All the spice and sweetness of pumpkin pie is wrapped up in these cupcakes. A tangy buttermilk icing gives them a grown-up touch, but they’d also be great with cream cheese frosting if you’ve got a real sweet tooth. For more easy fall-inspired treats, try our apple crisp recipe.
What to buy: Make sure to pick up puréed pumpkin and not pumpkin pie filling.
Game plan: These cupcakes are best the day they are made.
- Yield: 30 cupcakes
- Difficulty: Easy
- Total: 1 hr 10 mins
- Active: 35 mins
Ingredients (15)
- 4 cups cake flour
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 2 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 cups canned pumpkin purée (not pumpkin pie filling)
- 1 cup whole milk
- 2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 cups packed light brown sugar
- 4 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Buttermilk Icing (see link in recipe intro)
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 350°F and arrange the rack in the middle. Line muffin pans with cupcake liners. Sift together dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
- Whisk together pumpkin and milk in a separate bowl and set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar on high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
- Add eggs one at a time, beating and then scraping the bowl down after each addition. Add vanilla and beat until smooth. Add dry ingredients in three batches, alternating with pumpkin-milk mixture, mixing on low speed, and scraping the bowl down between additions. When all ingredients have been added, mix batter 30 seconds on medium-high speed until uniformly combined.
- Fill the cupcake liners 3/4 full with batter and bake until a tester inserted in cupcake centers comes out clean, about 18 to 20 minutes.
- Remove cupcakes from the oven and allow to cool 5 minutes before removing from the pans. Let cool completely on a rack, decorate with icing, and serve.