Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes

Pumpkin spice cupcakes are moist and delicious, the perfect fall dessert. A moist pumpkin spice cupcake swirled with cream cheese frosting, these cupcakes will get you in the mood for PSLs, apple picking, and sweatshirts! The perfect pumpkin cupcake recipe packed with pumpkin flavor.

Ingredients for Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes

Pumpkin spice cupcakes

• All-purpose flour – To measure correctly, first fluff the flour before you scoop and level the measuring cup.
• Granulated sugar – For sweetness.
• Baking powder – Leavening agent to help the cupcakes rise and puff up.
• Salt – Enhances the flavor and contrasts the sweetness of the cupcakes.
• Pumpkin pie spice – A combination of ground cinnamon, ground ginger, ground nutmeg, ground cloves, and ground allspice. Check out this blog post on how to make your own pumpkin pie spice or you can purchase pumpkin pie spice premade!
• Milk – Room temperature.
• Vegetable oil – You can also use canola oil or another neutral baking oil.
• Egg – Large egg, room temperature.
• Vanilla extract – Pure vanilla extract adds a great underlying vanilla flavor.
• Pumpkin puree – Canned pumpkin puree. The only ingredient should be pumpkin. Avoid using pumpkin pie filling as it will not work in this recipe.

Cream cheese frosting

• Unsalted butter – Room temperature for easy creaming.
• Cream cheese – Room temperature to combine well with the butter.
• Powdered sugar – You only need to sift the powdered sugar if it is lumpy.
• Vanilla extract – Pure vanilla extract adds amazing vanilla flavor.
• Salt – A pinch of salt enhances the flavor and provides some contrast to the sweetness.

How to Make Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line a cupcake pan with 12 cupcake liners.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, salt, and pumpkin pie spice.
3. Add in pumpkin puree, milk, vegetable oil, egg, and vanilla extract to the flour mixture. Whisk until well combined with the dry ingredients, but do not overmix or the cupcakes will become tough and chewy.
4. Portion the cupcake batter into the cupcake liners, filling about 3/4 full. Use a large cookie scoop for even cupcakes.
5. Bake the cupcakes for approximately 20 minutes or until the cupcakes bounce back when gently touched or an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
6. Allow the cupcakes to cool in the pan for a few minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

How to Make Cream Cheese Frosting

To make the cream cheese frosting, you will need a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment or an electric hand mixer. There are only 5 ingredients and the frosting only takes a few minutes to make.

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, combine unsalted butter and cream cheese. Whip for 2 to 3 minutes on medium speed until smooth.
2. Add in the powdered sugar in two batches, mixing on low speed in between each addition.
3. Add in the vanilla extract and salt and continue to mix. Scrape the sides of the bowl as needed.
4. Whip the frosting for an additional 2 to 3 minutes on medium-high speed until smooth, light, and fluffy.

Frosting the Cupcakes

To frost the cupcakes as shown in the pictures, you will need a piping bag fitted with a Wilton 1M piping tip. For these cupcakes, I created a simple “ice cream swirl” style. Check out this video on how to pipe a basic buttercream swirl. After the cupcakes are frosted, sprinkle on a tiny bit of pumpkin pie spice for decoration and additional flavor. Place a little pumpkin pie spice in a small fine mesh sieve and gently sprinkle over the top of the cream cheese frosting.

If you want to add extra cinnamon flavor, try out my recipe for cinnamon cream cheese frosting!