Pumpkin Cupcakes Recipe

I know that I’ve said it before, but I’m going to say it again, fall is my favorite season!  Although living in Phoenix we don’t see much of it here, I love the fall colors.  And of course, you can’t beat all the delicious fall baked goodies!  I love trying out new recipes and food ideas during this time of year.  And I don’t hear much complaining from the neighbors who get to sample all the yumminess when I make too much.  Which is EVERY.SINGLE.TIME. 🙂  This pumpkin cupcakes recipe is just that.  A new recipe that I wanted to try, not just for the cute decorations, but because the cupcakes themselves are pumpkin!!

I found these cute paper cups at a party shop, but you could use just plain orange too.  Once your cupcakes are baked and cooled, it’s time to decorate!  I used a big ice cream scoop (about 1/4 cup) to scoop my frosting.  I used my cinnamon cream cheese frosting for these cupcakes.  It goes so well with the pumpkin.  I placed one scoop of frosting onto each cupcake.  I use about 1/4 cup or 3-4 TBL cookie scoop for this. Then I poured some orange sugar crystals into a bowl and carefully turned the cupcake upside down or on it’s side and rolled the frosting into the crystal until all the frosting was coated.  It takes a gentle hand to do this or your cupcakes will look more flat than round on the top.

Here’s a tip: once the frosting is entirely coated with crystals, it won’t stick to your fingers if you need to help shape it a little bit on top.

Once the frosting is coated with the sugar crystals, I used broken pretzel pieces for the stems.  Am I the only one that loves all those crazy stems on real pumpkins?.  I used pretzel pieces because they reminded me of those stems.

I wanted the tops of the cupcakes to look like pumpkins so I used the side of a toothpick to make the score marks along the top.

Yield: 18 - 24 cupcakes

Pumpkin Cupcakes Recipe

Print

Soft and moist pumpkin cupcakes recipe with pumpkin spice goodness

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 40 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 white box cake mix
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup oil
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

Instructions

1. Mix all ingredients together until well combined.
2. Pour batter into cupcake liners. (1/2 to 2/3 full)
3. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 - 22 minutes.

I sure hope you give this pumpkin cupcakes recipe a try.  They will be a hit at your next Halloween or even Fall get together.  You know how much I love party food!  You could add some chocolate chips to make it a jack-o-lantern if you wanted.  They turned out just how I had envisioned them.

Happy Baking!

Liz

This recipe was originally shared as a guest post at Skip to My Lou, Oct. 3, 2015.

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Here are some other fall party recipes you might like!

Candy Corn Pretzel Rods

Cranberry Apple Fizz

Apple Pudding Cake