Description
These moist chocolate pumpkin cupcakes combine rich black cocoa with warm pumpkin spice, topped with a luscious pumpkin cream cheese frosting that’s perfect for fall celebrations.
Ingredients
For the Cupcakes:
- 1⁄4 cup butter (soft, not melted)
- 3⁄4 cup sugar
- 1 egg + 1 egg yolk (leave them out for an hour)
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1⁄4 cup milk (not cold)
- 1⁄4 cup sour cream (also not cold)
- 1⁄2 cup pumpkin from a can
- 1 cup flour
- 1⁄4 cup + 2 tbsp black cocoa (or regular, whatever)
- 21⁄2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1⁄2 tsp baking powder
- 1⁄2 tsp baking soda
- 1⁄4 tsp salt
For the Frosting:
- 1⁄2 cup pumpkin (you’ll cook this down to 1⁄4 cup)
- 1 cup butter (soft)
- 4 oz cream cheese (cold is fine)
- 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 3 cups powdered sugar
Substitutions: No black cocoa? Regular cocoa works, just won’t look as dark. Missing pumpkin pie spice? Dump in some cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg – I never measure this stuff anyway.
Instructions
- Heat your oven to 350°F and put liners in your muffin tin. I always forget this step and then have to wait around.
- Beat butter and sugar until it looks fluffy and pale. Takes maybe 4 minutes with my old mixer. Don’t rush this part – it matters.
- Add eggs and vanilla and beat until everything looks smooth and creamy. If it looks weird, just keep beating.
- Mix in milk, sour cream, and pumpkin until combined. It might look chunky but that’s fine.
- In another bowl, whisk flour, cocoa, spices, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Make sure you get all the cocoa lumps out.
- Dump dry ingredients into wet and fold together gently. Stop as soon as you don’t see flour streaks – overmixing makes tough cupcakes.
- Scoop batter into liners about 3/4 full. I use an ice cream scoop because it’s easier than spooning.
- Bake 17-19 minutes until toothpick comes out mostly clean. Don’t open the oven door before 15 minutes or they’ll sink.
- Cool completely before frosting. I mean it – warm cupcakes will melt your frosting and you’ll hate yourself.
For the frosting: 10. Pat pumpkin puree with paper towels to soak up water. This is annoying but necessary.
- Beat butter for like 8 minutes until it’s really fluffy. Your arm will hurt if you’re using a hand mixer.
- Add cream cheese, pumpkin, and spices and beat until smooth.
- Add powdered sugar gradually until it’s thick enough to pipe but not concrete-hard.
- Pipe or spread on cooled cupcakes however you want. I’m not the frosting police.
Notes
Room temperature ingredients aren’t just a suggestion – cold butter and eggs will give you lumpy, gross batter. I used to try shortcuts and always regretted it. Now I just set everything out while I drink my morning coffee.
Don’t overfill those liners! I thought bigger was better until I had cupcake batter all over my oven and lopsided disasters. Three-quarters full, that’s it.
The cooking time varies depending on your oven, which probably runs hot or cold like mine does. Start checking at 17 minutes but don’t open the door before then or they’ll collapse.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cupcake
- Calories: 385 per cupcake
- Sugar: 42g
- Sodium: 185mg
- Fat: 16g
- Saturated Fat: 10g
- Unsaturated Fat: 5g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 58g
- Fiber: 3g
- Protein: 5g
- Cholesterol: 65mg