Well, hello October – you really snuck up on me this year! I was just talking to a friend this morning and we both agreed September was a complete blur. For me, the arrival of October means fall is finally here (even though technically it arrived a week or so ago). It means a trip to the orchard for apples as well as a stop to pick up some pumpkins to decorate. It also means the temperatures cool down enough that I don’t mind turning on the oven and baking all day with those orchard apples or the cans of pumpkin puree I’ve been hoarding in the pantry. There’s not much better than a chilly fall day with the windows open, cool breezes blowing, and the aroma of baked goods in the air.
I figured we’d start the month off with a pumpkin treat that’s both delicious and simple – cupcakes! As I mentioned last weekend, we hosted a baby shower for one of my best friends and these cupcakes were one of the items I made to share. My friend loves pumpkin goodies so these just had to be on the menu. I have Bridget over at The Way the Cookie Crumbles to thank for helping me select this recipe as I was torn between a few, and fortunately she’d done a comparison last fall of just the ones I was considering. She declared this recipe her clear favorite, and I agree that these are terrific. They’re light and moist with great pumpkin flavor.
It was a no-brainer for me to top the cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, as it’s one frosting it seems almost everyone can get behind. In fact, as much as I enjoyed these cupcakes, I know they were simply a vehicle for the frosting for many others 🙂 I used my go-to cream cheese icing recipe from Martha Stewart, which I’ve professed my love for many times here. I find lots of frostings fussy and not consistently good, but this particular recipe has never let me down. Always delicious and just the right texture for piping.
Pumpkin Cupcakes
adapted from David Leite (as seen on The Way the Cookie Crumbles)
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk mixed with 1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cups canned solid-pack pumpkin
Preheat oven to 350 F. Line your cupcake pans with 18 liners.
In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and both sugars on medium speed until fluffy, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and salt into a medium bowl.
One at a time, add the eggs to the mixer, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Alternate adding the flour and milk mixtures, beginning and ending with the flour. Add the pumpkin and beat until smooth.
Divide the batter equally between the cups. (They’ll be about 3/4 full.) Rap the filled pans once on the counter to release any air bubbles. Bake the cupcakes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer the pans to wire racks and after 5 minutes, remove the cupcakes to the racks to cool completely before frosting.
Makes 18 cupcakes
Cream Cheese Frosting
from Martha Stewart
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
12 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
4 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Beat butter and cream cheese with a mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low. Add sugar, 1 cup at a time (scraping down the sides of the bowl occasionally), and then vanilla; mix until smooth.
The frosting can be made up to 3 days in advance. Refrigerate until needed, then bring to room temp and beat until smooth before using.
Makes about 4 cups
Please wipe the drool off my mouth!!! These look so good!!! We love anything pumpkin!!! Must try, must try!!!
Thanks for sharing these beautiful cupcakes!
Jenifer
Jaime and Jen Dish
I love fall! It’s such a fabulous time of year. These cupcakes look like winners to me.
YUM! Pumpkin + cupcakes = perfection. Can’t wait to try this recipe!
I am so excited for pumpkin baking – these will go on my to-try list. They’re beautifully decorated, too.
I love these! The frosting is perfect too!
Tracey, these look fantastic. I love pumpkin. I love cup cakes. This is a match made in heaven. HAVE to try. Thanks for the recipe.
So behind on my comments!!! Wow – these are stunning (ie: the perfect cupcakes – all of them). That’s such an art to get them so even and matching. And pumpkin? I’m in!
That looks seriously good. I can’t wait to try them!
Love the frosting job on these cupcakes. They look so great.
What a perfect recipe for the first day of October. The cupcakes look fabulous!
Oh my gosh. Pinch me. This is complete awesomeness!
Thanks for sharing some of the cupcakes with us! These are a perfect fall treat and the cream cheese frosting never disappoints. I highly recommend them!
Hi! I love your blog, your recipes look delicious. I am your newest follower!
These look lovely. I am sort of becoming a pumpkin fan…in certain instances. Blame it on Di and her cookies for SB. Love the sprinkles!
Ooh, those look yummy! I’m totally getting into the pumpkin mood, too. We had pumpkin muffins for breakfast; now I have to think of something else to use up the other cup of pumpkin in my fridge. =)
Yum! Your cupcakes look perfect! I really love pumpkin and made pumpkin cupcakes myself this weekend (used Martha Stewart’s recipe) and it was the perfect way to start off October.
flavourful cupcakes
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They look delicious. Especially that good dose of frosting on top!
Yum, these sound great!! I’m putting these on my ‘to make’ list!
They look picture perfect Tracey. Wish I had a couple to nosh on right now.
I love pumpkin cupcakes and these sound fantastic! Boy, October completely snuck up on me as well:)
Ooh, I really need to come up with an opportunity to make these. They were so darn good!
Sounds and looks delicious. Loving that big dollop of piped frosting on top. Perfect flavor to top pumpkin cupcakes.
These cup cakes are very simple but if you taste it you can probably eat more and craves for more. Lol. I already try this one when I read this yesterday and this is my time to comment you that this is truly delicious! My kids totally love the cup cakes and now I need to bake for it again for their tomorrow’s breakfast. Thanks for your indulging recipe.
YUM! I shouldn’t be reading this late at night. Now I’m craving pumpkin cupcakes and really considering baking some cupcakes at 11:30pm! 🙂
I love fall and this looks like the perfect recipe to begin the season!
I just made these cupcakes today and they truly are perfect! I love the look yours have with the sprinkles! Thanks for sharing.
Pumpkin cupcakes and cream cheese frosting is truly a great combination. Add some chocolate syrup to make it more heavenly. Lol. Thanks for sharing your simple and easy recipe.
I just made these–OMG amazing! Thanks so much for the awesome recipe!
I want to try the cream cheese frosting with your blue velvet recipe, but the measurements are a bit confusing (I’m from South Africa, so our measurements are different). I just want to know how many ounces is a stick of butter? The others I can convert
@Marijke: No problem, one stick of butter is 4 oz. Hope that helps 🙂