Description
Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting are a cozy, crowd-pleasing fall dessert. Packed with warm spices and real pumpkin, they’re soft, fluffy, and incredibly easy to make. Topped with a rich cinnamon-spiced cream cheese frosting, each bite tastes like autumn in cupcake form. Ideal for Thanksgiving, Halloween, or any chilly afternoon treat.
Ingredients
Cupcakes:
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- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
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- 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
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- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
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- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
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- 1 teaspoon baking powder
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- ½ teaspoon baking soda
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- ¼ teaspoon salt
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- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
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- ¾ cup granulated sugar
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- ½ cup packed brown sugar
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- 2 large eggs
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- 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
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- ¾ cup pure pumpkin purée
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- ⅓ cup milk
Frosting:
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- ⅔ cup unsalted butter, softened
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- 6 oz cream cheese, softened
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- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
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- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
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- 3 to 3½ cups powdered sugar
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- 1 to 2 tablespoons heavy cream
Instructions
1. Get Ready Oven to 350°F. Line your muffin tin. I forgot this step once and had to scrape cupcakes out with a spoon.
2. Dry Stuff Whisk flour, all the spices, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Make sure there aren’t any lumps.
3. Wet Stuff Mix oil with both sugars until combined. Add eggs one at a time, then vanilla, pumpkin, and milk. Should look orange and smooth.
4. Mix Together Fold dry ingredients into wet stuff until just combined. Don’t overmix – few lumps are fine.
5. Bake Fill cupcake liners about ¾ full. Bake 16-20 minutes until toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely.
6. Frosting Beat butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add cinnamon and vanilla. Gradually add powdered sugar. Add cream if needed.
7. Frost Spread or pipe frosting on cooled cupcakes. I just use a butter knife most of the time.
Notes
Use real pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling. I made that mistake once and they were way too sweet and had this weird artificial taste. The can should just say “pumpkin” on it. Also, squeeze your spices between your fingers before measuring – if they don’t smell strong, replace them. Old spices make everything taste like cardboard.
If your frosting looks lumpy, your cream cheese wasn’t soft enough. You can try warming it in the microwave for 10 seconds, but honestly, it’s easier to just start over with properly softened ingredients. Been there, done that, learned my lesson.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cupcake (with frosting)
- Calories: 310
- Sugar: 28g
- Sodium: 210mg
- Fat: 15g
- Saturated Fat: 8g
- Unsaturated Fat: 6g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 40g
- Fiber: 1g
- Protein: 3g
- Cholesterol: 45mg