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Better Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Yes, I know, there's already another one. But I like this recipe better. I made these for my wedding.

Stacey's Pumpkin Cupcake Ingredients
2 c unbleached flour, organic
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground ginger

1 (15 oz) can pumpkin, organic
1 c granulated sugar, organic
8 tbs unsalted butter, organic
2 eggs, organic
2 tsp vanilla bean paste
1/2 c milk, organic

cupcake pan
cupcake liners
OXO Good Grips Large Cookie Scoop

Stacey's Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients
1 (8oz) pkg cream cheese, organic
1 1/4 sticks (10 tbs) unsalted butter, organic
2 tsp vanilla bean paste
1/4 tsp salt
2 c confectioners sugar

Preheat oven to 350F.  I prefer to use a mixer for this recipe than to hand stir.  The pumpkin comes out all clumpy and it's murder on my arm to try and stir it by hand.  Since I made 4x this recipe for my wedding, I really needed the standing mixer.

First melt the butter in the microwave and then put it in the standing mixer with the sugar, pumpkin, vanilla bean paste, and milk.  Mix it all up with the whisk attachment until there are no more lumps. Then add the eggs and mix until combined.  I just put the eggs in last because I worry about the butter being too hot and cooking the eggs accidentally.  The whisk attachment should take care of all the pesky pumpkin lumps.

Mix the dry ingredients separately in another bowl and then add it to the pumpkin mixture.  You can stir this part by hand if you want or use the batter attachment.  When you're done it should look like this:


Line the cupcake pan and then use the scooper to fill the pan. 


Bake these for about 20 minutes, rotating once at the halfway point. This recipe makes about 20 cupcakes.


Once the cupcakes are cool, you can frost them.

To make the frosting, soften the butter and cream cheese in the microwave. I usually microwave at 30 second intervals because otherwise the corners of the cream cheese start boiling and separating and getting weird and clumpy.  So, microwave for a short while, stir, and repeat until it's frostingish consistency.

Dump the warm cream cheese and butter in the standing mixer with the vanilla bean paste (you already cleaned it after making the cupcakes, right?) or into a bowl and use your hand mixer.  Use the whisk attachment and blend until fluffy.  Add the confectioners sugar and mix gently at first so you don't get sugar everywhere, and then whisk this until fluffy too.


God, I love cream cheese frosting.

Now you can either fill a pastry bag with a cupcake tip, or just use a knife and slather these cupcakes with the cream cheese frosting.


It was the holidays, so I put a few blue sprinkles on to be festive.  I think I like plain better though.


Also tried shaved white chocolate, which was really pretty.



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