Cupcakes

 Maple Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

Super soft and moist maple pumpkin cupcakes with warm spice and maple flavors and sweet cinnamon cream cheese frosting on top! All the best parts of winter are served in the form of cupcakes!

Simple pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting

These maple pumpkin cupcakes are based on my very delicious pumpkin dream cakes. I divided the cake recipe into thirds and halved the icing. The result is 10 perfect cupcakes!

After that, I added some maple flavor to this pumpkin cake masterpiece—plus sweet cinnamon cream cheese frosting—and it’s safe to say that this cupcake is the best part of autumn.

The bottom of this cupcake is a soft and moist pumpkin cake, with warm spices and a touch of maple. The cream cheese frosting is light, sweet, and fluffy, with a hint of cinnamon and maple! You can't go wrong with these perfect pumpkin cupcakes!

If you don’t have pumpkin spice but want to make it, here is a simple recipe that you can make with spice at home:

DIY pumpkin pie spice：

4 teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons minced ginger

1 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground five-spice powder

Mix all the ingredients together. This recipe can make a little more than 2 tablespoons of pumpkin pie spice.

You can double or triple the recipe and save it as any other wonderful autumn recipe, or even sprinkle it on your morning coffee!

what do you need

Collect these ingredients to start:

Pumpkin cupcakes:

All-purpose flour

baking soda

Pumpkin pie spice: if you want a stronger spiced spice, you can adjust the amount 🙂

Salt

Unsalted butter: make sure to let it soften before using.

granulated sugar

Egg

Vanilla extract

Imitation maple syrup extract: optional!

Pumpkin puree: not pumpkin pie filling

Vegetable oil

Milk: Any kind of milk will do!

Cinnamon cream cheese frosting:

Cream cheese: Let it soften before using it.

Unsalted butter

Vanilla extract

Cinnamon

Powdered sugar

Pumpkin cupcake batter in a glass bowl.

Put the pumpkin cake batter in the cake pan.

 

How to make pumpkin cupcakes？

Preheat: Preheat the oven to 300°F. Align the standard muffin tin with the paper liner. Set aside.

Mix: In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice and salt. Set aside.

Mix: In a large bowl/stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar cream until fluffy. Beat in the eggs, then add vanilla, maple, pumpkin and vegetable oil. Stir the flour mixture alternately with milk.

Baking: Divide the batter into cupcake tins and fill 3/4 full. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake is clean. Cool cupcakes on a wire rack.

Bake the pumpkin cake on the cooling rack.

How to make cream cheese frosting

Mix: In a large bowl, whisk cream butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add vanilla and cinnamon. Add the confectionery sugar and stir on low speed until combined, then high speed until the frosting is smooth.

Frost: Spread the cupcakes on the cupcakes with your favorite tip and serve! Optional: For decoration, I sprinkle cinnamon sugar on top.

Pumpkin cake with cinnamon cream cheese frosting.

Decoration tips!

Here are some tips to help you frost your cupcakes:

The easiest way: After the cupcakes have cooled, take a butter knife and spread a layer of frosting on the top of the cupcakes.

Tube icing: Use a frosting/pastry bag and use your favorite tube tip (similar to an open star 1M tip) to pipe the icing onto the cupcakes.

Chilled icing: Cream cheese frosting is easier to handle after chilling in the refrigerator for a while.

There are candy pumpkins on the top: because they are so cute!

How to make and store pumpkin cupcakes ahead of time

If you want, you can make these cupcakes in advance. After baking, let them cool down, and then store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

The frosting can also be made in advance, and you also want to put it in the refrigerator. I suggest you put this dessert together in two days...if you can wait that long!

These pumpkin cupcakes can be stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container for 2-3 days, and the unfrosted cupcakes can be stored in the refrigerator for 1-2 months. Before freezing them, make sure to thaw them in the refrigerator overnight.

Tips for making the best pumpkin cupcakes：

Don't overbake! The worst thing you can do with these cupcakes is to overbake them. They will become dry and hard, instead of the soft and moist pumpkin cupcakes you've always dreamed of.

Use some kind of spice! Using pumpkin pie spice or even cinnamon will take these pumpkin cupcakes to the next level. The added spices warm up the cake and make the taste sing!

Make sure your butter is softened. You don't want to use hard butter in cupcake batter or frosting. It will not combine smoothly and will leave butter spots. In a pinch, in order to soften the butter faster, grind it with a cheese grater!