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

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.