A Taste of Fall

As the weather gets cooler,

leaves change colors and drop,

apple picking becomes a regular outing,

and pumpkin is in and on everything,

why not continue with the most popular flavor of them all??

Dan is not a huge fan of pumpkin, in fact he recently tried it with my delicious Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread, but that's not going to stop me.

I can't get enough of that pumpkin taste.

Which brings me to this fantastic cupcake recipe...

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

Makes 24 cupcakes

What you will need for cupcakes (and it's a lot so hang in there):

1. 2 1/4 Cups UNbleached all-purpose flour

2. 1 Teaspoon ground cinnamon

3. 1 Teaspoon ground nutmeg

4. 1 Teaspoon ground ginger

5. 1 Teaspoon ground allspice

6. 1 Tablespoon baking powder

7. 1/2 Teaspoon baking soda

8. 1 Teaspoon salt

9. 1/2 Cup Canola Oil (we used veggie oil and they are still delish)

10. 1 Cup granulated sugar

11. 1/3 Cup brown sugar, loosely packed

12. 2 eggs

13. 3/4 Cup milk

14. 1 15oz. Can pure pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie filling)

What you will need for Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting:

1. 16oz. container cream cheese, softened (we used light)

2. 1/2 (1 stick) butter, softened

3. 7-8 Cups confectioner's sugar

4. 2 Teaspoons vanilla

5. 2 Teaspoons ground Cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 Degrees F

Most of this stuff you probably have in your spice cabinet, that's the good news...

if not, this can be a tad bit expensive.

Dan and I were very lucky to have such amazing friends and family,

as a wedding gift we received a kitchen aid mixer and lots of bowls for cooking/baking.

If you have a stand mixer, this is a lot eaiser.

Le Process:

Line cupcake tins and set aside.

In a bowl, mix the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

Now would be a great time to use the mixer:

In the mixing bowl, blend canola/veggie oil, sugar, and brown sugar. Add one egg at a time, blending well after each addition.

Stir in milk and the pumpkin puree and blend well.

Add the flour mixture gradually and blend well until mixture is nice and smooth.

Fill muffin tins 2/3 of the way full.

Bake for 30 minutes or until the toothpick comes out clean. 

Le Process for the frosting:

I made the frosting while the cupcakes baked and used the kitchen aid mixer again.

In mixing bowl, blend softened cream cheese and butter together until nice and smooth. I kept having to stop the blender and push out the goop until it got nice and smooth. 

Add the vanilla and cinnamon- blend very well.

Gradually blend the confectioner's sugar, one cup at a time, blending well after each.

Frost cupcakes using a generous amount of this frosting- these amounts make A TON!

However, we have decided what the remaining frosting would be delicious with: 

graham crackers, animal crackers, on a piece of toast, on apples, or our favorite- 

by the spoonful!!!

Have a happy Hump day, full of pumpkin-ey goodness!