DIY: Fall Pumpkin Cupcakes
About 50 million pumpkin pies are eaten every Thanksgiving. I am never part of that statistic because I don’t like the texture of pumpkin pie. I wanted to bake something with my niece for Thanksgiving and still celebrate pumpkin. It’s been awhile since my niece and I made cupcakes together and I found a recipe for pumpkin cupcakes. I would still get the flavor of pumpkin, but avoid the texture I dislike in pumpkin pie. These came out so good that I made another batch so I could document the experience and here it is:
Ingredients for Cupcake Batter:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated white sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup canned organic pumpkin
1 tablespoon fresh and finely grated ginger
Ingredients for Cream Cheese Frosting:
4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
Topping:
1 Heath Milk Chocolate English Toffee Bar, chopped
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a bowl, mix your dry ingredients – flour, baking powder, baking soda, ground cinnamon, and salt.
In a separate bowl, using a mixer or hand blender, blend the room temperature butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla extract.
Mix in one third of the flour mixture and half the pumpkin.
Add the second third of the flour mixture and the rest of the pumpkin until well blended. Add the final third of the flour mixture and blend well. Mix in the fresh ginger.
Line cupcake pan with cupcake liners. Fill the cups about 3/4 full of batter.
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Place in the oven and bake for about 18 – 20 minutes. You can also use the clean toothpick test. Place on a wire rack to cool.
While the cupcakes are baking, you have time to make the frosting. Using a mixer or in my case a hand blender, mix the softened cream cheese, the room temperature butter, and vanilla. Add the confectioners sugar and blend until smooth.
When the cupcakes are cool, spread the frosting and sprinkle with chopped Heath candy bar.
These are hands down the best cupcakes I have ever made, probably because they were made from scratch. No more boxed cake mix for me! Enjoy pumpkin cupcakes with your favorite coffee beverage. Tis the season for pumpkin cupcakes!
