Date Published: Feb 8th, 2021 | Last Updated: Feb 8th, 2021
Author: Abby |Category: dessert
Serves: 24 cupcakes | Prep time: 20 mins | Cook time: 20 mins

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Pumpkin spice is all the rage back home especially in the autumn season – and for good reason! It’s a mix of warm spices that usually includes cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice that just seems to comfort you on a cold day. In Canada I would often get a pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks early in the morning and head out on an autumn hike enjoying the leaves change colour while sipping on my latte – it was the perfect combination. You can put pumpkin spice in just about anything: scones, lattés, whipped cream, cakes, cookies, and….. cupcakes! I’ve even seen them incorporated into dog treats (no idea why). These cupcakes are delicious on their own as a moist fluffy pumpkin cake (similar to a carrot cake) paired with a coffee, or if you’ve got a sweet tooth it’s even better topped with the cinnamon cream cheese frosting. You can choose to bake these as cupcakes in a muffin pan as I have in this recipe or put it in a bundt cake pan or cake pan and bake it as an entire cake and top it with the frosting to make it a little fancier for afternoon tea.

These cupcakes turn out fluffy and moist every time – the secret is using vegetable oil instead of butter!

This recipe is adapted from AllRecipes. I’ve halved the sugar from the original recipe because the cinnamon frosting is quite sweet on its own and is more than enough sweetness when paired together. If you’re making this as a cake on its own without the frosting, feel free to add in a little extra sugar (I’d increase the white sugar from 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup). When I make this recipe, I usually buy the pre-made pumpkin spice mix from Clubhouse but you could just as easily make it yourself in a big batch (see recipe below). Unlike North America, canned pumpkin purée is actually very difficult to find in Australia so if you can’t find any in your local shops, you can make it yourself by baking your pumpkin in the oven with some olive oil until soft, peel it, and mash it up.

Anyways, without further ado, here’s the recipe! If you have any comments or suggestions, I’d love to hear from you in the comment section! You can follow me on instagram, youtube and facebook to see all the recipes I post!

Happy cooking!

Ingredients you’ll need:

• Dry Ingredients:
  • 2 1/4 cups (400g) all-purpose flour
  • 3 tsp pumpkin spice
    • If you don’t have pumpkin spice:
      • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
      • 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
      • 1/2 tsp ground ginger
      • 1/2 tsp ground cloves
      • 1/2 tsp ground allspice
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 Tbsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
• Wet Ingredients:
  • 1/2 cup (160g) vegetable oil
  • 1/2 cup (115g) white sugar
  • 1/3 cup (78g) brown sugar (or 1/3 cup white sugar + 1 tsp molasses)
  • 2 eggs, room temperature
  • 3/4 cup milk
  • 1.5 cups (420g) pumpkin puree

• Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting:
  • 1 (226g/8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
  • 1/4 cup (57g) butter, softened
  • 3 cups (400g) icing sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon

Directions:

(If you don’t have canned pumpkin puree, cook your pumpkin in the oven and put it in the blender as step #1)

Mix together the dry ingredients: flour, pumpkin spice, salt, baking powder, and baking soda; set aside.

Preheat the oven to 375˚F (190˚C).

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In a separate large bowl, combine your wet ingredients: vegetable oil, white sugar, and brown sugar. Add the room-temperature eggs one at a time, allowing each egg to blend into the butter mixture before adding the next. Stir in the milk and pumpkin puree after the last egg.

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Gradually add the dry ingredients into the batter one cup at a time while mixing. Allow the ingredients to mix together before adding the next cup. Once you’ve incorporated all the dry ingredients to the wet, your batter is ready for the oven!

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Line your muffin tray with liners, or grease them if you’re not using liners. Pour the batter into the prepared muffin cups and bake in the preheated oven until golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the middle (about 15-20 minutes). Cool in the muffin pan for 5 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.

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While the cupcakes are cooling, make the frosting by beating the cream cheese and butter together until smooth. Add in the vanilla extract and ground cinnamon. Beat in the icing sugar a little at a time until incorporated. Spoon the frosting into piping bags and frost the cupcakes once they’re cooled. Done!

*Tip: If you find your frosting a little running, refrigerate it for 20mins and it should firm up.

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Summarized Recipe: