Are you grossed out yet? Good!  Welcome to a Halloween treat with a little trick inside.  The cupcake looks innocent enough, like a childish attempt at a spider, but then you take a bite out of it and green “guts” come spilling out.  Kids will love the gruesome surprise and I think a lot of adults will too.

I used to make these years ago, before I was vegan, and used box pudding mix with green food coloring but I haven’t made them for a long time because food coloring freaks me out (more than these cupcakes – those chemicals are the real scary stuff!).  I was determined this year to find a way to make the filling green, naturally, and when I figured it out I couldn’t believe how easy it is and why it took me so long to come up with it. Little slow on the uptake sometimes.

You want to know how the pudding is that perfect green guts color?? AVOCADO! That’s right. The filling is a sweet avocado vanilla pudding. I know it sounds weird, but it is so good!

You may want to serve this to the kids on a plate so the pudding doesn’t gush all over your house :-).

Happy Halloween to all, be safe, and have fun.

Shared on Vegan YoFo Halloween Edition.

What you will need:

• 12 Chocolate Cupcakes (I used my favorite recipe HERE, with aquafaba as the egg replacer)
• Chocolate Icing (recipe follows)
• Black Twizzlers
• Pretzel Sticks (optional)
• Skittles
• Avocado Vanilla Pudding (recipe follows)

Avocado Vanilla Pudding

• 2 ripe avocados (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 1/2 cup non dairy milk of your choice (I used coconut milk)
• 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup maple syrup or sweetener of choice (feel free to add more to taste)

1. In a food processor or blender, combine all ingredients and puree until completely smooth.  Chill for a minimum of 30 minutes.

Chocolate Icing

• 3 tablespoons chocolate chips
• 4 tablespoons non dairy butter
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons non-dairy milk (I used coconut)
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. In a small saucepan, melt the chocolate chips, non dairy butter and sugar until sugar is dissolved.
2. Add the milk, then bring mixture to a boil and remove from heat.
3. Stir in the powdered sugar, cocoa powder and vanilla and whisk until completely smooth.
4. Let cool almost completely.
5. This icing is best used with this recipe when it is slightly warm and spreadable without being to liquid.  If you want to ice a cake with it, only let the icing cool a little bit before pouring over the cake.  It will set as it cools.
6. If the icing gets too stiff while you are using it, warm it in the microwave in 10 second increments. Be careful, it liquifies fast, but it thicken as it cools.

To make the Gut-sy Spider Cupcakes (step by step pictures at the end):

1. Make sure cupcakes are completely cooled, then scoop out the center very carefully. Don’t throw those cake crumbs away, at the end of this post is a great way to use up all the extra bits and pieces.
2. Fill each cupcake with the Avocado Vanilla Pudding.
3. Carefully spoon the chocolate icing over the top of the cupcake and spread evenly. This seals in the pudding.
4. Press the skittles gently into the frosting for eyes.
5. You can use the pretzel sticks for legs or the twizzlers, or both. To use the pretzels, break them into “leg-size” pieces and press them carefully into the sides of the cupcake. Don’t forget, spiders have eight legs!
6. If you are using the twizzlers as legs, cut the strands into four pieces and the slice each piece in half lengthwise. If the segments are their normal thickness then they tend to fall off the cupcake and are harder to press into the sides.

Serve and enjoy!  It’s up to you as to whether you tell people about the filling or not :-).