These delicious Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Maple Cream Cheese Buttercream are tender and perfectly spiced!
A soft, moist, buttermilk pumpkin cake is lightly spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, allspice and ginger; tender, with a creamy, silky smooth maple buttercream!
You know what the above all amazing thing about having fabulous Pastry Basic Recipes in your back pocket is? You get to whip up a luscious batch of The Best Cream Cheese Buttercream and then add whatever you want to get a whole new flavor profile! Here I added maple syrup and cinnamon, which pairs beautifully with the spice in the cupcakes to make these delightful Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Maple Cream Cheese Buttercream!
I feel it is safe to open the floodgates during pumpkin spice season! Truth be told, I have been eating pumpkin-spiced things for weeks now! And I have been dying to share these with you! Actually, I would have shared it last week, but I HAD to make donuts. I know you understand.
This pumpkin spice cake absolutely melts in your mouth: Soft and delicate but not too fluffy! The perfect balance of pumpkin and spice.
Who’s tired of pumpkin? Bloggers keep asking that. I could never get tired of pumpkin! For me, there is a long wait all year to bake anything and everything with pumpkin. I would go so far as to say that I hoard pumpkins just in case of a shortage.
Do you remember that? Little pumpkin-lovin’ hearts were breaking all over the USofA. Sadness.
Looking for other pumpkin-inspired recipes? Check these out…
Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Maple Cream Cheese Buttercream
Ingredients
For the Cupcakes:
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 Tablespoon Pumpkin Spice Mix
- ½ cup light brown sugar (packed)
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup unsalted butter (room temperature)
- 4 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ½ cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix)
- ⅔ cup buttermilk
For the Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 1 Recipe The Best Cream Cheese Buttercream
- 1 Tablespoon Maple Syrup
- ¼ teaspoon Ground cinnamon
Instructions
Make the Cupcakes:
- Preheat the oven to 350° and line 14 standard muffin tins with cupcake liners.
- In a medium bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and all spices; set aside.
- In a large bowl, beat sugars and butter together with a hand mixer or in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until light and fluffy. 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. 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.
Make the Frosting:
- Add maple and cinnamon to cream cheese frosting.
- The frosting will keep best in the refrigerator but it will also keep for several days at room temperature.
Assemble the Cupcakes:
- Once cupcakes are cool, frost with your favorite piping tip!
Video Instructions
Notes
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon (slightly rounded)
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ginger
- ⅛ teaspoon mace
- ⅛ teaspoon cloves
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