These pumpkin patch cupcakes are an adorable kid-friendly recipe that's perfect for Fall. Made with boxed cake mix and candy pumpkins, this recipe is as simple as it is delicious.
One of the fun seasonal things to do every fall is visit a pumpkin patch, but this recipe brings the pumpkin patch to you. With these fun fall cupcakes, you can have a tasty time and fun activity for yourself and the kids.
For cupcakes made with real pumpkins, don't forget to check out my Easy Pumpkin Cupcakes! For a non-seasonal kid-friendly cupcake recipe, make sure to check out these Nacho Cupcakes.
Why This Recipe Works
- This recipe is easy. From the boxed cake mix to crushed cookie "dirt" this recipe is simple enough to follow that you can have the kids join in almost every step of the way.
- Minimal ingredients. We keep things simple for these pumpkin theme cupcakes with store-bought items so that no large messes or piles of dishes accumulate during this activity.
- They're unique! You can decorate your vines and leaves any way you want or add multiple pumpkins to the tops if you want! I like adding vines and a few leaves but feel free to make each pumpkin a work of art.
Jump to:
🥘 Ingredients
Boxed chocolate cake mix- You will make to according to the package directions for cupcakes, using water, oil, and eggs as directed on the package. Use any brand desired!
Chocolate frosting- Buy a can of chocolate frosting to make the topping on the cupcakes super simple and easy. You can use homemade chocolate buttercream if desired.
Oreo cookies- These cookies will be crushed up to look like dirt.
Brachs candy pumpkins- Any candy pumpkins will work, but I love Brachs.
Green colored candy melts- We will melt this down to create the vines and decorations on the cupcakes. White chocolate chips and gel-based food coloring would work well too, in a pinch.
For specific quantities, see the recipe card below.
🍽 Equipment Needed
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- Mixing Bowls
- Frosting bags
- Whisk
- Electric Mixer
- Paper muffin liners
- Muffin Pan
- Rolling Pin
- Gallon sized zipper topped bags
- Measuring Cups
🔪 Instructions
Check out how to make pumpkin patch cupcakes with these simple step-by-step instructions:
Cupcakes
- Prepare cake batter according to the package directions for making cupcakes. Bake and let cool completely.
Assembly
Crush Oreo cookies in a food processor until fine crumbs. Pour crumbs into a large shallow dish or cereal bowl. Alternatively, you can place cookies in a gallon sized Ziploc bag and roll over it several times with a rolling pin until crumbs. Place crumbs into a shallow bowl.
Frost the top of the cupcakes with chocolate frosting.
Roll the frosted cupcakes in the Oreo crumbs, making sure to evenly coat the top of the frosting so that as much frosting is covered as possible. Repeat the frosting and crumbs for all cupcakes.
In a microwave safe bowl, melt the green chocolate for 1 minute, followed by 30 second intervals, stirring between each until smooth.
Pour melted candy into a pastry bag or a Ziploc bag with the corner snipped.
Place a candy pumpkin at the center of each cupcake.
Pipe small vines and leaves over the top of your cupcakes using the green chocolate. Repeat for all cupcakes.
Serve and enjoy!
🧾 Substitutions
Oreos. You can use any flavor variety of oreo cookies, but I like the ones with the chocolate cookie parts as that is what looks most like dirt when crushed into a fine crumb.
Green Candy Melts- You can replace the green melting chocolate with white chocolate or almond bark and simply add green food coloring to the chocolate until you reach your desired color.
Note: Do not use water-based food coloring as it can cause the chocolate to seize.
📖 Variations
You can make these cupcakes into Halloween pumpkin cupcakes by simply adding a few Halloween themed candies such as gummy worms, candy body parts, or eyes.
Adding a simple black spider ring to the top can also make them seem more spooky.
🍴 Recipe Tips
Crushing Oreos
You can crush Oreos into a crumb by placing them into a gallon sized baggie and hitting or rolling over them with a rolling pin.
Alternatively, you can place them into a food processor and pulse for a few minutes until no large pieces remain.
Getting pumpkins to stick
If the candy pumpkins don't want to stick on top of the pumpkin themed cupcakes, pipe a small amount of chocolate onto the bottom of the pumpkins to get them to adhere.
👩🏻🍳 Storage
These pumpkin decorated cupcakes can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
⏲️Make Ahead Instructions
You can make and assemble these cupcakes up to a few days in advance but I prefer them made fresher. If you want to you can crush the oreo cookies and keep it in an airtight container until ready to use.
The cupcakes can be baked, cooled, and frozen up to 3 months before thawing and assembling. This could be a great tip for making a larger batch of these pumpkin patch cupcakes.
💭 FAQs
I like to use an ice cream scooper. I have multiple scoops in various sizes, but the one I prefer for cupcake filling holds roughly ¼ cup of batter. By scooping with an ice cream scooper, I can get equal sized portions and not drip batter everywhere.
I recommend not filling your cupcakes more than ⅔s of the way full. This will give you plenty of space for the cupcakes to grow without spilling over the liners. This is also roughly one good ice cream scoop (if measuring).
If you don't have oil or just want that extra flavor, feel free to swap out ½ cup of oil for ⅔ cups of melted butter for your cake mix. This will make them taste pretty incredible.
More great Pumpkin Recipes to check out soon
- Homemade Pumpkin Spice Creamer
- Easy Pumpkin Spice Coffee Cake
- Layered Pumpkin Spice Latte Cake
- Pumpkin Pancakes with Butter Pecan Syrup
📖 Recipe
Pumpkin Patch Cupcakes
Equipment
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- 1 box (15.25oz) Chocolate cake mix ($1.25)
- 3 large Eggs ($0.24)
- 1 ¼ cup Water ($0.00)
- ½ cup Vegetable oil ($0.24)
Toppings
- 1 can (16oz) Chocolate frosting ($1.58)
- 12 Oreo cookies ($1.32)
- 1 bag Brachs candy pumpkins ($2.68)
- 1 bag Green colored candy melts ($3.88)
Instructions
Cupcakes
- Prepare cake batter according to the package directions for making cupcakes. Bake and let cool completely.
Assembly
- Crush Oreo cookies in a food processor until fine crumbs. Pour crumbs into a large shallow dish or cereal bowl. Alternatively, you can place cookies in a gallon sized Ziploc bag and roll over it several times with a rolling pin until crumbs. Place crumbs into a shallow bowl.
- Frost the top of the cupcakes with chocolate frosting.
- Roll the frosted cupcakes in the Oreo crumbs, making sure to evenly coat the top of the frosting so that as much frosting is covered as possible. Repeat the frosting and crumbs for all cupcakes.
- In a microwave safe bowl melt the green chocolate for 1 minute, followed by 30 second intervals, stirring between each until smooth.
- Pour melted candy into a pastry bag or a Ziploc bag with the corner snipped.
- Place a candy pumpkin at the center of each cupcake.
- Pipe small vines and leaves over the top of your cupcakes using the green chocolate. Repeat for all cupcakes.
- Serve and enjoy!
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