Pumpkin Cupcakes

Written by on in Dessert

      Why you should love these Cupcakes:

  • They are moist, chewy, and exceptionally decadent.
  • They could easily become muffins if you didn’t feel like making the cream cheese icing.
  • These cupcakes have all the flavours that remind you of the Christmas season and spooky Halloween nights.

       Tips & Notes:

  • To make the recipe healthier:  You could always reduce the sugar by half, and add some mashed banana, honey, or maple syrup.
  • Change it up: Add nuts, chocolate chips, chopped fruit, cranberries, or crystallized ginger.
  • Topping: If you’re not feelin’ the icing, you could substitute it for oats. Just put them on top of the muffins before you pop them into the oven. Or, just leave them plain!
  • Extra flavour: Sometimes when I’m baking things that have pumpkin in them, I like to throw in a bit more nutmeg, cloves, and cinnamon. This is just a personal preference, but don’t feel limited by the recipe! You can always make it your own and adjust things so you can enjoy them more to YOUR personal preference.

    Ingredients:

  • 2 3/4 cups pumpkin puree
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons cloves
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons nutmeg
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3 cups sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 cup butter softened

For the icing:

  • 1  package brick-style cream cheese, softened to room temperature
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter softened to room temperature
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

    Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line a muffin tin with paper baking cups.
  2. In a bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and salt.
  3. In a separate bowl, cream the butter and sugar until it looks fluffy.
  4. One at a time, add the eggs into the sugar blend.
  5. Add the pumpkin puree and mix it together with the sugar and butter mixture.
  6. Add the flour concoction into the pumpkin mixture and blend until it looks like everything has come together.
  7. Now that your pumpkin muffin batter is made, you can take an ice cream scoop and put the batter in the muffin cups. (As I did in the image above)
  8. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the muffin comes out clean, approximately 20- 25 minutes or so.
  9. If you plan on making the icing, here are the directions…I must say, the icing does really top it off.
  10. In a mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the butter and mix for about 30 seconds to 1 minute, or until creamy. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla extract and continue mixing until fully incorporated. Make sure to scrape down the sides every once and a while to make sure the cream cheese gets in there.
  11. When the muffins were cooled, I put my icing in a piping bag and did a simple swirl to keeps things classy. If you don’t have a piping bag, you could always just use a regular zip lock bag and cut one of the corners off.
  12. I really hope you enjoy these cupcakes!!