Pillsbury Ghost Sugar Cookie Cupcakes
You lovely people went crazy over the Pillsbury Pumpkin Sugar Cookie Cupcakes so naturally as soon as I saw the Ghost Pillsbury Cookies in store I knew I had to recreate the concept. For this recipe I went with Chocolate Cupcakes and purple dyed buttercream. Not only are these so festive and delicious but they make for an easy and show stopping treat at any event.
I used my Chocolate Cake recipe for these cupcakes. my Chocolate cake recipe is to die for. When I used to take custom orders, my Chocolate Cake was always the most raved over. I promise you it’s that delicious. If you are in a rush to create these cupcakes you can absolutely use boxed cake mix, no ones judging here! If you are interested in using my Chocolate Cake, click here for the recipe. Otherwise you can substitute for your favorite flavor cake!
Layering Pillsbury Ghost Sugar Cookie Cupcakes
The layers of this cupcake are fun and simple. Basically we want the bottom layer of the cupcake to have that soft, buttery, delicious Pillsbury Pumpkin Cookie. In order to get the sugar cookie to spread just enough to cover the bottom of the cupcake pan and bake perfectly with the cupcake is to bake them by themselves first. They only need to bake for 5-7 minutes at the bottom of the cupcake tins before scooping on the cupcake batter. Once the cupcakes bake we let them cool completely before decorating.
Making The Buttercream
I use a vanilla buttercream dyed purple to match the theme for these cupcakes. I receive a lot of questions asking what brand of food dye I use to achieve such vivid colors. I will recommend Americolor Food Gel allllllll day long. You can find the link to this food dye on Amazon by clicking here. A little drop of food dye goes a long way with this brand – I love it so much!
Pillsbury Ghost Sugar Cookie Cupcakes
15-24
servings12
minutesKeep the screen of your device on.
Ingredients
2 cups 2 all-purpose flour
2 cups 2 granulated sugar
1/2 cup 1/2 + 1 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp. 2 baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. 1 1/2 baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. 1 1/2 espresso powder
1/2 tsp. 1/2 salt
1 cup 1 whole milk
1/2 cup 1/2 vegetable oil
2 1/2 tsp. 2 1/2 vanilla extract
2 2 eggs, room temperature
3/4 cup 3/4 boiling water
2 packages 2 Pillsbury Ghost Sugar Cookies
- Buttercream
3/4 cups 3/4 unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups 1 1/2 confectioner’s sugar
3 3 -4Tbsp. heavy whipping cream
2 2 -3drops orange food dye
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line your cupcake pan with cupcake liners.
- In a large bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer fit with the whisk attachment, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, espresso powder, and salt. Mix until everything is evenly combined.
- Place 3/4 cups of water in a small stove top pot and heat over medium to high heat. Turn the heat off once the water comes to a boil.
- Create a well in the center of the bowl if you’re mixing by hand and add in the milk, oil, vanilla, and eggs.
- Slowly mix everything together while adding a slow stream of the boiling water in the side of the bowl. Mix until the batter is nice and smooth.
- Now that the cake batter is prepared, set this aside.
- Place a pillsbury ghost cookie at the bottom of each cupcake liner. Bake for 5-7 minutes or until the cookies have spread to fill the bottom of the cupcake liner.
- Once the cookies have spread to fit the bottom of the liner, scoop the prepared chocolate batter on top to fill the liner about 3/4 of the way full.
- Bake the cupcakes for 12-15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. The cupcakes, when finished baking should be soft but firm to the touch when tapped on top.
- Allow the cupcakes to cool completely before decorating.
- While the oven is still preheated, open the second package of Pillsbury cookies and place them on a cookie sheet to bake as you would normally for these cookies. These should bake for 12-15 minutes. Allow these to cool completely.
- To make the buttercream, cream together the butter and confectioner’s sugar in a large bowl on low speed using an electric mixer. Slowly add one tablespoon of heavy cream at a time until the buttercream starts to come together and becomes smoother and creamier. Add the vanilla and salt. Add your desired amount and color food dye.
- Once the cupcakes have cooled, pipe or spread on the buttercream. I used a large star tip in my piping bag to pipe the buttercream onto these cupcakes.
- Top each frosted cupcake with a cooled sugar cookie. Feel free to add sprinkles. Enjoy! 👻
Did you make this recipe?
Tag @thesqueakymixer on Instagram! I love to see what you all create.
What could you use as a substitute for granulated sugar? Kind of like if you were doing keto what would be a good substitute?
Stevia or Monkfruit sweetener would be my go to, but the measurements may be different & I do not have a conversion. I’m sorry, I’m just not familiar baking with those. I wish you the best of luck 🙂