Pumpkin Cupcakes Recipe

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5 from 14 votes

Pumpkin Cupcakes Recipe

This soft, fluffy and easy Pumpkin Cupcakes recipe is perfect for sharing with family and friends.

Prep Time25

Cook Time20

Total Time45

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: cupcakes

Calories: 277kcal

Author: Neha

Equipment

1 Hand/stand Mixer
1 Cupcake Pan

Ingredients

½ cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs (at room temperature)
1 cup canned pumpkin puree (I use Libby's)
¾ cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 ¼ cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg (*Check notes on how to sub. these spices with Pumpkin Pie Spice)
¼ tsp ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
⅛ teaspoon ground Black Pepper
⅛ teaspoon salt

Frosting Ingredients:

8 ounces room temperature cream cheese
½ cup room temperature butter (unsalted)
4 cups confectioners' sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
⅛ teaspoon salt

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

To make the cupcakes:

Preheat the oven. Preheat the oven to 350℉. Place cupcake liners in your cupcake pan, set it aside.
Add the wet ingredients. Mix together the brown sugar, oil, vanilla, canned pumpkin and eggs in a large mixing bowl. Use a mixer/hand whisk and mix them all together until the mixture gets smooth and everything is well combined.
Combine all the mixes. Add sifted dry ingredients- flour, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, black pepper and salt over wet ingredients. Fold and mix with a spatula to combine until the streaks of flour disappear into the batter.
Pour batter in prepared Cupcake Pan. Divide cupcake batter among pre-prepared cupcake liners. Each cupcake liner would be about ¾ full.
Bake in preheated oven. Place cupcake pan in the oven and bake for 18-20 minutes. Or till they pass toothpick test. Take care not to over bake cupcakes here, else they will dry out!
Cool the cupcakes. Take cupcakes out of the oven and let them cool on a cooling rack. Once they are completely cool, you can top them with frosting.

To make Cream Cheese Frosting:

Add butter in the bowl of a hand/stand mixer and beat for about 2 minutes. Now add in the room temperature cream cheese and mix until its well combined, for about 2 more minutes. Add in salt and vanilla too. Now keeping the mixer on low, slowly add confectioners' sugar and beat till the frosting turns smooth and fluffy.
Grab a piping bag fitted with your favorite piping tip and use it to frost the cupcakes. Once all the cupcakes are covered in frosting, top them with pumpkin toppers. Enjoy!

Notes

How to store Cupcakes:

Frosted cupcakes stay good for up to a day or two at room temperature.
Unfrosted cupcakes freeze well for 2 months. Thaw them in the refrigerator or on the counter before frosting.

Pumpkin Puree: I strongly recommend using canned pumpkin puree in these cupcakes than homemade one. I use Libby's canned pumpkin and love it.

Spices: You may skip cloves, nutmeg, ginger black pepper and add ¾ teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice to your cupcakes. Don't skip cinnamon in this case.

Oil: Instead of using vegetable oil, you may sub it with ½ cup coconut oil. ¼ cup of oil and ¼ cup of unsweetened applesauce works too.

Make ahead tip: Bake your cupcakes one day before and store them in an air tight container at room temperature.

A note on Cream Cheese Frosting: Keep the frosting refrigerated until you are ready to frost your cupcakes, for those neat and perfect swirls. Frosting can also be made a day or two ahead of time. You can store it in an airtight container in refrigerator. Before frosting give it a quick swirl to make it nice and fluffy again, then frost your cupcakes.

To make Mini Cupcakes: Pour the batter in mini liners and bake them at 350 deg F for 12-14 minutes. You will get about 24 mini cupcakes from this batter.

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