Halloween muffins recipe

Make these delicious Halloween muffins with grated carrot, cinnamon, and walnuts. Top with a vibrant orange cream cheese frosting.

While you've undoubtedly heard of pumpkin muffins for Halloween, carrot muffins bring a different orangey flair into your baking and they're packed with nutrients too. Which is why this is one of our favourite Halloween food ideas (opens in new tab). Once baked, leave these Halloween muffins to cool, before adding your favourite icing and spooky shapes. We've decorated our muffins with sprinkles and jelly sweets, which make them completely irresistible to children. You could also use chocolates and other gruesome Halloween treats to top these muffins.

Ingredients

• 200g / 7oz soft light brown sugar
• 200ml / 7floz sunflower oil
• 2 medium eggs
• 200g / 7oz plain flour
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
• Pinch of salt
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 200g / 7oz carrots, peeled and grated
• 50g / 2oz walnut pieces, chopped
• 1 tsp vanilla essence

To decorate:

• 225g / 8oz icing sugar, sifted
• 25g / 1oz unsalted butter
• 75g / 3oz chilled full fat cream cheese
• Food colouring
• Colour sprinkles and jelly sweets

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 170ºC/325ºF/gas mark 3. Line a deep 12-hole muffin tin with paper cases.
2. Place the sugar, oil and eggs in a large bowl, then beat together with a wooden spoon until the mixture is smooth and thickened. Sift over the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt and cinnamon then fold in until well mixed. Fold in the carrots, walnuts and vanilla essence.
3. Divide the mixture between the paper cake cases. Bake in the middle of the oven for 25 mins or until golden, risen and the middle bounces back when lightly pressed. Leave to cool in the tin for 5 mins before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
4. For the icing: Use an electric whisk to beat the icing sugar and butter together in a large bowl until fluffy. Add the cream cheese and briefly beat together again until just combined. Don't overbeat or it will become runny. Spread the icing over the muffins, then let the kids go mad icing the cakes with spooky jelly sweets and sprinkles.

Top tips for making Halloween muffins:

How can I get my Halloween muffins to rise better?

Try this trick - preheat your oven to a slightly higher temperature: 200ºC/400ºF/Gas 6. Put your muffins in for 5 minutes, then reduce the oven temp to the one indicated above. This activates the rising ingredients more effectively and should give you a great, bouncy texture without burning the tops of the muffins.

Why is oil better than butter in muffins?

Because oil is liquid at room temperature, it adds a lovely light moistness to the sponge. This is especially important in muffins where the sponge can be denser than in a fairy cake.

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