Last Minute Spider Cupcakes

Halloween weekend is here! Hopefully you're all prepared, pumpkins carved, candy bought and costumes ready to go. However, if you're looking for a last minute idea for a Halloween treat then I've got just the thing, Spider Cupcakes. I've made them in previous years when time was of the essence and I promise you that they couldn't be any easier to make.

For the cupcakes, use a cake mix in any flavour you like. For the icing, purchase a can of vanilla frosting and then tint it orange. If you can't find food colouring (or you don't want to spend the money on it for just one batch of cupcakes) then you can use Kool-Aid to colour your frosting. Simply dissolve half a package of Kool-Aid powder in two tablespoons of hot water and then add it to your frosting. Kool-Aid icing turns out lovely vivid colours but beware because the flavour comes along with the colour! Spread the icing on your cupcakes, reserving some for your spider faces.

For the spiders all you need is Oreo cookies and some black shoestring licorice. I chose to make only some of my cupcakes into spiders but you could obviously do all of them. Just place a cookie on your iced cupcake and then attach 8 pieces of licorice that you've cut to the length of legs. Last, take your reserved icing and put it in a Ziploc bag. Seal the bag then snip off a tiny corner to pipe your icing through. Then pipe any kind of face you like. My spiders were happy but yours could be any variety of emotions.

And there you have it, last minute spider cupcakes. These are super easy but they are always a big hit when I make them. They'd be a lot of fun to make with kids too!