Perfect Pumpkin Cupcakes with Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting
A one-bowl recipe, these perfect pumpkin cupcakes are soft and fluffy and topped with the creamiest whipped cream cheese frosting.
These delicious cupcakes have just the right amount of spices to compliment the pumpkin flavor and have been rigorously tested for the softest, lightest cupcake texture. They are phenomenal!
A Few Key Ingredients
While this cupcake recipe includes your basic, every day baking ingredients, there are a few specific ingredients that are key to them working out just right. Take note!
- Canned Pumpkin: This recipe uses a full can of pumpkin. If you are halving the recipe for 12 cupcakes, you’ll use a scant 1 cup (213 g).
- Eggs AND Egg Yolks: Take the time to separate two egg yolks for this recipe. The addition of the egg yolks along with whole eggs produces a perfectly light and fluffy cupcake that is super moist and has structure that holds up well for the frosting.
- Oil: Use a neutral-flavored that won’t impart strong flavor to the cupcakes. Oil produces a lighter, fluffier texture than butter in these cupcakes.
- Pantry spices: Rather than using a pumpkin pie spice blend, this recipe measures specific spices for perfectly balanced flavors. All of the spices are easily found at every day grocery stores if you don’t have them in your pantry already.
Special Frosting Ingredient: the whipped cream cheese frosting calls for 1 tablespoon sour cream. I’ve been adding sour cream to my cream cheese frosting for years. It changes cream cheese frosting for the better, complimenting the tanginess of the cream cheese while balancing the overall sweetness. Don’t skip it!
Different Ways to Frost Pumpkin Cupcakes
The amount of frosting in the recipe is enough to frost the cupcakes with a piping tip. If you are piping REALLY tall piles of frosting on the cupcakes, you may want to consider increasing the frosting ingredients by 1/2, but otherwise it should be enough.
Frosting ideas:
- Use an offset spatula or butter knife to spread the frosting in gentle swoops across the top of the cupcakes.
- Fit a piping bag with a Wilton 2A tip and fill with frosting; pipe in smooth circles of frosting (start on an outer edge and move inward). This is how I piped the frosting on the cupcakes pictured in the post.
- For a classic swirl of frosting, fit a piping bag with a Wilton 1M tip, fill with frosting and pipe in a circle on top of the cupcake.
The tops of the cupcakes can be left plain or garnished with sprinkles, candy pumpkins, or a light dusting of cinnamon.
A Few Additional Tips
For these cupcakes, make sure to:
- Only fill the cupcake liners halfway (or just over halfway) full for perfectly domed cupcakes that don’t spill over the edge of the cups.
- Watch the bake time carefully! Over baked cupcakes can be dry; bake the cupcakes just until the tops lightly spring back to the touch.
- Wait until the cupcakes are fully cooled before frosting.
- Have an exit strategy for the cupcakes, because trust me, you may find yourself powerless to resist their charms, and I don’t know about you, but having 24 cupcakes staring at me is a very serious situation.
Make-Ahead Tip: The cupcakes can be made, cooled, and frosted up to a day in advance. If doing so, store in the refrigerator, lightly covered (so the frosting doesn’t get smashed). Take them out an hour or so before serving to take the chill off a bit.
After lots of testing, I can say these really are the best pumpkin cupcakes ever! Perfectly spiced, perfectly fluffy, perfectly frosted. A delicious, quintessential fall dessert, they would be amazing served anywhere from afternoon snacks (who, me?) to Halloween treats to Thanksgiving dessert lineup. Enjoy!
Pumpkin Cupcakes with Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
Pumpkin Cupcakes:
- 15-ounce can (425 g) pumpkin puree
- 1 cup (212 g) brown sugar
- ¾ cup (155 g) neutral-flavored oil
- ½ cup (106 g) granulated sugar
- 3 large (150 g) eggs
- 2 large (45 g) egg yolks
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 ¾ cups (249 g) all-purpose flour
Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 8 ounces (226 g) cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- ½ cup (113 g) butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 tablespoon sour cream
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 ¾ cups (428 g) powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two 12-cup muffin tins with paper liners. Set aside.
- For the cupcakes, in a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, brown sugar, oil, granulated sugar, eggs, egg yolks and vanilla until very smooth.
- Add the baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, baking soda, salt, allspice and cloves and whisk until very smooth and the spices are evenly combined into the batter.
- Add the flour and mix until no dry streaks remain. Don't over mix.
- Fill the muffin cups 1/2 (or just over halfway) with batter. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes until tops of the cupcakes spring back lightly to the touch.
- Remove the cupcakes from the tin to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- For the frosting, in a large bowl with a handheld mixer or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the cream cheese and butter. Mix on low speed until combined. Increase the speed to medium and mix for another minute or so, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Add the sour cream and vanilla and mix until well-combined.
- Add the powdered sugar and mix on low speed until mostly incorporated. Increase the speed to medium and continue mixing another 1 to 2 minutes until the frosting is light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Frost the cupcakes, as desired. Sprinkle with a very light dusting of cinnamon, if desired (see note).
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe