It’s almost Fall, and you know what that means, pumpkin everything! Pumpkin really does make things so much better, and this year I wanted to get started early on my Fall baking and make some Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Pumpkin Spice Cream Cheese Frosting! Besides, as I’m writing this, it’s snowing outside so I had to bake something to take my mind off the fact that it’s snowing the day after it was 90 degrees.
Once I finally tracked down some pumpkin after going to four stores, because we all decided to start baking for Fall early, I got to work on making them.They came out perfectly moist, and full of flavor. Creating moist baked goods is something that is hard to do with gluten-free flour, but the pumpkin really helps to add moisture. The frosting was to die for, I love cream cheese frosting, and adding the Pumpkin Pie Spice really pulled it together and gave it that extra zing that made it even better.
I first started by preheating my oven to 350 degrees, and then I started mixing my wet ingredients, then I added my dry ingredients to the wet. I know that usually you start with dry and then move on to wet ingredients, but when I'm doing cake mixes I like to do it backwards so that I can add in my dry ingredients slowly and mix it thoroughly. Doing it this way helps to eliminate lumps in the cake mix. Once I added all of my ingredients, I took my mixer and mixed everything together to make sure I would have absolutely no lumps. My butter wasn’t softened enough, so I did have to smooth some lumps out with a spoon. Once everything is smooth and lump free it should look like this.
If it seems a little too wet, you can always add some extra flour. Then I lined my cupcake pans with cupcake liners, and filled them up about ¾ of the way. Gluten-Free cupcakes tend to not rise as much as normal cupcakes, so I would suggest you put more cake batter in than you normally would.
After I did that I popped them into my now heated oven and put them in there for 25 minutes. I checked them after 20 minutes and they still weren’t done, so then I put them back in for another 5 minutes and they came out perfect. I set those aside to cool while I worked on the frosting.
For the frosting I first softened my butter and cream cheese. Then I added all of my ingredients to a bowl, and mixed it together with my mixer on low, until there were no lumps. I added the pumpkin pie spice blend, and then mixed that in until it was smooth. I added 2 teaspoons of the pumpkin pie spice, and it wasn’t too strong, so if you like an intense pumpkin pie spice flavor I would suggest adding another teaspoon.
Once my cupcakes were cooled I put my frosting into my piping bag, and got to work on frosting my cupcakes. I added a dash of pumpkin spice on top to give them a pretty, rustic look, and I was done! These were a hit with my family, they were so perfectly moist, and not overly sweet. The pumpkin pie spice and the cream cheese frosting went together perfectly, adding the pumpkin pie spice helped to balance the flavors. If you’re looking for an easy, impressive baking project or you’re just craving a taste of Fall, these are for you.
Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes
Ingredients
2 eggs
1 15 ounce can of pumpkin puree
¾ cup of sugar
½ cup of butter
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1 ¾ cup of gluten-free flour (make sure it has xanthan gum)
2 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon of baking powder
½ teaspoon of baking soda
¼ teaspoon of salt
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
In a large bowl mix together all wet ingredients.
In a separate bowl mix together dry ingredients.
Slowly poor dry ingredients into wet, stirring as you go.
Once mixed, line cupcake pans with cupcake liners.
Fill cupcake liners ¾ of the way.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, checking after 20.
Frost, take some pictures of your beautiful creation, and you're done!
Makes 18 cupcakes.
Pumpkin Pie Spice Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
½ cup of unsalted butter softened
8 oz. of cream cheese softened
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
4 cups of powdered sugar
¼ teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice
Instructions
Soften your butter and cream cheese, this is very important, because if you don’t soften it you will have lumps. Let your butter and cream cheese sit at room temperature for at least an hour before use. Don't get impatient and melt it, this will not give you a creamy frosting texture.
Add butter and cream cheese to a bowl.
Add vanilla extract, pumpkin pie spice, and salt. Blend it together
Start adding powdered sugar slowly, mixing as you add it in.
Mix on low until the frosting has no lumps.
Add to a piping bag, or spread onto cupcakes with a knife.
And you're done! Enjoy your delicious creation!