Spooky & Delicious Eyeball Halloween Cupcakes: Easy Chocolate Base with Lychee Eyes (Gluten-Free Option)
Get ready to impress and delightfully creep out your Halloween guests with these incredibly moist and decadent Eyeball Cupcakes! Featuring a rich chocolate cupcake base, a luscious cream cheese frosting, and chillingly realistic eyeballs crafted from canned lychees, fresh blueberries, and a drizzle of strawberry jam “blood,” these treats are perfect for any spooky celebration. Best of all, they can easily be made gluten-free, ensuring everyone can enjoy a bite of horror.
For years, I’ve sought Halloween dessert ideas that don’t rely on artificial food coloring or highly processed ingredients. The challenge led me to a brilliant, natural solution: the “bloody eyeball” concept, which I first introduced with my Bloody Eyeball Brownies. This idea is simply too good to abandon! It’s effortlessly creepy, visually unique, and surprisingly simple to assemble. I’ve even adapted these eerie edible eyeballs for my popular Halloween Monster Mouths, a fantastic kid-friendly project that uses only fruit, nuts or seeds, and jam for a genuinely healthy Halloween snack.
The Eerie Eyeballs: Crafting Your Spooky Topping
The secret to these startlingly realistic eyeballs lies in an often-overlooked fruit: lychees. Specifically, canned lychees provide the perfect translucent white base for the “sclera” of the eye, with a fresh blueberry tucked inside to form the “pupil.”
What Exactly are Lychees?
Lychees are a sweet, fragrant fruit native to China, known for their delicate floral notes. While fresh lychees can be tricky to find outside of specialty markets, canned lychees are much more accessible. You can typically find them in the Asian food aisle of most grocery stores, especially at larger chains or dedicated Asian food markets. Some Whole Foods stores also carry them, either in the Asian food section or with other canned fruits. It’s always a good idea to call ahead to ensure availability before making a special trip.
Once you have your canned lychees, the assembly is straightforward. After a quick rinse and pat dry, a single blueberry fits snugly into the hollow center of each lychee. The contrast of the dark blueberry against the pale lychee creates an uncanny resemblance to an eye. While chocolate chips could technically be used, I’ve found them to be less ideal. Regular-sized blueberries are far easier to work with, as smaller chocolate chips often require additional filler to stay in place. For an even more creative touch, small to medium-sized grapes also work wonderfully, offering the potential for varying “eye” colors. And if you’re a fan of this spooky idea, keep an eye out for an upcoming Halloween punch recipe featuring these very lychee eyeballs!
The Perfect Chocolate Cupcake Base
A truly spectacular Halloween cupcake starts with an exceptional base, and this chocolate cupcake recipe delivers on all fronts. It’s incredibly adaptable, allowing you to customize it to your dietary needs or preferences, all while maintaining a consistent, delicious moistness that reviewers rave about. This recipe is a scaled-down version of my beloved Healthy Chocolate Cake, a recipe I’ve cherished for over a decade because, quite simply, I’ve yet to find a better one. These cupcakes are delightful on their own, but they also provide the perfect foundation for our eerie cream cheese frosting and ghastly eyeballs.
Customizing Your Chocolate Cupcakes
One of the standout features of this chocolate cupcake recipe is its flexibility:
- **Flour Options:** Whether you prefer classic all-purpose flour, the wholesome goodness of whole wheat flour, or a gluten-free alternative, this recipe accommodates. I’ve achieved fantastic results with Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour, producing cupcakes that genuinely don’t taste gluten-free once cooled. However, note that not all gluten-free flour mixes are interchangeable, and there’s no direct substitute for almond, coconut, or other single-source flours.
- **Sweetener Choices:** You can use traditional granulated sugar, coconut sugar for a slightly less refined option, or even honey for a different flavor profile. If using honey, the amount is already reduced for optimal results, and further reduction is not recommended to maintain the moist texture. For other sweeteners, reducing the quantity too drastically can impact the cupcakes’ moistness, so aim for a maximum reduction to 3/4 cup of sugar if desired.
- **Fat Selection:** The choice of oil is crucial for moistness. Neutral-tasting oils like canola, vegetable, or grapeseed oil are excellent. For coconut oil, opt for refined varieties to avoid any coconut flavor. Surprisingly, extra-virgin olive oil also works well; while you might detect its flavor in the warm batter, it dissipates once the cupcakes cool. If you’re concerned, a light olive oil (which refers to its milder flavor, not calories) is a safe bet. Using butter is possible, but it results in a less moist cupcake due to its lower fat content compared to oil.
- **Egg-Free Option:** For those with egg sensitivities or dietary restrictions, this recipe can be made egg-free using a chia egg, or you can even use my dedicated Eggless Chocolate Cupcakes recipe as a base.
Creamy, ‘Healthier’ Frosting
What’s a cupcake without frosting? For these Halloween treats, I’ve opted for my favorite healthier cream cheese frosting. It uses significantly less powdered sugar than traditional recipes, yet you won’t miss the sweetness. Instead, it offers a delightful tang, reminiscent of a creamy cream cheese tart filling.
Achieving the Perfect Frosting Consistency
If you’re skeptical about the reduced sugar, feel free to adjust to your liking by gradually adding more powdered sugar until you reach your desired sweetness. The key to a stable and pipeable cream cheese frosting is using room temperature cream cheese and butter, and chilling the frosting if it becomes too soft. For those living outside North America, you might encounter a different type of cream cheese – typically a softer, spreadable variety in tubs, as opposed to the firmer, brick-style cream cheese common in the US and Canada. If this is the case, there’s a simple hack: take 225 grams of your local cream cheese, wrap it in a cheesecloth, and gently wring out the excess liquid until you’re left with approximately 170 grams. This concentrates the cream cheese, giving it the necessary firmness for frosting.
Assembling Your Ghoulish Delights
Bringing these Eyeball Cupcakes to life is the most fun part! After your chocolate cupcakes have completely cooled and been generously frosted with the creamy cream cheese, it’s time to add the eerie details. Place one prepared lychee-blueberry eyeball on top of each frosted cupcake. Then, using a spoon or a small pastry bag, carefully drizzle about 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons of smooth strawberry jam around and over the eyeball, creating the illusion of “blood” dripping down the white frosting. For the best presentation, I recommend decorating the cupcakes no more than half a day before serving, as the jam can start to seep into the frosting over time. Keep them refrigerated until just before serving to maintain the frosting’s firm texture and the overall spooky effect. Allowing them to come to room temperature for a short while before serving will restore the frosting to a softer, more delightful consistency, akin to a tart filling.
Tips for Success & Spooky Variations
Making Ahead and Storage
These cupcakes are excellent for preparing in advance. The unfrosted chocolate cupcakes can be frozen for up to a month or refrigerated for about four days. Make sure they are completely defrosted before frosting. The frosting itself can be made ahead and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three days. It will firm up when chilled, so let it come to room temperature and give it a good stir before frosting your cupcakes. Add the delicate lychee eyeballs and jam “blood” right before serving, or a few hours in advance if you’re taking them to a party, to ensure they look their freshest and most gruesome.
Egg Substitutions
If you need an egg replacer beyond the chia egg mentioned, other commercial egg replacers that have worked well for you in similar cake recipes should also be suitable here. The versatility of this base recipe makes it quite forgiving for various substitutions, allowing you to cater to different dietary needs without sacrificing flavor or texture.
For another fun Halloween treat featuring edible eyeballs, don’t miss these Mini Monster Meatloaves!
Eyeball Cupcakes (gluten-free option)
Ingredients
For the cupcakes:
- 1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar or coconut sugar or 1/2 cup (160 grams) honey
- 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons (105 grams) all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour or for gluten-free, 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons (120 grams) Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-free 1:1 Baking Flour
- 6 tablespoons (42 grams) cocoa powder
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 large (50 grams, out of shell) egg or 1 chia egg for egg-free
- 1/2 cup (120ml) milk*
- 1/4 cup (60ml) oil**
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (120ml) boiling water***
For the frosting:
- 6 ounces (170 grams) cream cheese, room temperature****
- 1.5 tablespoons (21 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1/2 cup (60 grams) powdered sugar (you can add more, if desired)
- pinch of salt
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the eyeballs:
- 24 canned lychees (it’s better to have a few extra in case some are broken)
- 24 blueberries (or more in case some are too small for the lychee holes)
- 1/3-1/2 cup strawberry jam (don’t use the kind with chunks of strawberries in it)
Instructions
To make the cupcakes:
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Preheat your oven to 350 °F (175 °C). Line a muffin pans with 12 liners.
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In a large bowl, stir together the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
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Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla and mix until combined.
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Then stir in the boiling water. The batter will be almost as thin as water.
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Fill each liner just a little more than halfway full.
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Bake for 14 – 18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with some moist crumbs, but no liquid.
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Let cool for 5 minutes in the pans, and then turn out onto a rack to cool. Let cool completely before frosting. They can be frozen unfrosted for about a month or refrigerateded for 4 days.
To make the frosting:
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In a medium mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter together with an electric hand mixer at medium speed until well combined. It’s okay if it looks a little crumbly.
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Gradually beat in the powdered sugar until totally combined and then beat in the salt and vanilla. If it’s firm enough for your needs, frost your cupcakes.
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Frost each totally cooled cupcake with 4 teaspoons frosting per cupcake. Keep refrigerated until ready to decorate.
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If you need the frosting firmer, refrigerate for about an hour, stirring the frosting after about 30 minutes. Don’t let it chill too long before frosting, though, because it gets quite firm, like a cream cheese tart filling. If that happens, just bring it to room temperature and then frost.
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Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 3 days and refrigerate anything you frost with this frosting. The frosting firms up once refrigerated so if you want the softer frosting texture (rather than a cream cheese tart filling kind of texture), let the cupcakes come to room temperature before serving.
To make the eyeballs:
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I recommend decorating the cupcakes no more than half a day before serving. Rinse the lychees and pat them dry with paper towels.
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Place a blueberry in the center of the lychee and place on a paper towel lined plate until all the eyeballs are ready.
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Place the eyeballs on the frosted cupcakes. Spread about 1 – 1 1/2 teaspoons of jam over the eye. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.
Notes
** Use whatever type of oil you want, but if you use olive oil, the batter will taste like it but once cool, you can’t taste it. If you want to use coconut oil, I recommend refined coconut oil for no coconut taste.
*** I know that sounds like a lot of water but I promise you, you need 1/2 cup!
**** If you live outside of North America and have the kind of cream cheese that’s meant for toast (that comes in a little plastic tub) rather than American style brick cream cheese, then get 225 grams of cream cheese, place it in the center of a cheesecloth, and wring out the liquid until you have 170 grams of cream cheese left.
Adapted from Hershey’s One Bowl Chocolate Cake