes at 350 degrees and allow to cool for 15 minutes before frosting.

Looking good! I saw a few online videos that said to add more batter on top of the candies so that they could be right in the middle. Since I am frosting them, I left them uncovered.

Frosting:

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

1 pound (3 2/3 cups) confectioners' sugar

1 to 2 tablespoons milk

In a mixing bowl, cream butter until smooth. Gradually add confectioners' sugar; beat until smooth. If too thick to spread, beat in 1 to 2 tablespoons milk. ( I added too much milk and my frosting was a bit too thin, so be very careful when adding it). If you are going to try to do a high frosting, keep it thicker.

I had never colored my own frosting but since I needed to have it purple, I gave it a go. Using the Martha Stewart Easy White Icing Recipe, I made the basic white frosting and then with Wilton Lavender icing color, I made it the exact shade I wanted. This was so easy! I don't think I will ever purchase pre-made frosting again.

Coloring your frosting:

With a toothpick you want to get some color and then mix into the frosting. Repeat until you achieve color you are looking for. Use a fresh toothpick every time so not to contaminate your coloring. I added about 5 toothpicks to get this particular shade.

I have to pat myself in the back, I really do, because these came out ultra cute!

And everyone was surprised to find a delicious candy middle! Talk about Trick-or-Treat! Finding M&M's, Snickers and Twix, inside a cupcake, is not an everyday thing.

To go with our yummy cupcakes, I made a most delicious Hawaiian and 7UPdrink. I called this Hawaiian-Up Float and it is super easy to make.

We had a ton of fun making and eating all of these goodies. Everything was a big hit with the kids, which is what is most important. I also got a few new ideas for this week's parties and will probably be doing some more Halloween baking using these same recipes.