Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes
Pumpkin spice cupcakes are the perfect fall dessert. These cupcakes are made with moist and fluffy pumpkin spice cupcakes and swirled with sweet and tangy cream cheese frosting. The best pumpkin cupcake recipe!
Ingredients for Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes
Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes
- All-purpose flour
- Granulated sugar
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Pumpkin pie spice – A mixture of ground cinnamon, ground ginger, ground nutmeg, ground cloves, and ground allspice. Use store-bought or make your own!
- Milk – Room temperature.
- Vegetable oil – Use your favorite neutral baking oil.
- Egg – Large egg, room temperature.
- Vanilla extract – Pure vanilla extract adds a great underlying vanilla flavor.
- Pumpkin puree – Canned 100% pumpkin puree. The only ingredient should be pumpkin.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- Unsalted butter – Room temperature.
- Cream cheese – Room temperature.
- Powdered sugar – Confectioners’ sugar/icing sugar.
- Vanilla extract – Pure vanilla extract adds amazing vanilla flavor.
- Salt – A pinch of salt contrasts the sweetness of the frosting.
How to Make Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes
- Prep and preheat: Preheat the oven to 350℉ (177℃). Line a cupcake pan with 12 cupcake liners.
- Make the cupcake batter: Whisk together the all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, and salt. Add the pumpkin puree, milk, vegetable oil, egg, and vanilla extract and whisk until combined and smooth.
- Bake the cupcakes: Portion the cupcake batter into the paper liners using a large cookie scoop (about 3/4 full). Bake the cupcakes for 20 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Make the cream cheese frosting: Whip the unsalted butter and cream cheese until light and creamy. Add the powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and salt and mix on low speed to combine. Whip the frosting for 2 to 3 minutes until smooth and creamy.
- Assemble the cupcakes: Fill a piping bag fitted with a Wilton 1M piping tip with the cream cheese frosting. Pipe a generous swirl of the frosting onto the cupcakes. Decorate the cupcakes with additional pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon sticks, if desired.
Recipe Tips
- Check out my baking tips blog posts on 10 Tips for Baking Perfect Cupcakes and 10 Tips for Making Perfect Buttercream to learn simple tips and tricks to make the most out of this recipe.
- Be sure to use 100% pure canned pumpkin for this recipe. Do not use pumpkin pie filling.
- Check out my post on how to make your own pumpkin pie spice.
Frequently Asked Questions
How should I store the cupcakes?
- Store the cupcakes in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 days. Serve the cupcakes at room temperature for the best taste and texture.
Can I make this into a cake?
- I recommend checking out my recipe for pumpkin cake! It is a very similar recipe that is specifically formulated to make a cake.
Can I replace the pumpkin pie spice with cinnamon?
- Yes! If you are fresh out of pumpkin pie spice, you can absolutely just use cinnamon.
Other Pumpkin Spice Recipes You Will Love
- Pumpkin Biscoff cupcakes
- Mini pumpkin spice cheesecakes
- Pumpkin spice latte cupcakes
- Pumpkin cake
- Salted caramel pumpkin cupcakes
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Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes
Yield: 12 cupcakes
Pumpkin spice cupcakes are the perfect fall dessert. These cupcakes are made with moist and fluffy pumpkin spice cupcakes and swirled with sweet and tangy cream cheese frosting. The best pumpkin cupcake recipe!
Equipment
Ingredients
Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes
- 1 ¼ cups (156 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- 1 ½ tsp (6 g) baking powder
- 1 ½ tsp (3 g) pumpkin pie spice
- ½ tsp (3 g) salt
- ¾ cup (184 g) pumpkin puree
- ½ cup (118 ml) milk room temperature
- ¼ cup (59 ml) vegetable oil
- 1 (1) large egg room temperature
- 2 tsp (8 g) vanilla extract
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1 cup (227 g) unsalted butter room temperature
- 4 oz (113 g) cream cheese room temperature
- 3 ½ cups (420 g) powdered sugar
- 2 tsp (8 g) vanilla extract
- ½ tsp (3 g) salt
Instructions
Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350℉ (177℃). Line a cupcake pan with 12 cupcake liners.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice and salt. Add in the pumpkin puree, milk, vegetable oil, egg, and vanilla extract. Whisk until the ingredients are well combined and the cupcake batter is smooth.
- Portion the cupcake batter into the cupcake liners using a large cookie scoop about ¾ full.
- Bake the cupcakes for 20 minutes or until the tops of the cupcakes bounce back when gently touched. Cool the cupcakes in the pan for 2 minutes and then transfer the cupcakes to a wire rack to cool completely.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or in a large mixing bowl with an electric hand mixer, cream the unsalted butter and cream cheese for about 5 minutes until it is light and creamy.
- Add the powdered sugar and mix on low speed until fully combined. Add in the vanilla extract and salt and mix well. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
- Turn the mixer to medium speed and whip the frosting for 2 to 3 minutes until it is smooth and creamy. Turn the mixer to the lowest speed and mix the frosting for several minutes to smooth out the frosting.
Assembling the Cupcakes
- Fill a piping bag fitted with a Wilton 1M piping tip with the cream cheese frosting. Pipe a generous swirl of frosting onto the cupcakes. Sprinkle the cupcakes with additional pumpkin pie spice and decorate with cinnamon sticks, if desired.
Notes
- Store the cupcakes in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 days. Serve the cupcakes at room temperature for the best taste and texture.
Made This Recipe?
Please leave a comment with a star rating to let me know how you enjoyed the recipe!
About Courtney
Baker | 80s Lover | Cookbook Author
Courtney is a self-taught home baker and cookbook author of “Girls Just Wanna Bake Cupcakes”. She loves to create new and unique recipes while simultaneously listening to 80s music.
Hi my dear,
Today I tryed your recepy pumking spice cupcakes and they are best one I have eated. Georgeos!
Hi Brigitte! So glad you loved these cupcakes! Thank you for trying the recipe!
can this be made into a cake ?
I have a recipe for pumpkin spice cake on my blog! I recommend checking that out! Sometimes, cupcake recipes do not translate well to cakes!
I make these cupcake for a get together event and they were delicious!. We all enjoyed them a lot. They are easy to made. I already did others recipes (Raspberry lemon cupcake, Lemon Cupcake with Blackberry buttercream) and they all are LOVELY and AMAZING! I have my own small bakery business and I start using some of your recipes. Thank you!
Maria, I am so happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe! Thanks so much for trying some of my other cupcake recipes! That’s amazing about your baking business! I’m honored that you use some of my recipes! Thanks for the positive review and comment! 🙂
Made these cupcakes for coworkers and everyone loved them. Made them twice now and each time the cake turns out perfectly. I love that they’re not overly sweet. They’re super moist and easy to make.
Thank you so much for trying out the recipe! I am thrilled to hear that you enjoyed it enough to make it more than once! 🙂
SUPER easy recipe to follow! These were so quick and easy to make and they smell DELICIOUS! I haven’t tried them yet but my step mom just ate one and she said it is amazing ! Can’t wait to try them tomorrow. The batter was the perfect amount for 12 cupcakes, but I ended up with a lot of left over icing which worked out perfectly because I plan on making another batch of these cupcakes tomorrow so in the fridge it goes!
Amazing! Thank you for trying the recipe! These are a personal favorite of mine! Extra icing is never a bad thing! 🙂
Can I make my own pumpkin purée? Would I have to reduce some of the liquid off of it first?
Hey there! You certainly can, however, that is not something I have personally done! I would imagine that you would need to drain or absorb excess moisture before adding to the recipe!
These cupcakes are so yummy! So soft and cream cheese frosting was sweet and slightly tangy which is perfect if you don’t like overly sweet frostings! Makes anyone who doesn’t usually like pumpkin , LOVE this !
Thank you so much for trying this recipe! I’m so glad to hear that you enjoyed!
These are AMAZING!! Everyone at work LOVED them!!! Thank you!!
Thank you for trying the recipe! I am so happy to hear they were enjoyed!!