These Vegan Cherry Pie Vampire Cupcakes are perfectly spooky! Cherry cupcakes are stuffed with gooey cherry pie filling and topped with vampire fangs for a silly and scary treat.
Happy Monday friends and welcome back! #SpookyOctober continues today and I have these wonderfully cheesy, perfectly spooky Vegan Cherry Pie Vampire Cupcakes to share with you. Cherry cupcakes are filled with gooey cherry pie filling, crowned with vanilla buttercream, and topped with a cherry juice drip. The finishing touch could only be some plastic vampire teeth! I know they're silly, but I saw them at the store and they inspired this whole Halloween-y recipe. I had to include them in the finished product! 😉
I don't make cherry treats very often, but they somehow seem so perfect for Halloween. It's that bright red, bloody hue that lends itself so well to spooky treats 🙂 In this case, I used cherry extract and maraschino cherry juice in the cupcake batter, and filled the cupcakes with store-bought cherry pie filling. The topping is actually just some of the liquid from the pie filling that I watered down to make it easier to drizzle. These cherry pie vampire cupcakes are simple to make and so much fun!
How to fill cupcakes with cherry pie filling
It's super easy to fill your cupcakes with whatever filling you'd like - no special tools required!
- Grab a completely cooled cupcake - you want to make sure it's totally cooled off, as a warm cupcake is much more delicate and the inside can get mashed up instead of scooping out cleanly.
- Using a small metal spoon (I used a 1 teaspoon measuring spoon), gently scoop out the center of the cupcake.
- Be sure to save the part you scooped out! Don't snack on it - I know it's tempting!
- Add in about 1 teaspoon of cherry pie filling into the area you scooped out.
- Place your scooped out cupcake back on top! You may not need the entire piece so trim as needed.
- That's it! I know it doesn't look perfect as-is, but the scooped out area will be covered with your frosting and your taste-testers will be none the wiser. Need some help with the frosting? Check out my cupcake frosting post!
Do I need any special ingredients for these cherry pie vampire cupcakes?
- Cherry pie filling: I got a can of cherry pie filling from the store and it made this recipe SO super easy! You're welcome to make it from scratch if you're a stickler, but I thought the canned version worked really well in here. I used the filling to, obviously, fill the cupcakes. And I watered down some of the juice to make the "bloody" drip for the top!
- Do note that you need to get cherry PIE FILLING specifically, not just canned cherries. We want that thick syrup as well as the cherries for the bloody effect.
- Cherry extract: this helps make your cupcakes actually taste like cherry! It is optional (vanilla cupcakes work perfectly well with the cherry filling), but I loved the extra boost of cherry flavor.
- Maraschino cherry juice: this is exactly what it sounds like - the liquid from jarred maraschino cherries! I use this bright red liquid in place of some of the milk in my recipe for even more cherry flavor.
- Red food coloring: the maraschino cherry juice helps, but I also added red food coloring for a rich color for the cupcakes.
I hope you guys enjoy these vegan cherry pie vampire cupcakes! They are such a fun dessert and perfect for Halloween. Not too spooky or gory, but definitely silly and they fit the theme! If you're not into cherries, you could substitute with strawberry pie filling and just make red vanilla cupcakes 🙂 these are easy to customize to your liking. Happy baking!!
Looking for more spooky Halloween recipes?
- Red Velvet Marble Cake with Bloody Red Ganache
- Bloody Good Vegan Cherry Chip Bundt Cake
- Halloween Tie-Dye Cupcakes
- Halloween Cookies & Cream Layer Cake
vegan cherry pie vampire cupcakes
Ingredients
- *for the cupcakes*
- 2 tablespoon ground flaxseed + 6 tablespoon water
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1¾ cup all-purpose flour
- 1½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup vegan butter at room temperature
- ⅓ cup nondairy yogurt
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon cherry extract
- ½ tablespoon vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup unsweetened nondairy milk
- ⅓ cup maraschino cherry juice
- red food coloring
- *for the frosting*
- ½ cup shortening
- ½ cup vegan butter
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
- *to assemble*
- one can cherry pie filling
Instructions
- First, make the cupcakes. Preheat oven to 350F and line two muffin pans with 20 muffin liners.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the ground flaxseed with the water and set aside to thicken.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Add in the vegan butter, and beat on low until it's incorporated and has a sandy texture.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the oil, flaxseed mixture, nondairy yogurt, cherry & vanilla extracts, nondairy milk, and maraschino cherry juice. Add them to the dry ingredients. Beat on medium-low until everything is just combined. Add in food coloring until you reach your desired color, and mix until well incorporated.
- Divide batter evenly among the prepared cupcake liners. Bake cupcakes for 20-25 min until they are fluffy and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- While the cupcakes cool, prepare the frosting.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the shortening and vegan butter together until completely smooth and creamy. Add in the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, until a thick frosting forms. Add in the salt and vanilla extract. You can add a few spoonfuls of nondairy milk if it's too thick.
- When the cupcakes are cooled completely, carve out the center of each cupcake using a small spoon (I used a 1 teaspoon measuring spoon). Spoon 1 teaspoon of cherry pie filling in the cavity, and replace the carved out piece of cupcake to cover the filling. Repeat with all.
- To finish, decorate them with the frosting. I used a 1M tip. To make the "blood" on top, I simply mixed some of the liquid from the cherry pie filling with a little water to make it more runny, and drizzled it on top. Add on plastic vampire teeth if desired!
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