It is that time of year again…autumn. The time for warm spices and pumpkins which together means Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes! At the farmers market this weekend I bought a really beautiful pie pumpkin and the farmer assured me it was a very sweet variety. Instead of peeling and cubing and boiling the pumpkin I simply cut it in half, removed the seeds and put if cut side down on a parchment lined baking sheet and baked it for 90 minutes. Then after letting it cool I scooped out the flesh – cooked pumpkin ready to go! That one little pumpkin gave me 6 cups of cooked pumpkin- amazing and it was only $4.
My cousin was going to be dropping by to pick up a few things we had donated to her farm and it was her birthday so cupcakes were definitely the right thing to make with this yummy sweet pumpkin. The house smelled as if I was baking pumpkin pie, but no pie crust in sight. The cupcakes turned out nice and fluffy and not at all heavy. They are very tasty even without the frosting but that would be tad boring.
So the next big decision – what kind of frosting to use? I was going to make my Vanilla frosting but the changed my mind and thought that the Maple Frosting would be a better match. But really either would have been fantastic. Now this recipe makes 24 cupcakes which is the perfect amount for sharing, but you could also 1/2 the amounts and make 12- but that would be a little tight for sharing in my opinion. Bring on fall and pumpkin recipes – more to come!
- 2⅔ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- 1½ cup canned/cooked pumpkin
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar
- ¾ cup vegetable oil
- 4 eggs
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2- 12-cup muffin pans with paper liners; set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, both sugars and the vegetable oil. Use a spatula to mash up any chunks of brown sugar so no lumps remain.
- Add in the eggs and whisk until smooth. Add the flour mixture whisking until smooth again.
- Divide the batter between the baking cups, filling each about two-thirds full. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean, 15 to 20 minutes. Allow to cool in the pan for 5 to 10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack.
- Let cupcakes cool then frost with your favourite frosting.