Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes
A light, airy, moist cupcake with the classic flavor of pumpkin spice, topped with a hearty swirl of cream cheese frosting and dusted with cinnamon. These pumpkin spice cupcakes win over everyone, even those who claim to not like pumpkin or cream cheese frosting! Just be warned: If you make these pumpkin spice cupcakes and share them with others, be prepared that it will be required of you to prepare these at least annually... if not more by your friends, family, and coworkers.
*Note: Calories and cost is estimated, if provided.
Equipment & Tools
- Medium Mixing Bowl
- Stand Mixer with paddle and whisk attachments
- Spatula
- 24 Cupcake/Muffin Liners
- Cupcake/Muffin Tin(s)
- Mesh Strainer
- Piping Bag
- Piping Tip (recommend Wilton 1M)
- 3 Tbsp Cookie Scoop
Ingredients
- 2⅔ cups All-purpose flour
- 2 tsp Baking soda
- 2 tsp Baking powder
- 1 tsp Ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp Ground nutmeg
- ¼ tsp Ground cloves
- 1 tsp Fine sea salt
- 15 oz Pumpkin puree (see notes)
- 1 cup Granulated sugar
- 1 cup Light brown sugar , packed
- ½ cup Vegetable oil
- ½ cup Buttermilk , cultured
- 4 large Eggs
Frosting:
- ½ cup Unsalted butter , softened
- 8 oz Cream cheese , softened
- 2 tsp Vanilla extract or Vanilla bean paste (I like to use both)
- ¼ tsp Fine sea salt (omit if using salted butter)
- 1 lb Powdered sugar , sifted (see notes)
Garnish (optional):
- Ground cinnamon , for dusting
- Cinnamon sticks , for decoration
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350℉ / 175℃. Line cupcake pan(s) with liners.
Dry Ingredients
- In a medium bowl, combine the 2⅔ cups All-purpose flour, 2 tsp Baking soda, 2 tsp Baking powder, 1 tsp Ground cinnamon, ¼ tsp Ground nutmeg, ¼ tsp Ground cloves, and 1 tsp Fine sea salt. Stir together and set aside.
Wet Ingredients
- To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, add the 15 oz Pumpkin puree, 1 cup Granulated sugar, 1 cup Light brown sugar, ½ cup Vegetable oil and ½ cup Buttermilk. Mix to combine.
- Add the 4 large Eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients in two additions, mixing just until incorporated. Do NOT over mix, otherwise the cupcakes will come out not as moist and will be denser.
- Fill the cupcake liners ⅔ of the way full. It's best to use a large cookie scoop (3 Tbsp) for ease and to have uniform cupcakes.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick or knife inserted into the center of a middle cupcake comes out clean.
- Transfer the pans to a wire rack and let cool for 10 minutes, then remove the cupcakes from the pans.
- Let cool completely before frosting, about 1 hour or more.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- Add room temperature ½ cup Unsalted butter and 8 oz Cream cheese to a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whip together until well combined and smooth.
- Add in 2 tsp Vanilla extract and ¼ tsp Fine sea salt(omit if using salted butter).
- Sift 1 lb Powdered sugar then add in one cup at a time until incorporated. Use highest setting on mixer and whip for about 5 minutes, you want the frosting to be light and airy.
- Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a piping tip and pipe onto the cupcakes.
Garnish (optional)
- Dust the cupcakes with some Ground cinnamon and/or insert Cinnamon sticks.
Serve
- Serve immediately or place into the fridge to cool further. My family prefers to eat these cold out of the fridge but they're perfectly fine at room temperature too. I wouldn't leave these out at room temperature for more than two hours due to the cream cheese frosting.
Storage
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Notes
Pumpkin Puree - If you purchase this, you want to make sure it's just 100% pure pumpkin, no added spices or anything else (labeled as pumpkin pie mix).
Powdered Sugar - Make sure to sift the powdered sugar otherwise more than likely you'll have lumps in your frosting which makes it difficult to pipe (clogged tip) and won't look as pretty.
For mini cupcakes - You will need at least 72 paper liners. If you want to mix and match, 3 mini cupcakes equals 1 regular cupcake. The bake time will be 10-12 minutes. If you normally pipe the frosting high on the cupcakes, you will need to increase (x1.5) the amount of frosting you make since there is a higher ratio of frosting to cake for the mini cupcakes vs regular.