These eyeball cupcakes for Halloween start with moist chocolate cupcakes and cream cheese frosting, then get topped with creepy edible eyeballs made from canned lychees, blueberries and strawberry jam. They look wonderfully gruesome, but there’s no food coloring required, and the cupcakes can also be made gluten-free.

The fruit eyeballs are incredibly simple to put together. A blueberry fits inside the natural opening in a lychee to create the pupil, while smooth strawberry jam adds the bloody finishing touch.

I first used this idea on my Bloody Eyeball Brownies. If you want to carry the theme into your drinks, my Halloween Punch with Eyeballs uses the same lychee and blueberry eyes.

Overhead view of Halloween eyeball cupcakes with lychee-blueberry eyes and strawberry jam

What’s To Love

Easy edible eyeballs – canned lychees already have the perfect shape, so there’s no complicated decorating involved.
No food coloring needed – blueberries create the pupils and strawberry jam supplies the bloody effect.
Lots of tested options – make the cupcakes with all-purpose, whole wheat or gluten-free flour and use a regular egg or chia egg.
Make-ahead friendly – bake and freeze the unfrosted cupcakes ahead of time, then decorate closer to serving.
Perfect for Halloween parties – they’re creepy enough to stand out on a Halloween dessert table without requiring special decorating skills.

Ingredient notes

Please scroll down for the full recipe. These are just notes on select ingredients.

Flour – use all-purpose flour or whole wheat flour. For the tested gluten-free version, use 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons (120 grams) Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour. Almond flour, coconut flour and other grain-free flours aren’t direct substitutes for the flour in this recipe.
Sweetener – granulated sugar, coconut sugar and honey have all been tested. Use 1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar or coconut sugar, or 1/2 cup (160 grams) honey. Don’t use a full cup of honey.
Egg – use 1 large egg or 1 chia egg for an egg-free version. To make the chia egg, mix 1 tablespoon ground chia seeds with 3 tablespoons water and let it sit for 1-2 minutes, or until thick and goopy. If you prefer a cupcake developed specifically without eggs, you can also use my Eggless Chocolate Cupcakes as the base.
Milk – use regular milk or your preferred non-dairy milk. Canned coconut milk is too thick on its own, so dilute it with an equal amount of water if that’s what you have.
Oil – a neutral-tasting oil works well. Refined coconut oil is another option if you don’t want coconut flavor. Olive oil can be tasted while the cupcakes are warm but not once they’ve cooled.
Cream cheese – in North America, use 6 ounces (170 grams) of full-fat brick-style cream cheese. If you live outside North America and only have the softer cream cheese sold in small plastic tubs for spreading on bread or toast, don’t use 170 grams of it as-is because it contains more liquid. Start with 225 grams of cream cheese, place it in the center of a cheesecloth and wring out the excess liquid until you have 170 grams remaining. Use that drained 170 grams in the frosting.
Lychees – canned lychees are easiest to use because they’re already peeled and pitted, with a natural opening for the blueberry. Look for them at Asian grocery stores, larger supermarkets or in the Asian foods or canned fruit section. Fresh lychees also work once peeled and pitted. Have a few extras available because some canned lychees may be torn or unusually small.
Blueberries – choose blueberries that fit snugly inside the opening of the lychees. Very small berries, such as tiny wild blueberries, can fall inside. Small or medium grapes also work if they fit securely.
Strawberry jam – use a smooth jam without large pieces of fruit so it can easily drip over and around the eyeballs.

The chocolate cupcake base is a half batch of my Healthy Chocolate Cake, which also has several tested flour and sweetener options.

How the edible eyeballs work

Lychees are sweet, fragrant fruits with a naturally pale color and hollow center. Once peeled and pitted, they already look surprisingly similar to eyeballs, which makes canned lychees especially useful for Halloween treats.

Push a blueberry into the opening of each lychee and you have an instant edible eye. Be sure to pat the lychees very dry before putting them on the frosting. Too much liquid can make the frosting wet and cause the fruit to slide around.

I also use fruit to make the eyes in these Halloween Monster Mouths if you’re looking for another creepy treat without candy eyeballs.

Close-up of a Halloween eyeball cupcake topped with a lychee, blueberry and strawberry jam

How to make eyeball cupcakes

Make the chocolate cupcakes. Mix the dry ingredients, add the wet ingredients and then stir in the boiling water. The batter will be very thin – that’s exactly how it should look.
Bake and cool. Divide the batter among 12 cupcake liners and bake until a toothpick comes out with moist crumbs but no liquid batter. Cool completely before frosting.
Make the cream cheese frosting. Beat the cream cheese and butter together, then gradually add the powdered sugar, salt and vanilla. Chill briefly if it needs to firm up before frosting.
Make the eyeballs. Pat the lychees dry and insert a blueberry into the center of each one.
Decorate. Add the fruit eyeballs to the frosted cupcakes and spoon strawberry jam over and around them to create the bloody effect.

Chocolate Halloween eyeball cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, fruit eyeballs and strawberry jam

Tips for Success

Don’t thicken the batter – it will look unusually thin after you add the boiling water. Don’t add extra flour.
Cool the cupcakes completely – even slightly warm cupcakes can soften the cream cheese frosting.
Dry the lychees thoroughly – excess moisture can make the eyeballs slide around and water down the frosting.
Choose the blueberries by size – they should fit snugly inside the lychees without disappearing into the opening.
Use smooth jam – large strawberry pieces make it harder to create the dripping blood effect.
Decorate close to serving – assemble the finished cupcakes no more than about half a day ahead for the best appearance.

Make ahead and storage

The unfrosted chocolate cupcakes can be made ahead and frozen for about 1 month. Let them thaw completely before adding the frosting.

You can also make the cream cheese frosting ahead and refrigerate it in an airtight container for up to 3 days. It firms considerably when cold, so let it soften enough to spread before frosting the cupcakes.

Once frosted, keep the cupcakes refrigerated. For the best-looking eyeballs, wait to add the lychees, blueberries and strawberry jam until no more than about half a day before serving.

Troubleshooting

The cupcake batter looks watery – this is normal. The batter is supposed to be extremely thin after the boiling water is added.
The frosting is too soft – refrigerate it for up to about 1 hour, stirring after approximately 30 minutes. If it becomes too firm, let it soften at room temperature before frosting.
The eyeballs are sliding – the lychees are probably still too wet. Pat them thoroughly dry with paper towels before placing them on the frosting.
The jam is difficult to drizzle – choose a smooth strawberry jam without large pieces of fruit.

Bitten chocolate eyeball cupcake with cream cheese frosting, a lychee-blueberry eye and strawberry jam

If you’re putting together a full Halloween spread, this Halloween Fruit Salad gives you a fresh option alongside the sweets, while these Frankenstein Cupcakes are another fun Halloween cupcake idea. For a savory eyeball-themed dinner, check out these Mini Monster Meatloaves from Little Black Skillet.

🎃🧁👁️ Have you tried these eyeball cupcakes? 👁️🧁🎃

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