Pumpkin Cupcakes With Cream Cheese Frosting

These delicious pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting are tender and perfectly spiced! You’ll love each bite of these soft, moist cupcakes paired with a maple cream cheese buttercream.

Pumpkin spice season is finally here, and I can’t wait to start baking some of my favorite things from my 25 Best Pumpkin Recipes for Fall! But truth be told, I have been eating pumpkin-spiced things for weeks now–like these pumpkin donuts. I’m excited to share this amazing recipe for pumpkin cupcakes with you!

These pumpkin cupcakes are soft and warmly spiced, and the cream cheese buttercream frosting is tangy and stable enough to pipe into clean rosettes. The frosting is the same one I use on my carrot cake cupcakes, and for good reason. It strikes the right balance between structure and flavor, which is exactly what a spiced cupcake needs.

Ingredients & Substitutions

• Baking Powder: Lifts the batter and keeps the crumb open and light. Make sure yours is fresh; baking powder loses potency after about six months and will produce flat, dense cupcakes.
• Pumpkin Spice Mix: This is what gives the cupcakes their warm, layered spice flavor. I make my own pumpkin spice mix and keep a jar around all fall, but if you prefer to skip that step, substitute 2 teaspoons of cinnamon, ½ teaspoon of nutmeg, ¼ teaspoon of ginger, ⅛ teaspoon of mace, and ⅛ teaspoon of cloves.
• Light Brown Sugar and Granulated Sugar: Using both gives you depth from the molasses in the brown sugar and clean sweetness from the granulated. Do not swap in all brown sugar here; the extra moisture it adds will make the crumb too dense.
• Unsalted Butter: Adds richness and flavor that oil alone cannot provide. Use it at room temperature so it incorporates smoothly into the batter.
• Large Eggs: Bind the batter and add structure. Pull them from the fridge ahead of time so they are at room temperature, which helps them emulsify properly.
• Pumpkin Puree: This is the ingredient that makes or breaks the texture of these cupcakes. Use pure pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie mix, which already contains sugar and spices and will throw off the recipe’s balance.
• Buttermilk: Adds tenderness and a subtle tang that plays well against the spices. If you don’t have it on hand, stir one teaspoon of white vinegar or lemon into 1 cup of whole milk and let it sit for five minutes.
• Cream Cheese Buttercream: The frosting for these is my standard cream cheese buttercream, which is tangy, stable, and pipes cleanly. I add maple syrup and a pinch of ground cinnamon to the base to pull the flavors together.
• Maple Syrup and Ground Cinnamon: Stirred into the finished frosting, these two additions are what connect the frosting directly to the spiced cake underneath. Use real maple syrup, not pancake syrup.

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

Variations on These Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

• Swap the Frosting for Marshmallow. If you want a different finish, top these with a toasted marshmallow frosting instead of cream cheese buttercream, just like in these Sweet potato cupcakes; that effect works surprisingly well with pumpkin spice.
• Add Mix-ins. Add some white chocolate, cranberries, or pecans to the cupcake batter! You could also candy some pecans and put them on top of the frosting.
• Make it into a cake! Follow the baking and assembly of my pumpkin cake! I could double the recipe for a two-layered cake.
• Add a filling! Core the cupcake and add some pumpkin butter or salted caramel sauce to the center. A bit of cranberry or cherry jam would also be delightful. You could also fill the baked cupcakes with easy apple compote like my caramel apple cupcakes.

Professional Tips

• Fill the liners ¾ full. Overfilling the cupcakes can cause them to dome. A standard cookie scoop ensures consistent portioning across all 14.
• Pull them the moment a toothpick comes out with a few clinging crumbs. A completely clean toothpick means you’ve gone too far. The residual heat in the pan will finish the job, which is why you remove them from the tin immediately after baking.
• Use room temperature cream cheese and butter for the frosting. Cold cream cheese will leave lumps that no amount of mixing will fully smooth out. I’ve tested it both ways, and the difference in texture is significant enough that I won’t rush it.
• Frost only when fully cool. Cream cheese frosting is more temperature-sensitive than a standard buttercream. If the cupcakes are even slightly warm, the frosting will slide. I give mine at least 45 minutes on the rack before I touch the piping bag.

How to Make Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Start by pulling your butter and eggs out ahead of time — room temperature ingredients cream together properly and make a real difference in the final texture. Further details and measurements can be found in the recipe card below.

Make the Cupcake Batter

Step 1: Preheat the oven and prepare the muffin tins. Preheat the oven to 350°F and line 14 standard muffin cups with cupcake liners.

Step 2: Whisk the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and pumpkin spice mix until evenly combined. (photos 1 & 2).

Step 3: Cream the butter and sugars, then add the eggs. Beat the light brown sugar, granulated sugar, and softened butter together with a hand mixer or stand mixer on medium-high until the mixture is pale and noticeably fluffy, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition, then add the vanilla with the last egg. (photos 3-5)

If you add the eggs too quickly, the batter will curdle, but fret not; they will still be delicious!

Step 4: Add the pumpkin. Add the pumpkin puree and mix on medium for about 30 seconds until the batter is smooth and creamy. (photos 6 & 7).

Step 5: Alternate the flour and buttermilk. Add the flour mixture and buttermilk in alternating additions, starting and ending with flour. I add a third of the flour, then half the buttermilk, then another third of the flour, then the remaining buttermilk, then the last of the flour. (photos 8 & 9).

I always do it for any butter cake to keep the batter from breaking. Fold in the final flour addition by hand with a spatula rather than running the mixer, so you stop the moment you no longer see dry streaks.

Divide and Bake

Step 6: Fill the prepared liners ¾ of the way for a flat, frostable top. Bake at 350°F for 16 to 20 minutes; start checking at 16. They are done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs clinging to it, not wet batter. Mine consistently take 18 minutes. (photos 10-11).

Step 7: Remove and cool completely. Pull the cupcakes out of the muffin tins immediately after they come out of the oven — leaving them in the pan traps steam and softens the edges. Transfer to a wire rack and let them cool completely before frosting. (photo 12).

Let them cool completely before frosting, which takes about 45 minutes to an hour at room temperature.

Step 8: Flavor the cream cheese frosting. Stir the maple syrup and ground cinnamon directly into the prepared cream cheese buttercream until fully combined. Taste it here — the maple should be present but not sweet, and the cinnamon should round out the spice without competing with the pumpkin flavor in the cupcake. (photos 13 & 14).

Step 9: Frost the cooled cupcakes.  Once the cupcakes are completely cool, transfer the frosting to a piping bag fitted with your tip of choice and frost as desired. The frosting will hold swirls and rosettes well as long as it has not been left at room temperature long enough to soften significantly. If it feels loose in the bag, pop it in the refrigerator for 10 minutes before piping. These are best served the day they are assembled, but they will keep in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 days. (photos 15 &16)

Recipe FAQs

Before You Go

These spiced pumpkin cupcakes with their tangy cream cheese frosting are the kind of thing people ask you to bring to every fall gathering once you make them once. If you want to keep baking, browse my Cake Recipes or Buttercream and Frosting Recipes for what to make next.