Fall is nearing and what better dessert than Pumpkin Cupcakes! Super easy to whip up and frosted with a silky cream cheese frosting.
Cakes are one of my favorite things ever, well cupcakes are just mini cakes. They are just like personalized sized cakes that don’t require a fork!
Cupcakes are amazing, not only are they simple but because they can be flavored pretty any which way, since the weather is finally cooling off I wanted to share my recipe for Pumpkin Cupcakes.
This is an easy pantry staple recipe that is frosted with a classic but tasty cream cheese frosting. They are absolutely delicious and you won’t be able to stop at just one.
Desserts that are easy and make you want to come back for more are my favorite recipes. I love easy and craveworthy and that is exactly what these are!
I just love baking with pumpkin in general, but these Pumpkin Cupcakes are spiced perfectly and the texture is moist and fluffy and everything you’d want in a cupcake.
If you’ve been on the hunt to find a treat to curb that pumpkin craving, these cupcakes are exactly what you need.
Some of my other favorite pumpkin recipes that we have on our site include: Pumpkin Bars, Pumpkin Banana Bread and Pumpkin Truffles.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
- Pantry staple ingredients make these quick and easy to whip up.
- You can double or halve this recipe depending on how many you’d like.
- Frost with this cream cheese frosting or any other of your favorite frostings.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED (FULL RECIPE AT BOTTOM):
Cake flour
Baking powder
Pumpkin pie spice
Ground cinnamon
Salt
Unsalted butter
Granulated sugar
Eggs
Milk
Pumpkin puree
Cream cheese
Vanilla
Powdered sugar
HOW TO MAKE PUMPKIN CUPCAKES, STEP BY STEP:
- Preheat the oven 350 degrees F. Line a cupcake/muffin pan with paper liners, then set it aside.
- In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, and salt. Set the bowl aside.
- Beat together the butter and sugar, until creamy. Add in the eggs and beat together until it becomes light and fluffy.
- Gradually mix in the flour mixture with the milk, continue mixing for about 30 seconds, then whisk in the pumpkin. Scrape the sides of the bowl if necessary.
- Scoop the batter into the prepared liners, filling about ⅔ full, about ¼ cup.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes, until the cupcakes spring back when lightly touched.
- Remove from oven and place on wire rack to cool.
- While cupcakes are cooling make your frosting, in a medium bowl, or using a stand mixer, on medium speed, beat together the cream cheese, butter, milk, and vanilla, until it is smooth and creamy.
- Add in the powdered sugar, one cup at a time, until it reaches desired consistency for frosting. (To create rosettes, or other piping designs, you will want the frosting thicker, so it holds the shape.)
- Frost your cupcakes using desired tip and then sprinkle with chopped pecans if desired.
DO I HAVE TO USE CAKE FLOUR?
No you do not have to use cake flour for this Pumpkin Cupcake Recipe, but we love it for the texture.
You can substitute 1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour and 1/4 cup cornstarch for your cake flour. This will help bake up the way that we want them to.
Please do not substitute the all-purpose flour without also adding cornstarch or these will not turn out as intended.
CAN I USE A DIFFERENT FROSTING?
While pumpkin and cream cheese go together very well you do not have to use cream cheese frosting if you are not a fan.
You can use chocolate buttercream, regular buttercream, white chocolate buttercream and more. These go great with so many different flavors.
One of my personal favorites if you are using cream cheese frosting is my Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting, it’s so so so good!
CAN I ADD ANY ADDITIONS TO THE BATTER?
If you want to give these Pumpkin Cupcakes some more texture and flavor you can certainly add things to the batter. Some of our favorites include:
- Chocolate chips
- Mini chocolate chips
- Chopped nuts
- Cinnamon chips
- Dried cranberries
- White chocolate chips
DO I HAVE TO SIFT THE FLOUR?
You do not have to, but we like to for this recipe. It gives the cupcakes a light and fluffy texture.
If you do not sift the flour, they will still be great but the texture might come out slightly different.
HOW TO STORE:
These can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator where they will keep for 4-5 days.
You can also freeze these cupcakes, place them in an airtight container and they should keep for about 3 months.
To defrost, remove to the refrigerator overnight until thawed, you can let them sit out on the counter for a few hours to come to room temperature but since they have cream cheese frosting they need to be refrigerated.
TIPS AND TRICKS:
- You can replace the cake flour with 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour and 1/4 cup cornstarch.
- You can double or triple this batch or cut in half depending on how many people you want to serve.
- These can be frozen, see my tips above.
- You can use other frostings besides cream cheese, I have some options above that are great to try.
- Here is a recipe to make your own pumpkin pie spice if you do not have any on hand.
- Try to not overmix the batter.
- Make sure you use pumpkin puree and not pumpkin pie filling.
- These can be decorated however you like, we topped with chopped nuts, but you can also drizzle with caramel sauce, cinnamon, other nuts, chocolate chips, etc.
- Other ingredients can be added to the batter, see some of my suggestions above.
Looking for that perfectly easy Fall recipe that no one can turn down? Then you need to make a batch of my Pumpkin Cupcakes!
If you like this recipe you might also like:
If you’ve tried these PUMPKIN CUPCAKES or any other recipe on my site, let me know in the comment section how it turned out, we love hearing from our readers! You can also follow along with me on PINTEREST, FACEBOOK and INSTAGRAM to see more amazing recipes and what shenanigans I’m getting into!
Pumpkin Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 2 cups cake flour or (1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour plus 1/4 cup cornstarch)
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 ¼ granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
Frosting:
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened
- ¼ cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 tablespoon milk or heavy cream
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 3 ½ -4 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon chopped pecans optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven 350 degrees F. Line a cupcake/muffin pan with paper liners, then set it aside.
- In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, and salt. Set the bowl aside.
- Beat together the butter and sugar, until creamy. Add in the eggs and beat together until it becomes light and fluffy.
- Gradually mix in the flour mixture with the milk, continue mixing for about 30 seconds, then whisk in the pumpkin. Scrape the sides of the bowl if necessary.
- Scoop the batter into the prepared liners, filling about ⅔ full, about ¼ cup.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes, until the cupcakes spring back when lightly touched.
- Remove from oven and place on wire rack to cool.
- While cupcakes are cooling make your frosting, in a medium bowl, or using a stand mixer, on medium speed, beat together the cream cheese, butter, milk, and vanilla, until it is smooth and creamy.
- Add in the powdered sugar, one cup at a time, until it reaches desired consistency for frosting. (To create rosettes, or other piping designs, you will want the frosting thicker, so it holds the shape.)
- Frost your cupcakes using desired tip and then sprinkle with chopped pecans if desired.
Notes
- You can replace the cake flour with 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour and 1/4 cup cornstarch.
- You can double or triple this batch or cut in half depending on how many people you want to serve.
- These can be frozen, see my tips above.
- You can use other frostings besides cream cheese, I have some options above that are great to try.
- Here is a recipe to make your own pumpkin pie spice if you do not have any on hand.
- Try to not overmix the batter.
- Make sure you use pumpkin puree and not pumpkin pie filling.
- These can be decorated however you like, we topped with chopped nuts, but you can also drizzle with caramel sauce, cinnamon, other nuts, chocolate chips, etc.
- Other ingredients can be added to the batter, see some of my suggestions above.
Nutrition
Tornadough Alli is not a nutritionist or dietitian, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and nutritional value is important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and values can vary depending on which brands were used.
ORIGINALLY POSTED SEPTEMBER, 2021
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