Hello out there! It’s been months since I’ve written my last post but big things were happening! Justin and I got married, went on a few trips, AND cooked so many different recipes that I now have months worth of material! I can feel your excitement from here. 🙂
During the past fall season, Justin and I made several pumpkin dishes. Unfortunately, only 1 of the 3 dishes that we made came out successful. But the one that came out good…was DELICIOUS! I’ve made it four times since.
The first one was a low fat pumpkin/banana bread that refused to fully cook. No matter how much longer we seemed to bake it, the inside remained completely gooey. It tasted alright, but we ended up tossing it or trying to pawn it off on people who aren’t really ‘texture eaters.’
The second recipe was for pumpkin spiced cookies. Let’s just say we learned a good lesson here…wheat flour is NOT like white flour. Just because they are both flours, that does not mean they cook the same! The cookies were terrible and looked even worse after we covered them in ugly sugar crystals and goopey black frosting (for Halloween). Luckily, a couple of beers and a bottle of Reisling makes you impervious to ugly or tasteless cookies.
The third go ’round…was the winner. Delicious, creamy, and very, very delectable. Pumpkin cupcakes!!! So head to your grocery store and stock up on cans of pumpkin so that you can make this recipe year round! (Trust me when I say to stock up. Justin and I checked out FIVE stores before we found canned pumpkin…Wal-Mart, Safeway, King Sooper, Walgreens, and then some tiny little place up in Wyoming. This was of course at the beginning of October but I was still surprised to find that many stores don’t carry canned pumpkin year round.) Enjoy!
Pumpkin Cupcakes with Pumpkin-Spiced Cream Cheese Frosting
Yield 24 cupcakes
These cupcakes are perfect for the fall season, especially for work functions where you need to bring baked goods. (Think - company Halloween party or post-Turkey Trot!)
Ingredients
Pumpkin Cupcakes:
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups sugar
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup milk
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup water
- 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1 cup canned 100% pure pumpkin
Pumpkin-Spiced Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 8 ounces low-fat cream cheese
- 1/2 cup canned 100% pure pumpkin
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 5 tablespoons packed brown sugar
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350F and line your cupcake tins with 24 cupcake wrappers.
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt, then set it aside.
- In a smaller bowl, combine the milk, olive oil, vanilla extract, pumpkin, and eggs.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix it all together until well combined.
- Slowly add the water to the batter and mix it all together.
- Evenly distribute the batter into the cupcake liners and bake for 15-17 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with only a few crumbs.
- While the cupcakes are baking, make the frosting by combining the cream cheese, pumpkin, vanilla, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and brown sugar, until it's all smooth.
- Take the cupcakes out of the oven and allow them to cool for 2 minutes, then take them out of the cupcake tins and place them on a cooling rack until they're fully cooled.
- Use a spatula to ice the cupcakes or for more visual appeal, pipe them using an icing bag (or sandwich bag with the corner cut off).