Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Cinnamon Buttercream

These pumpkin spice cupcakes with cinnamon buttercream are a classic seasonal dessert. I modified this recipe from Half Baked Harvest’s vanilla chai pumpkin cupcakes, I wanted her tender moist cupcake but more of a pumpkin spice flavor instead of chai. Fall is my favorite season, and I go a little crazy with all the pumpkin flavor things.

Why you’ll love this recipe:

This recipe is so easy to whip up and is made with ingredients you already have at home. This recipe is absolutely perfect to fill that autumn, all things pumpkin craving. The pumpkin makes them so smooth and dense, while the warm spices highlight the pumpkin flavor. Topped generously with a cinnamon swirled butter-rich frosting, it is just one of the best fall-inspired recipes you’ll find. 

What you need for the cupcakes:

• 1/2 cup melted coconut oil
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice (recipe below)
• 2 eggs (room temperature)
• 1 1/2 cups pure pumpkin puree (be sure it’s not pumpkin pie filling)
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• cupcake liners

If you don’t have any pumpkin spice mix, you can make your own. (you won’t use it all for this recipe)

You need the following spices:

• 3 tbls ground cinnamon
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 2 tsp nutmeg
• 1 1/2 tsp all spice
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cloves

To make the pumpkin spice cupcakes:

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
• In a medium bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together the eggs, pumpkin, melted coconut oil, brown sugar and vanilla.
• In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients together: the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin pie spice. 
• Then add the flour mixture to the wet ingredient mixture. 
• Mix until smooth.
• Line cupcake trays with 16 paper liners.
• Using a cookie scoop, fill liners 2/3 full.
• Place the cupcake trays into the preheated oven for 18-20 minutes until the tops are set. Remove and cool.

What you need for Cinnamon Buttercream:

• 1 stick of butter (room temperature)
• 3 tablespoons heavy cream
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 cups powdered sugar

How to make this dreamy frosting:

I’m not kidding, I could eat this with a spoon as if it were ice cream.

1. Beat the butter with the paddle attachment until it’s smooth and light.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients, the heavy cream, vanilla, cinnamon and powdered sugar. Add extra heavy cream if you feel it’s not soft enough to spread. 

how to decorate:

To frost the cupcakes as shown in the pictures, you will need:

•  piping bag 
• decorative tip like the Wilton 1A or the Wilton IM
• white sugar mixed with a little bit of cinnamon
• cinnamon stick

1. Cut the tip off your piping bag and insert your tip so it is snugly in there. 
2. Fill bag 2/3 with buttercream. 
3. Twist the end of the bag shut and create a simple ice cream style swirl starting in the center of the cupcake, swirl your way to the outer edge, then come back up the layer into the center again. It’s hard typing out instructions for what I’m envisioning at this moment, lol. 
4. After the cupcakes are frosted, sprinkle on some cinnamon sugar for decoration.

Other decoration options:

Another dusting option would be taking espresso powder and placing it into a small fine mesh sieve and gently sprinkling the lightest dusting over the frosting. 

Sticking a cinnamon stick in the buttercream gives them such a pretty fall vibe. 

Tips on baking the best cupcakes:

• Follow the recipe. Sounds obvious, right? I am the biggest substite-er when it comes to recipes, if I don’t have one thing I quick google a substitute. But with baking I’ve found that it’s more of a science that needs to be followed. If you wish to switch out ingredients, I recommend first making the recipe as it is, and next time make alterations as you see fit. That way if they don’t turn out you’ll know if it’s the recipe or the alteration. 
• Use room temperature ingredients. This isn’t just pasted next to ingredients for fun. Room temperature ingredients bond together much easier since they’re warmer, creating a seamless and evenly textured batter. Cold ingredients just don’t incorporate as well. This results in clumpy frosting, and sometimes flat cupcakes. 
• Don’t under-mix, don’t over-mix. Make sure you’re just mixing the batter until the dry and wet ingredients are combined. Overmixing batter results in a tough-textured cupcake. And obviously, we don’t want to undermix the cupcake batter. 

How to store:

These cupcakes will keep in the fridge for 5 days. Store them in an airtight container. They also freeze perfectly. Just make sure to thaw them in the fridge, otherwise the buttercream sweats and it will have droplets of moisture.

Other pumpkin recipes you will love:

Pumpkin bundt cake

Sourdough Baked Pumpkin Donuts

Caramel Pecan Pumpkin Cheesecake

Try these other delicious pumpkin recipes:

http://pumpkin bundt cake

http://sourdough baked pumpkin donuts