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Is a zombie birthday party for my 6-year-old and 3-year-old how I envisioned my life as a mom? Not exactly. But like everything in #momlife, I rise to the occasion.

I may have started out as reluctant boy mom, but I’m pretty sure I’m killin’ now. And with these easy cupcakes, you will be too. The frosting technique is simple, and the combination of sprinkles plus monster hand cupcake topper honestly hides any of your flaws.

So grab your decorating supplies and get started — for a kids’ birthday party or a Walking Dead viewing party, these are equally appropriate for all audiences.

Box mix cupcakes and store-bought frosting continue to be my secret for success to save time when I have a lot of decorating to do. That’s the base of these graveyard-inspired cupcakes, with sprinkles and Oreo crumb accents, plus some perfect creepy cupcake toppers.

Spoiler alert: My boys loved these so much that we had to wash and save all the hands for them to play with (before I can steal them back and save them for Halloween next year.)

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Zombie Apocalypse Monster Hand Cupcakes

Some simple piping techniques combined with Oreo cookie crumbles make a easy but showy zombie birthday party cupcake that’s not too gory and not too cutesy either. I think we can all agree that there’s really nothing cutesy about zombies.

Supplies

• Green paper cupcake liners
• Favorite chocolate cake mix of choice
• Favorite store-bought frosting of choice (I recommend Duncan Hines Buttercream Creamy Home-style Frosting)
• Food Coloring AmeriColor – Electric Kit – Soft Gel Paste, 6 .75 Ounce Bottles“>AmeriColor Electric Gel Paste Food Coloring Kit to tint Electric Lime
• Hand mixer
• Wilton Dessert Decorator Pro Stainless Steel Cake Decorator Tool or piping bag
• Wilton No. 4B Star Tip
• Red sugar sprinkles
• 8 Oreos, crushed to crumbs
• 24 count Halloween monster hand cupcake picks
• Zombie army action figures to accent (optional)

Instructions

1. Line cupcake pans with green paper liners and prepare cupcakes according to box directions. For a better homemade taste, substitute milk instead of water and melted butter instead of oil (same measurements as box calls for). Let cupcakes cool completely before frosting.

2. Prepare your frosting by transferring from can into a medium mixing bowl. Add 5-6 drops of Electric Lime gel tint to bowl. Use hand mixer to blend. Add additional gel tint food color to achieve a deeper color if desired.

3. Transfer tinted frosting into piping bag or Wilton Dessert Decorator Pro Stainless Steel Cake Decorator Tool outfitted with Wilton No. 4B Star Tip.

4. Prep your decorating supplies. In one small bowl, transfer red sugar sprinkles. In another small bowl, add crushed Oreo cookies. (Use a food processor for quick and easy crushing.) Have a small spoon or half-teaspoon available.

5. Starting from the center of the cupcake, swirl a single layer outward.

6. Then make a single second-layer ring toward the outside of the cupcake, creating a divot in the center.

7. Sprinkle top and sides with red sugar sprinkles.

8. Using small spoon, spoon about 1 tsp of crushed Oreos into center of cupcake, allowing crumbs to spill over top as desired (the graveyard “dirt” effect).

9. Insert monster hand cupcake pick into center of Oreo dirt mound. Voila! One creepy zombie hand reaching out of the grave for you.

You can see I experimented with the red sugar sprinkles before getting it right. I wanted a “blood-spattered” effect rather than a “blood-soaked” effect, so I opted to sprinkle it lightly. If you want a heavier application, as shown in this picture (bottom left), you can dip the top and sides into the red sugar sprinkles and gently roll to apply.

I baked two dozen cupcakes and opted to frost one dozen in lime green with the store-bought frosting and frost the other dozen with a homemade chocolate whipped cream frosting. If you want to stick with store-bought frosting for convenience, buy a second can of your favorite chocolate frosting to get the two-tone graveyard effect.

I was lucky enough to find a set of zombie army action figures on clearance at a party store, and I picked through the dozen in the set to pull out my favorite spooky gravestone, two super-creepy figures, and a cross as accents. I knew the boys would want these special ones as their birthday cupcakes, and I was right — Easton immediately chose the grossest zombie with the knife impaled in its eye (ugh).

The set sold on Amazon is 100 pieces, which is truly a complete zombie army. But you can use these guys to decorate at the party as well, or include them as part of party favor bags.

I’m never going to love zombies but I have to admit that I secretly love how these cupcakes turned out! And the use of store-bought frosting is my tried-and-true timesaver (or when your picky kids actually prefer it to homemade).

Zombie birthdays clearly aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, but these cupcakes will be perfect for Halloween next year too. I washed and saved all the monster hand picks so I can create them all over again then. (I’m currently fighting my kids for them, but I know they’ll lose interest in a week or two.)

Next up in the zombie apocalypse birthday series: the hot cocoa whipped cream frosting for the chocolate version of these cupcakes, the zombie brain Oreo truffles, and then zombie virus antidote party favors (with free printables!) Stay tuned or drop me an email if you’d like them immediately.

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