One day in college I was furious when I discovered one of my roommates had tried to fool me out of one of my most coveted treats I had brought from home. I awoke one morning and went to the kitchen to make some toast out of House of Bread’s famous pumpkin bread, which, I might add, was only available once a year. I opened the bag, measured out the perfect sized slice with my knife and began to cut. Off fell a tiny triangle-sized piece of the bread.
Now, for anyone else, it would be reasonable to think I had cut the last piece of this bread diagonally by mistake. Hey, it was college–it could even have been at the end of an evening in the bars. However, aside from the fact that I was weirdly OCD about the sizes and straightness of these slices, I was COVETOUS of this bread. I knew someone had stolen it. And I was pissed.
Fast forward almost ten years, and my love for pumpkin has only grown from pumpkin bread to pumpkin anything. I love pumpkin bread, lattes, muffins, pie… As a young person I didn’t realize there were other pumpkin desserts besides pie. But when I first discovered pumpkin bread, I was hooked.
Several years later, I was thrilled when the internet helped people go pumpkin crazy! I was on board. Pumpkin crème brulee, pumpkin donuts, pumpkin ravioli (this is one I decided I don’t actually like)… I tried it all.
But one of the things that always shocked me was pumpkin dishes always seemed to be breakfast fare (with the exception of the raviolis) even though it was almost always sweet. And I wanted to find some actual desserts.
Enter pumpkin cake. The warmth of spice cake with the moisture of pumpkin–the very essence of a fall dessert. What could possibly make it better? The mobility and serving size of a cupcake.
These cupcakes are perfect for a fall barbeques, pumpkin carving parties, or even for something special to put in a kid’s lunch box. Add all that with the cream cheese cinnamon frosting, and if you aren’t sold, please don’t tell me because I’ll just feel sorry for you. If you love it, please comment below and we’ll be able to go pumpkin crazy together!
Pumpkin Cupcakes
2 Cups All-Purpose Flour (I almost exclusively use Cup4Cup Gluten Free Flour)
1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1 Teaspoon Sea Salt
1 ½ Teaspoons Cinnamon
1 Teaspoon Ground Ginger
1/4 Teaspoon Nutmeg
1 Teaspoon Pumpkin Pie Spice
1 Cup Brown Sugar, packed
1 Cup Granulated Sugar
1 Cup (2 Sticks) Butter, melted and cooled
4 Large Eggs
1 (15 Oz.) Can Pumpkin
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. I like lining the cupcakes with cute festive paper liners, but you can also choose to grease the cupcake pans instead.
Whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and pumpkin pie spice in its own bowl.
In the bowl of the standing mixer with the paddle attachment, mix brown sugar, granulated sugar, butter, and eggs until just incorporated. Add dry ingredients, and mix until smooth. Remove from stand mixer and fold in pumpkin in with a wooden spoon or spoonula.
Divide batter evenly among liners, filling each 3/4. I use an ice cream scoop to get roughly the same amount in every liner. Bake about 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
2 (8 Oz.) Packages Cream Cheese, softened
1 Stick of Butter, softened
Approximately 2 Pounds Powdered Sugar
1 Tablespoon Ground Cinnamon
2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract
Put all wet ingredients in bowl of the stand mixer with the whisk attachment. Whisk until incorporated.
Add powdered sugar in slowly until you reach the consistency you want, depending on the decorations you’re going to use.
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