Pumpkin Cupcakes

This month flew by and I just realized that I had not baked anything with pumpkin.  I started looking for recipes and came across this recipe for Pumpkin Cupcakes. 

I'm crazy about anything that has pumpkin in it, from coffee to cakes, pies and my new favorite, pumpkin doughnuts.  I baked these cupcakes and decorated them with cream cheese frosting to make them look like little pumpkins.

The house smells delicious.  I love the scent of cinnamon and cloves, it reminds me that Christmas is right around the corner.  

 

These cupcakes were fun to decorate.   I added orange food coloring to the frosting.

Cupcakes came out perfect.  I kept them cooling on a wire rack for about 45 minutes.

The pan I used is a pumpkin cupcake pan, but, you can use any cupcake pan you have available.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

3/4 cup solid packed, canned pumpkin puree

Preheat oven to 350 Degrees F

Place rack in the middle of the oven.  Line 12 muffin cups with paper liner or spray each cup with a non stick spray.  

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, ground spices and salt.  In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Beat in the vanilla extract.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl.  With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and pumpkin puree, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour mixture.

Fill the muffin cups evenly with the batter using two spoons or an ice cream scoop.  Place in the oven and bake for about 18-20 minutes, or until firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the center of one of the cupcakes comes out clean.  Place on a wire rack to cool.

Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients

4 oz cream cheese

2 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature

1 1/2 cup confectioners sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

food coloring-orange

In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth.  Add the butter and beat until incorporated and smooth.  Add the vanilla extract and confectioners sugar and beat until fluffy. Then add the food coloring and mix well. 

If you have the pumpkin cupcake pan, for the decorations I used a piping bag and a tip #5. If you are using a regular cupcake pan, you can just pour the frosting over the top of each cupcake. Enjoy!!!

 Source: Joy of Baking