It’s pumpkin season! Fall is my favorite time of year, and lately I’ve been cooking and baking a lot with pumpkin. Besides these cupcakes, I’ve also made pumpkin scones and winter squash soup, and there are many more pumpkiny things on my “to-make” list. These cupcakes were fabulous! They were light and fluffy and full of the flavors of pumpkin and spices. The spices included in the batter are cinnamon, ginger, allspice, and nutmeg – together these 4 spices comprise what is simply referred to as “pumpkin pie spice.”
I made half of the cupcakes with pecans, and half without, to compare. Both Eric and I agreed that the ones with pecans were much better. They added flavor and crunch to the cupcakes. These cupcakes are great served for breakfast, dessert, or even a snack– (trust me; we kept going back for seconds – and thirds! all day long). I think these cupcakes would also be wonderful baked with a streusel topping of chopped pecans, brown sugar, cinnamon, flour, and butter – which essentially would turn them into muffins.
For the frosting, I used cinnamon-whipped cream, but they would also be great with cinnamon butter cream or cream cheese frosting. And for a cute and festive touch, I garnished the cupcakes with a candy corn. Enjoy!
(I will post the recipe for the cinnamon-whipped cream tomorrow).
Pumpkin Pecan Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- ¼ tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- ½ tsp. ground ginger
- ½ tsp. ground allspice
- ¼ tsp. nutmeg (freshly grated if possible)
- 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
- 1 cup sugar
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup chopped pecans (optional, but really add a nice flavor and texture)
Directions
- In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices.
- In another large bowl whisk pumpkin, sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla.
- Add the flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture and stir until completely combined.
- Stir in the chopped pecans.
- Scoop batter into cupcake pan, lined with paper liners. Fill cups about 3/4 full. This batter perfectly makes 12 standard sized cupcakes.
- Bake in a preheated oven at 350 (F) degrees for 22-24 minutes.
- Let the cupcakes cool in the pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Then transfer cupcakes to the wire rack and let cool completely.
Yield: 12 cupcakes
Source: Glorious Treats Blog; Originally adapted from the cookbook Cupcakes by Shelly Kaldunski
Looking for other delicious cupcake recipes? Try these:
Mocha Cupcakes with Espresso Buttercream Frosting
Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Fudge Frosting
Oreo Cookie Cupcakes
White Cupcakes
Chocolate Chip Cookie Cupcakes
Those pumpkin cupcakes look delicious, and perfect for fall!