Brownie Cupcakes
Brownie Cupcakes are super yummy and so easy to make. A unique twist on a classic – brownies plus cake plus frosting in one unique and delicious Cupcake.
We were so happy with how these Brownie Cupcakes turned out. They are unique, bright, colorful, and just scream “Halloween”. But most importantly they are very yummy. The brownie and the cake taste great together and you definitely taste the two different textures in the cupcakes. They are the perfect dessert for a Halloween party, potluck, or any other kind of fun fall get-together. We give this a Two Sisters Halloween Thumbs Up!
Ingredients You Will Need
How to make the Cupcakes
Step 1: Using the directions on the box of the Brownie mix, make the brownie batter. We usually use Ghiradelli Chocolate Supreme Brownie Mix because we like the added Chocolate Chips in the batter but you can use your favorite. Makeup the White Cake Mix using the directions on the box and when the batter is finished, color it with orange food coloring. If you want the brightest orange color, use the “egg whites only” directions.
Baking Instructions
Steps 2-3: The trickiest part of making these Brownie Cupcakes is the ratio of Cake Batter to Brownie Mix. Add a spoonful of brownie mix to the cupcake liners. The brownie batter should only go about 1/3 of the way up the cupcake liner. You want more cake batter than brownie batter in the liners.
Steps 4-5: Then cover the brownie batter with the orange cake batter until the cake batter has filled the cupcake liners about 3/4 full. (If you add too much cake batter the cupcakes will overflow over the edges of the cupcake liner when they bake.)
Step 6: Bake the cupcakes as you normally would, 15-20 minutes in an oven preheated to 350 degrees. The dome of the cupcake will bounce back to the touch when it is fully baked. Allow the cupcakes to cool.
How to Frost the Cupcakes
Step 7: Make a batch of our Best Buttercream Frosting to top your Brownie Cupcakes. It is easy to make and so delicious. You will find the recipe and detailed instructions on how to make it here.
Step 8: We used a pastry bag and a Wilton 2D Decorating Tip to swirl on the frosting.
Step 9: We topped our Brownie Cupcakes for Halloween with some Orange and Black DIY Sprinkles. It is so easy to make your own sprinkles we do it for everything now. Here is our detailed instructions how to do make them.
UPDATE: We had a couple of comments from our readers saying that they had trouble removing the cupcake liner from the brownie portion of the cupcake. We didn’t have any problem with that ourselves but we wanted to do some tests so we made the Brownie Cupcakes again for our family Halloween Party. We tried different cupcake liners (thin inexpensive ones, foil liners, heavier cupcake liners) and we didn’t have any problem with any of them.
But here are a couple of tips:
- Make sure the cupcakes are completely cool before you remove the liner.
- Don’t remove the liner until right before you are ready to serve the Brownie Cupcakes, the cake will dry out if you take off the liner too soon.
- In the picture above we show how we removed the liners. First, pull down the sides of the cupcake liner but leave the flat bottom portion on. Flatten down the sides of the cupcake liner and then gently roll the liner off the bottom of the cupcake while you hold the cupcake with your other hand.
Expert Tips and FAQ’s
We like Pillsbury Moist Supreme White Cake mix but any white cake mix will do.
Depending on how many Brownie Cupcakes you are going to make, you can get away with a regular-sized box of brownies so you don’t have brownie batter left over. We use Ghiradelli Chocolate Supreme Brownie Mix or Pillsbury Chocolate Fudge Brownie Mix.
We like Wilton Color Right Food Coloring but any orange food coloring will work.
Other Halloween Treats you will love
Did you Make This Recipe? Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @twosisterscrafting on Instagram so we can see it!
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Brownie Cupcakes
Brownie Cupcakes are super yummy and so easy to make. A unique twist on a classic - brownies plus cake plus frosting in one unique and delicious Cupcake.
Ingredients
- 1 box Brownie Mix
- 1 box White Cake Mix
- 20 Cupcake Liners
- 1 batch of our The Best Buttercream Frosting
- Halloween DIY Sprinkles
Instructions
- Mix up a batch of brownies according to the directions on the box.
- Mix up a box of White Cake Mix according to the directions on the box and color it with orange food coloring.
- Add a spoonful of brownie mix to the cupcake liners. The brownie batter should only go about 1/3 of the way up the cupcake liner. You want more cake batter than brownie batter.
- Then cover the brownie batter with the orange cake batter so that the cupcake liner is only 3/4 full.
- Bake the cupcakes as you normally would, 15-20 minutes in an over preheated to 350 degrees.
- Make a batch of our Best Buttercream Frosting to top your Brownie Cupcakes.
- Add Halloween Sprinkles
Did you Make this Recipe? Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @twosisterscrafting on Instagram so we can see it!
They look so good!! Thanks for sharing this recipe!
I’m going to use spring colors for these. A light pink for the buttercream frosting and a light green for the cake. This should be delicious and look so very cute.
Made these for family and friends a super big hit. Thank you for another fabulous recipe
i made these for coworkers and everyone LOVED THEM thank you for sharing recipe, i also tried the best buttercream frosting, and i do not like buttercream frosting . I LOVE YOUR RECIPE!! thank you for sharing it. looking forward to more great recipes from you.
So, instead of using the brownie batter, do you think I could dye it, a different color?
Sure … you could also add a little bit of cocoa powder to part of the cake batter and have chocolate cake on the bottom and regular cake on the top.
Made these and they turned out amazing! Definitely making them again!
Could u use a red velvet cake mix instead of white?
Sure. That’s a great idea.
I went a different way instead of cupcakes I made it into a cake! I used a dark pan and added 10 more min to bake . I used white frosting crumbled up chocolate cookies and used the cream filling from the cookies to make the grave stepping stones ! It was amazing!!!
The brownie portion of my cupcakes did cook through. I used a brownie mix that had a chocolate syrup pouch to add to the batter. I baked them for 17 minutes. Should I have used a different brownie mix or baked them longer? Suggestions?
Did or did not cook through? I’m guessing it was did not. Did the cake layer turn out ok? I would try a little bit less brownie batter in the cup and see if that helps.
Sorry. It did not cook through.
These were so good, and they came out perfect! They look so cute and taste amazing! My cake and brownie layers were perfectly cooked and when cooled fully, none of the brownie layer stuck to the wrapper. I used cheap Halloween cupcake liners. I used the cake-like brownie recipe, next time I will try the fudge like brownie with one less egg called for on the box! My husband’s coworkers are going to love these tomorrow! Thanks!
Yay! So glad you enjoyed the cupcakes!
Hi! I always come back to you guys for baking recipes hehe, but I always have a question.
Would this work if we used made the white cake batter from scratch? Thanks!
Yes – that should be no problem!
How about adding some orange zest or orange juice to the cake batter? Chocolate and orange together is yummy !
Yum! That sounds amazing.
Everyone loved these cupcakes!!! I also experienced the cupcake liner sticking to the cupcake. They were completely cooled and even tried putting in the freezer and some I left in the oven longer and nothing worked. Then I tried taking a damp dish cloth and set the cupcakes on the damp cloth for a few minutes and it worked like magic. I will be making these cupcakes throughout the holidays.
I sure love the looks but my grandson and sister are gluten free people
Do you have any gluten free recipes for a similar brownie/cake cupcake???
Hi Helene – this recipe uses boxed brownie and cake mix. I have see both Gluten free Brownie Mixes and Cake mixes at the grocery store. And our Buttercream Frosting is gluten free (using only Powdered Sugar, butter and vanilla.). Hope that helps!
Hi! Can these be made ahead of time and be put in freezer?
Hi Sonia, yes they can.
What size cupcake liner do you use?
Hi Rachel – regular sized cupcake liners.
Would using a different brownie brand, such as Duncan Hines, alter the amount of time?
Hi Rebecca – it shouldn’t. The key is to make sure that you don’t put too much brownie mixture in the cupcake liner. You want the proportions to be 1/3 brownie batter and 2/3 cupcake batter.
Can you bake this in a 9×13 cake pan?
Hi Jennifer – I would think so. That’s a fun idea. We’ll have to try it.
I absolutely loved making these for my brother’s job and my boyfriend’s job. I sprayed every cupcake liner with cooking spray and perfecto! No sticking to the liner!
That’s a good tip. Thanks for sharing.
Do you think you could make mini cupcakes with this recipe? If so how long would you bake them? Thank you
Hi Shelley, I am sure you could make these into mini cupcakes, but I have never tried to do it. My best guess for baking time would be 9 minutes. After the 9 minutes, test the doneness of the cupcake and then check them every minute or so after that. Let us know how they turn out.
How many cupcakes does it make?
Hi Laura – It makes about 26-28 cupcakes depending on how much you fill the cup.
Hi, I’m planning on making these in a couple of weeks and wanted to know if there’s ever the chance that the cake mix will mix with the brownie batter? Does that happen and if so, how do I make sure it doesn’t happen? Thanks!
Hi, you don’t need to worry the batters don’t mix together. When you put the orange cake mix on top of the brownie, just make sure you don’t jostle the brownie layer too much. Let us know if you have any other questions.
What kind of white cake mix is used. *brand
Hi Leah, I used Duncan Hines.
I used red cake and parchment liners. They took 30 minutes but turned out nice.
Sounds pretty. We need to try Red!
These look gorgeous!
Laura | http://www.likecubed.co.uk/
Thanks!!!
This is a fun recipe but definitely need Wilton or other brand of orange food coloring. I tried to make orange using standard 4 color food dye but never could get the right orange color. It came out peach. The wilton orange did the trick!! And the butter cream frosting is AMAZING!!
I made these for the nursing home party today. They baked up nice and looked great but, it took some work to peel the wrapper off of the brownie part and in doing so the cake completely separated from the brownie. I bet these could be made with chocolate cake mix on the bottom and white colored orange on the top.
Hi…I am going to make these tomorrow. They look so good. I was wondering if there is anyplace on your page to make the recipe printable? I may have missed it. Thank you.
These were delicious but I also had the same problem with the brownie completely sticking to the liners. Maybe I should have used foil wrappers. I even tried spraying the second pan. Still stuck. I baked for 21 minutes. I used the right brownie/batter mix and they baked fine but bummed that I had to leave the wrappers on to bring to school. I even let them cool and even tried freezing them and that made it even worse. Wonder if Colorado high altitude affected them. But thanks for the yummy recipe anyway.
Hi Shawna, I don’t know what could have happened. We made two different batches of these and didn’t have any problem with the cupcake liners sticking. Not sure about the foil wrappers but it would be worth a try. We used those lightweight white wrappers that they sell at the grocery store. For these particular cupcakes we wanted the layers of the browner/cupcake to show through the wrapper so we didn’t use a more expensive, thicker wrapper. Hope that helps! Thanks for visiting the site and the nice comment!
Hi there! I’m an intern for Cooking Stoned, a vegetarian food blog. I’m putting together a slideshow of Halloween treats and would love to include this recipe and a photo from this post. Please let me know if you’re okay with this!
Hi – sure. We’d love to be included.
Made these today! They were a HUGE hit. My husband said they were the best cupcakes I’ve ever mad. Thank you!
Hi Briana, I am so glad your cupcakes were a hit! Happy Halloween!
hello, I like this recipe and I would like to now what kind of food coloring you use ?
Thanks
Hi Emeline, we have been using the Wilton Color Right food coloring lately, so we used the orange in their kit. I am sure any orange would work.
Hi There
So I backed these brownie cupcakes this weekend, and sadly these did not turn out.
Cooked in a hot oven as I had done previous baking prior and then made these,
The Brownie did not bake, still liquid, cake was done, Even when tested the tester came out clean but after I cooled in the pan I noticed that the brownie was still liquid.
Sadly had to dump the whole tray in the Green Bin…
Any advise on this.
I used Betty Crocker white cake mix and the brownie mix
Would like to try these again, as I’m hoping to use them as treats for the Dance Kiddies!!
I’m so sorry you had this problem. We didn’t experience anything like this – the brownie layer and cake layer baked just fine for us. We used Ghirardelli Double Chocolate Brownie Mix. And I would also say that the brownie layer needs to be smaller than the cake layer – the ratio should be about 1/3 brownie to 2/3 cake batter. I’d estimate about 1/2″ or less of brownie batter in the cupcake liner. As you can see in the picture there is just a hint of the brownie on the bottom and the rest is cupcake.
I found that the brownie stuck to the cupcake liner, so the result didn’t look like the example. Any words of advice?
Hi – were the cupcakes completely cooled before you removed the cupcake liners? We unwrapped them to take the pictures the next day. Also, make sure that the brownie layer is smaller than the cake layer. The proportions should be 1/3 brownie batter and 2/3 cake batter.
These are awesome! I made them tonight and they come out really well. My only words of advice are to make sure you test with a toothpick as my cupcakes took about 20 minutes to make.
Yay! We are so glad you liked them!!!
Hi! I tried this and ran into an issue where the brownies didn’t have long enough to bake, even though the cake parts were done. I thought it was because some cups had too much brownie mix, but they all turned out like that. And because the brownie wasn’t cooked enough, it peeled away with the liner!
I’m going to try again, this time with giving the brownies a little bit of a baking head start and then adding the cake mix. I hope this works!
Oh no. I wonder what happened. We didn’t have any problem like that. That’s a good idea about baking the brownie layer a little bit longer. We’d love to hear how that works.
How many cupcakes does this make?
Hi Bonnie, it makes about 26-28 cupcakes depending on how much you fill the cup.