Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Pumpkin season doesn’t have to be limited to October; you can enjoy that fall flavor any time of the year with pumpkin cupcakes. A tender cake with pumpkin puree mixed right in, plus pie spices galore and a cinnamon cream-cheese frosting, is a wonderful dessert to have when you really wish temperatures were cooler and leaves were beginning to fall. These keep for a few days in the refrigerator but freeze very well, so make a double batch and have these cupcakes whenever you want.

Pumpkin Cupcakes Ingredients

• Butter and sugar: Cream these two together to get a batter that bakes up light and fluffy.
• Eggs: Eggs provide binding power, helping to keep all the ingredients together. They also promote rising in the cupcakes as they bake.
• Canned solid-pack pumpkin: Be sure to use canned pumpkin, sometimes called pumpkin puree. Don’t use pumpkin pie filling, which has additional ingredients.
• All-purpose flour: The protein in all-purpose flour provides structure when the cupcakes are baked.
• Spices: Pumpkin pie spice, ground cinnamon and ground ginger give the cupcakes bold and delicious flavors.
• Baking powder: Baking powder is the main rising agent in this recipe.
• Baking soda: You’ll need some extra baking soda to counter the acidity of buttermilk. Baking powder contains baking soda and cream of tartar. If you use baking powder only, plus buttermilk, the cupcakes won’t rise very much. That’s because the acidity of the buttermilk and the acidity of the cream of tartar overwhelms the baking soda. So, you’ll add extra baking soda in addition to what’s in the baking powder to counter all that acidity and get the cupcake batter to rise.
• Buttermilk: After all that explanation about baking soda and buttermilk, why add the buttermilk to begin with? It makes the cupcakes tender and adds a lot of moisture without making the cupcakes seem too moist after baking.

Frosting:

• Cream cheese: Cream cheese gives the frosting a thick texture and tangy taste.
• Butter: Adding butter to the cream cheese helps make it more spreadable and smoother. It also gives it a warmer, more buttery taste.
• Confectioners’ sugar: Adding confectioners’ sugar to frosting makes it lighter, and obviously much sweeter. It won’t erase the tangy flavor of the cream cheese, but it will mellow it out enough to create a really tasty frosting.
• Vanilla extract and cinnamon: Vanilla extract and cinnamon provide some subtle flavoring.

Directions

Step 1: Make the batter

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Cream the butter and sugar together for five to seven minutes in a large bowl, mixing until the ingredients are light and fluffy. Add the eggs one by one, beating each one into the mixture before adding another. Add the pumpkin. In another large bowl, combine the flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, baking soda and ginger. Alternate adding the dry mixture and the buttermilk to the creamed mixture. Beat the batter well after making each addition.

Step 2: Bake

Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners. Fill the cups 3/4 full and bake them for 20 to 25 minutes. A toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcakes should come out clean when the cupcakes are done baking. Let the cupcakes cool for 10 minutes in the pan, and then place them on a wire rack to cool down completely.

Step 3: Mix the frosting

In a large, clean bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter together until the mixture is fluffy. Add the confectioners’ sugar, and then the vanilla and cinnamon. Beat the whole mixture until it’s smooth and spreadable. Frost the cupcakes.

Pumpkin Cupcakes Variations

• Top with crushed cookies: Take some cookies and crush them up; sprinkle the crumbs on top of the frosting. Pumpkin cookies work well, and you could try cinnamon-flavored cookies (e.g., snickerdoodles) or ones flavored with maple, too.
• Add maple: Speaking of maple, try adding some maple syrup to the frosting to make this even more of a fall-themed food. If you can find maple extract, try adding that to the cupcake batter.

How to Store Pumpkin Cupcakes

Anything with cream cheese frosting really does need to go into the refrigerator, especially homemade cream cheese frosting. Place these cupcakes in an airtight container in a single layer and refrigerate them for up to three days.

Can you freeze pumpkin cupcakes?

Yes, you can freeze these. Luckily, cream cheese frosting freezes well, unlike plain or whipped cream cheese. Place the cupcakes on a baking sheet and freeze them for about 30 minutes, or until the frosting has hardened. Wrap each cupcake in freezer-safe plastic wrap, and place the packets in a freezer-safe bag or airtight container. Freeze for up to three months.

Pumpkin Cupcakes Tips

How do you avoid tough cupcakes?

The answer to making tender cupcakes is all in the mixing. First, whisk the dry ingredients thoroughly before you start adding them to the wet ingredients. Then, when you mix the batter, mix gently. Don’t try to stir the batter vigorously as that will only contribute to making the cupcakes tougher.

What can you do if the frosting seems too thin or too stiff?

Fixing thin or stiff cream cheese frosting is easy. If the frosting is too stiff, add a teaspoon of milk, mix everything and see if the consistency is easier to spread. If it’s not, add another teaspoon of milk, and do that until the frosting becomes spreadable. If the frosting is too thin, add more confectioners’ sugar until it becomes a little stiffer but still remains spreadable. Do not add more than 1/4 cup of confectioners’ sugar at a time. Remember, you can add more but can’t subtract what you’ve added, so be careful about how much milk or sugar you add each time.

What’s the best way to decorate these cupcakes?

You can simply spread the frosting on the cupcakes and leave it at that, but if you want something fancier or that follows a theme, look at using cupcake liners that match the season, or search craft and cooking stores for paper and skewered toppers such as flowers or pumpkins. You can also have a lot of fun with the frosting, creating patterns with either a set of pastry decorating tips or using an offset spatula to “sculpt” patterns with frosting. Try these easy cupcake decorating ideas if you want to give these cupcakes some frosted pizzazz.