What did I tell you? Cupcakes & Salads.
These cupcakes jumped to the front of the line because if I don’t share them with you, I will positively burst with excitement!
I’d like to say these cupcakes are all about the brown sugar toasted pecan crumble because it is heavenly, but that would be doing a huge injustice to the soft, perfectly spiced pumpkin cake, pecan pie filling and brown sugar bourbon frosting!
I got a little out of control with these Pumpkin Pecan Pie Cupcakes, so let me break it down:
A soft, moist, buttermilk pumpkin cake is lightly spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, mace and ginger;
Topped with a brown sugar toasted pecan crumble prior to baking;
Filled with a pecan pie filling;
And frosted with a creamy brown sugar bourbon cream cheese frosting!
It sounds like there is a lot going on but all the flavors come together perfectly into a sweet, brown sugar pumpkin dessert!
This pumpkin spice cake absolutely melts in your mouth: Soft and delicate but not too fluffy! The perfect balance of pumpkin and spice.
The smooth, creamy cream cheese frosting contrasts beautifully with a little crunch from the crumble topping and toasted pecans.
It’s like a pumpkin, brown sugar pecan dream that you never want to end.
I could bring myself to give them all away. I just couldn’t. The additional punishing hours on the treadmill will totally be worth it.
A soft, moist pumpkin cake is lightly spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, mace and ginger; topped with a brown sugar toasted pecan crumble prior to baking; filled with a pecan pie filling; and frosted with a brown sugar bourbon cream cheese frosting!
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon (slightly rounded)
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ginger
- 1/8 teaspoon mace
- 1/8 teaspoon cloves
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup light brown sugar, packed
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted*
- 4 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ½ cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix)
- 2/3 cup buttermilk
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, melted
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla
- ½ cup light brown sugar, packed
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup toasted pecans, chopped
- 1 egg
- ¾ cup dark brown sugar, packed
- 1 tablespoon salted butter, melted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ½ cup chopped pecans
- ½ cup unsalted butter, cold
- 8 ounces cream cheese (not whipped, not light, and the best you can find)
- 1 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
- 2 teaspoons Bourbon (to taste)
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
Instructions
- Stir the vanilla into the melted butter. Add all the remaining ingredients and stir with a fork until all the ingredients are equally moistened. They should hold together and then break into crumbles when squeezed in your hand. If it is still too dry you can add melted butter 1 teaspoon at a time, but be careful not to make it too moist or it will be greasy and not crunchy/soft like it should be.
- Also note that if you chop your pecans too big, they will impede the crumbles from forming.
- Preheat the oven to 350° and line 14 standard muffin tins with cupcake liners. I use two standard paper liners per cupcake.
- In a medium bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and all spices; set aside.
- In a large bowl, beat sugars and melted butter together with a hand mixer until thickened, 3-4 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating well between each addition. Add the vanilla after the last egg.
- Add the pumpkin and mix on medium until smooth and creamy, about 30 seconds.
- Alternately add flour and buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour. I add a third of the flour then half of the buttermilk and repeat. Fold the last flour addition in by hand to avoid over mixing.
- Scoop into prepared tins, filling almost to the top of the cup. Add some crumble to the top of each cupcake. Bake in preheated oven 16-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few clinging crumbs. Mine took 18 minutes.
- Remove immediately from muffin tins to cool completely on a wire rack.
- Mix all pecan pie filling ingredients together and cook in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring constantly to avoid burning. Bring to a boil and allow to boil for a minute. Remove from heat and cool. If you continue to cook the filling, it will continue to thicken up. I got distracted and so mine boiled about 3 minutes before I took it off the heat.
- Cream together cream cheese, butter and brown sugar until smooth and creamy.
- Add the bourbon to taste and then add the powdered sugar and cornstarch, mixing well with a hand mixer. To further thicken the frosting, add more powdered sugar. This will obviously alter the taste if you add a lot more sugar. You can also refrigerate the frosting to thicken it a little as well. I did not refrigerate nor did I add any additional powdered sugar to mine before I piped it.
- Once cupcakes are cool, cut a hole in the center of each cupcake with a pairing knife. Remove the cut-away piece and cut the bottom off, leaving some cake and the crumble; eat the cut off cake for quality control; place a dollop of the pecan pie filling in the center of each cake; and replace the crumble coated center piece, pressing down slightly. The centers will be slightly elevated, but this doesn’t matter because you are going to frost them!
- Frost with your favorite piping tip! There will be more frosting than you need for all the cupcakes. I’m sure you’ll figure out something to do with the remaining 1/3 cup!
Notes:
*Melting Butter: I melt my butter in the microwave in 10 second intervals on 50% power until almost all the butter has melted. At this point I remove it from the microwave and stir or swirl the bowl until all the butter has melted. I do not like when the cream separates from the butter.
Sifting: If your powdered sugar is lumpy, feel free to sift the powdered sugar and cornstarch into the frosting before beating. I did not do this and I was right in the world, but your sugar may need a good sift.
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This recipe is linked to: Inspiration Monday, Merry Monday, Munching Monday, Two Cup Tuesday, Tasty Tuesday, Party Time, Moonlight & Mason Jars, Gluten Free Friday, Foodie Friday, Flashback Friday, Saturday Night Fever, Sweet and Savoury Sundays
88 Comments
Shashi @ runninsrilankan
October 8, 2014 at 9:57 amOh heavens – these are unreal!!! Look at them…I can barely concentrate on anything else…what day is it…did I eat breakfast…what’s my name…these cupcakes have me mesmerized! BTW – Sharing is caring – just saying 🙂
Lindsey
October 8, 2014 at 11:18 pmLMAO! I would be been more than happy to share…but sadly they are GONE. No worries…I’ll try to time our meet up with a fabulous cupcake baking day 🙂 Hooray! Cupcakes for everyone!
Amy | Club Narwhal
October 8, 2014 at 10:50 amWell, aren’t these the prettiest autumnal cupcakes I ever did see 🙂 I could seriously eat the whole batch of these!
Lindsey
October 8, 2014 at 11:14 pmHaha thanks, Amy! I almost did 😉
Gayle @ Pumpkin 'N Spice
October 8, 2014 at 10:54 amYou’re killing me with your cupcake recipes, Lindsey! 🙂 Each one you make sounds better than the next. I love the filling nestled in these cuties. And that frosting sounds crazy good! Such a fun flavor! Pinned!
Lindsey
October 8, 2014 at 11:11 pmI know, tell me about it! I have eaten way too many! Thanks for the pin!
Jess @ whatjessicabakednext
October 8, 2014 at 12:26 pmWOW! These cupcakes are amazing! You’ve combined my favourite dessert into cupcake form and that frosting looks scrumptious!
Lindsey
October 8, 2014 at 11:11 pmThank you, Jess! You’ll love these cupcakes!
Ilona @ Ilona's Passion
October 8, 2014 at 12:42 pmPinned it! Love these cupcakes, so delicious!
Lindsey
October 8, 2014 at 11:08 pmTHanks, Ilona!
Manali @ CookWithManali
October 8, 2014 at 1:00 pmWOW! amazing cupcakes! love all the flavors, the filling and crumble sounds just delicious! Pinned!
Lindsey
October 8, 2014 at 11:06 pmThanks, Manali! Oh, the crumble!
marcie
October 8, 2014 at 3:40 pmLindsey, you are killing me, but what a way to go. 🙂 I feel like I need to eat some salad right now just looking at these! These look amazing, and that filling and frosting look so divine! 🙂
Lindsey
October 8, 2014 at 11:04 pmLMAO! Imagine if you ate 3 like I did! Now you understand why I needed the salad 🙂
Michele @ Two Raspberries
October 8, 2014 at 5:05 pmThese look gorgeous! and they sound absolutely delish!
Lindsey
October 8, 2014 at 11:03 pmThanks, Michele! They totally are!
Dorothy @ Crazy for Crust
October 8, 2014 at 9:31 pmYes. 1 million times YES!!
Lindsey
October 8, 2014 at 10:42 pmLOL! Couldn’t have said it better myself. 🙂
Jessica @ Sweet Menu
October 8, 2014 at 11:23 pmGoodness ME! You have gone all out with these cupcakes and they look INCREDIBLE! So creative!!!
Chichi
October 9, 2014 at 5:59 amLove how spiced and moist this cupcake is. It will be bursting with so much flavour. Love it. Pinned!!
Kelly - Life Made Sweeter
October 9, 2014 at 7:10 amOh my heck girl, I am DYING over how gorgeous these are! Love every single component here – totally a pumpkin lovers dream that I would never want to end.
Lindsey
October 9, 2014 at 10:33 amThanks, Kelly! Sadly the cupcakes are gone and I am still dreaming about them!
larisa
October 9, 2014 at 7:33 amThese look amazing & I’m thinking about whipping some up for a party, but I just wanted to confirm: there is only 1/4 teaspoon of pumpkin puree?
Lindsey
October 9, 2014 at 7:43 amHi Larisa. Oh my goodness! That is not even close to right! I don’t know what I was thinking. It is 1/2 cup pumpkin puree. I changed the recipe above and I’m going to double check all the other ingredients as well. I am so sorry about that. Thank you so so much for asking.
David @ Spiced
October 9, 2014 at 8:47 amYou have officially earned the title of Cupcake Queen of the Interwebs. Seriously. These cupcakes are insanely awesome…and I want to eat one right now. I’ll gladly take the punishment at the gym tomorrow for a cupcake today. 🙂
Lindsey
October 9, 2014 at 10:32 amDoes this title come with a crown? Because I’ve always wanted one!
David @ Spiced
October 9, 2014 at 10:36 amUmmm…what Queen doesn’t have a crown?
Lindsey
October 9, 2014 at 10:45 amDumb ones… 🙂
Cindy @ Pick Fresh Foods
October 9, 2014 at 3:19 pmI’m going crazy over these cupcakes. I was just thinking if there was a job as a professional pumpkin recipe taste tester I’d be one happy gal. Pinning
Lindsey
October 10, 2014 at 8:27 amOoo me too! Thanks, for the pin!
Liz
October 9, 2014 at 10:21 pmOh, my gosh, just look at all your amazing cupcakes! I’ll start with these pumpkin gems and work my way down 🙂
Lindsey
October 10, 2014 at 8:24 amHaha! Thanks, Liz! I do love me some cupcakes!
Julianne @ Beyond Frosting
October 9, 2014 at 11:48 pmMy jaw just hit the floor! This looks sooooo amazing! I am 100% making Bourbon Brown Sugar Frosting! Pinned and sharing on Facebook!
Lindsey
October 10, 2014 at 8:24 amThanks for the pin and the share! You should definitely make it! Fortunately the recipe makes more than needed to frost the cupcakes so there is plenty left over for eating with a spoon!
sophia
October 10, 2014 at 12:10 amThese look heavenly, you have really gone all out on these. I think I would be to lazy to make them, so can you just post me one instead? 🙂 Pretty please?
sophxxx
Lindsey
October 10, 2014 at 8:23 amThanks, Sophia! LOL I would love to send you one if it wouldn’t be as hard as a rock once you got it!
Laura @ Laura's Culinary Adventures
October 10, 2014 at 8:42 amWow! There is a lot going on, but every aspect of this cupcake is amazing! I don’t know what part is my favorite!
Kristi @ Inspiration Kitchen
October 10, 2014 at 10:29 amI love the pecan pie filling in the center. Pumpkin is definitely one of my favorite flavors, but to hide pecan pie in it, is just brilliant! They’re so pretty too!
Thalia @ butter and brioche
October 12, 2014 at 8:38 pmWow these cupcakes look incredible! Definitely loving all that delicious filling and the thick layer of cream cheese frosting going on. Wish I had one to devour right now.. Pinned!
Lindsey
October 13, 2014 at 8:50 amThanks, Thalia! All the flavors just melded seamlessly together!
Renee @ Two in the Kitchen
October 12, 2014 at 11:32 pmThese cupcakes are amazing looking!! I am especially in love with the frosting!! You are clearly the cupcake queen!! 🙂 Pinned!!
Lindsey
October 13, 2014 at 8:57 amThanks, Renee! The frosting was delicious! I ate some with a spoon…and my husband ate some out of the piping bag!! lol
Jill
October 14, 2014 at 9:23 amThese look and sound amazing!!! My husband did the Bourbon Chase this past weekend (a relay race covering the entire 200 mile bourbon trail in Kentucky) and he came home with lots of bourbon 🙂 Pinned!
Lindsey
October 14, 2014 at 8:03 pm200 miles!!! My goodness! I would need a drink after that or probably just pizza and a nap! I bet you have some fabulous Bourbon to bake with! I have been slightly obsessed with it lately.
Christin@SpicySouthernKitchen
October 14, 2014 at 7:58 pmI am in love with all your cupcakes, but I think that pecan pie filling and bourbon frosting might make this one my favorite! What great flavors!
Lindsey
October 14, 2014 at 8:32 pmI could have guessed you would go for the Bourbon and pecan pie filling! You are a Southern girl through and through! 🙂
Sharon @ What The Fork Food Blog
October 15, 2014 at 7:21 amAnother fabulous cupcake recipe, Lindsey! I love pumpkin pecan pie combo!
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Jacqui
October 16, 2014 at 5:23 pmThese look so yummy!! Thank you for linking up to Party Time and we hope to see you again next week!
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Thao @ In Good Flavor
October 24, 2014 at 2:22 pmThis is absolutely gorgeous!! This is fall in a cupcake. I have a friend who would be eternally grateful if I made this for her. Pinning!
Lindsey
October 24, 2014 at 3:49 pmThen I hope you do make them for her! Thank you for the pin!
Vanessa
October 26, 2014 at 7:36 pmThose look delicious!
Lindsey
October 26, 2014 at 10:07 pmThanks, Vanessa!
Maria
October 26, 2014 at 7:50 pmOh these cupcakes look so beautiful and sound absolutely divine!!
Lindsey
October 26, 2014 at 10:06 pmThanks, Maria!
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Denise
October 29, 2014 at 8:57 amLooks as good as it tastes – Absolutely wonderful!!! Thank you
Lindsey
October 29, 2014 at 10:42 amThank you, Denise! I am so glad you liked them and thank you for coming back here to let me know!
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Laura@Baking in Pyjamas
November 3, 2014 at 2:58 pmVisiting from Merry Making Monday. These cupcakes look great, I can only imagine how yummy they must be. I co-host Sweet and Savoury Sunday and would love for you to stop by and share this and other recipes with us. Have a great day!
Lindsey
November 4, 2014 at 7:56 pmThanks for visiting! I’ll mark my calendar to stop by to your link-up too 🙂 Thanks for letting me know!
Alma
November 4, 2014 at 9:28 pmThese were wonderful!!! My only question is…I had a lot of crumble left over. A lot. I put a spoonful on each cupcake. Does it normally make more than needed?
Lindsey
November 4, 2014 at 10:06 pmI’m so glad you liked them, Alma! I didn’t have that much left over, but I can get a little carried away with crumble. 🙂 May I suggest you make these mini apple pecan crumble pies? It’s the same crumble in both recipes 🙂 Depending on how much crumble you have left, you might have enough for a half recipe.
Amanda @ The Kolb Corner
November 7, 2014 at 8:38 pmWow. Literally all I can think of to say is wow. There is so much going on in these cupcakes and each layer adds even more wow! And then it’s topped with my fav–cream cheese AND bourbon! Even.better.
Thank you for sharing with us at Merry Monday!
Lindsey
November 7, 2014 at 10:41 pmThanks, Amanda! Mmm bourbon. Cheers to that!
Christie
November 12, 2014 at 11:53 amCan you tell me what lens you use on your camera? I have a 50mm I use for food shots, but I cannot get as close up as your amazing pictures! Thanks a bunch!!
Lindsey
November 12, 2014 at 1:34 pmHi Christie! These are all shot with a 50 mm! I have a Canon T3i. I also crop further in Lightroom most of the time.
Christie
November 12, 2014 at 2:07 pmGreat! Thank you!! I have Photoshop and another photo editing software. I’m going to experiment on a few of my recent pics.
Lindsey
November 12, 2014 at 3:18 pmGood luck! On the closest ones, I literally get as close to the food as my lens will allow. If it won’t focus, I back up my tripod a fraction of an inch & try again until it will focus 🙂
Laura@Baking in Pyjamas
November 16, 2014 at 1:45 pmThanks for stopping by our party. Thanks for linking up to Sweet and Savoury Sunday, stop by and link up again. Have a great day!!
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Shane
November 8, 2015 at 8:34 pmI’m about to make these but I do t have mace. Is there a substitute for that or is it imperative? Also, would homemade buttermilk be sufficient?
Lindsey
November 8, 2015 at 10:18 pmHi Shane! You can definitely leave out the mace – no big deal. And homemade buttermilk is perfectly fine – just make sure to use at least 2% milk. 🙂 Happy baking!
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Christine
July 17, 2016 at 9:05 pmI made these for my works Christmas party last year, and to this day, everyone says it is the best cupcake they ever had and they’re scared to eat another cupcake in fear that it won’t be as good as this one! I have a quick question, last time I made these, I made them all in one day. If I make them the night before, will they be good for the next day. Thank you so much!
Lindsey
July 18, 2016 at 12:21 amHi Christine! That is so wonderful to hear!!! They will still be good the next day but they are best the day they are made. The cake just begins to dry out. Fortunately this cake is super moist from the pumpkin. Happy baking!
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