Moist, but dense, Pumpkin Cupcakes with Dreamy Cream Cheese Frosting have a flavor is reminiscent of pumpkin pie, mixed with notes of carrot cake too (no carrots though!). The frosting is creamy and, yes, totally dreamy. It has all the good parts of cream cheese, sweetened just right so that it counters the slightly sour note that it carries.
OMG, these are good. Just make them.
When I made these, it was Sunday morning. I woke up planning on pumpkin pancakes, but decided to eat some muffins instead. Since we needed some dessert to bring to Sunday dinner, these cupcakes ended up being our Sunday baking experiment du jour.
Of course, the kids got to help too. They take turns pouring things into the bowl and then Will gets to sift it with a wire whisk. It’s a great technique, and he’s really good at it. Paige was really into the whole process, alternating between cheering Will on (literally) and trying to climb onto the table.
They could barely wait to try these. And as soon as the first one was frosted, Will did (Paige was sleeping). He couldn’t say enough about how much he liked them …
Sigh. Make these. And with the leftover pumpkin puree, try Perfect Pumpkin Bread or Iced Pumpkin Bundt Cake.
Pumpkin Cupcakes with Dreamy Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1/4 tsp allspice
- 1/2 tsp Kosher salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
Dreamy Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 8 oz package cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup marshmallow fluff
- 1 cup confectioners sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 18 cupcake cups with cupcake liners (I use a 6-cup cupcake/muffin tin and a 12-cup cupcake/muffin tin).
- Sift together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, allspice and salt. Set aside.
- In a stand mixer, beat together the eggs, brown sugar, butter, vanilla extract and pumpkin puree until smooth. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture a little at a time until fully incorporated.
- Divide the batter evenly between the cupcake cups, filling them about 3/4 full.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcakes comes out clean.
- Once the cupcakes are cooled, make the frosting. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine all ingredients and whip until combined and smooth. Transfer to a pastry bag and frost cupcakes (must be completely cooled).
Roasted Pumpkin Seeds Recipe | Sarah’s Cucina Bella :: Family Food
Wednesday 8th of September 2010
[...] Just look at all the pumpkin recipes I have written about lately. Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Pancakes, Pumpkin Cupcakes, Pumpkin Coconut Muffins … [...]
Pumpkin Cupcakes w/ Cream Cheese Frosting « Kats’ Kitchen
Monday 7th of December 2009
[...] 2009 Filed under: cake — stacielk @ 10:33 am Tags: cream cheese, cupcake, frosting, pumpkin Sarah’s Cucina Bella. And the cream cheese frosting from Smitten [...]
Stacie
Wednesday 28th of October 2009
Hi again, I made these cupcakes this past weekend and they turned out very good! I liked the densness too them. One thing, there is nothing mentioned about mixing the eggs into the batter in your directions, so I threw them in there after the pumpkin puree was mixed in. I'm glad I didn't forget about them! You may want to add that to the directions. -From one baker to another :)
Stacie
Tuesday 20th of October 2009
Oh, just the recipe I'm looking for, dense and yummy. Do you have a source for this recipe or did you take it from somewhere and make it your own? Thanks!
Sarah Caron
Tuesday 20th of October 2009
Julie, these are so fantastic, I am making them again this weekend for a roadtrip with my kids and friends. Fingers crossed that they survive the car ride!
Thanks, Patti! It's fun baking with them.
Maris, the second photo of the cupcakes was the most unusual of backgrounds -- it's actually just my black stove with the white plastic base of my cake transporter. That lens I was telling you about makes a huge difference -- since it focuses so succinctly, the background gets a wonderful blur.
Thanks for the question, Stacie! Unless otherwise noted, the recipes on this site are mine. In this case, I referenced several cakes that I have made in the past as well as family recipes to get the right proportions for the dry ingredients and then adjusted the spices and other ingredients to get the right flavor and consistency in the batter.
maris
Monday 19th of October 2009
Love pumpkin, love cupcakes. How can you go wrong?
I love your second photo - what background did you use?