How to Bake Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes

These pumpkin pie cupcakes are a bit like our Libbys pumpkin muffins but fluffier with frosting on top! With both you can now enjoy these favorite Fall flavors for breakfast, dessert, and all day long! Homemade with canned pumpkin puree, these are delicious and super family friendly.

Pumpkin Cupcake Recipe

As with all of our Fall creations, you can definitely use canned pumpkin puree or make your own. The best way to do the latter is shared in our Instant Pot pumpkin instructions. You literally can throw the whole thing in, scoop out the flesh and mash. WAY easier than you initially might think it would be.

Biggest difference with that one is it is plain, and you might want to add a tad more spices to get it to that Fall flavor. From there you whisk the dry ingredients, add the wet and your batter is ready to use! You can use a regular size (seen here) or this is how long to bake mini cupcakes which are fun for little hands.

Pumpkin Cupcakes

I really love using paper liners. It keeps my tin clean and they are easier to just grab and go if you want to take a few with you. If you allow them to cool completely the paper won’t stick to it and you’ll get all the YUM out of each one. There are tips to baking moist cupcakes;

1. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. This traps air and helps in creating a tender and moist texture.
2. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. This ensures even distribution of moisture and fat.
3. Add dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, etc.) and wet ingredients (milk, yogurt, etc.) alternately in small portions. Start and finish with the dry ingredients. Mix until just combined to avoid overmixing.
4. Overmixing can lead to tough cupcakes. Mix only until the ingredients are combined.
5. Use an ice cream scoop or a 1/4 measuring cup to distribute the batter evenly into cupcake liners. Fill each liner about two-thirds full to prevent overflow during baking.
6. Preheat your oven to the temperature specified in the recipe. An accurate oven temperature is crucial for even baking.
7. Bake cupcakes according to the recipe’s recommended time. Check for doneness by inserting a toothpick into the center; it should come out with a few moist crumbs, not wet batter.
8. Once baked, remove the cupcakes from the oven and allow them to cool in the pan for a few minutes. Then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
9. Avoid over-baking can result in dry cupcakes. Always check for doneness a few minutes before the recommended baking time is up.

The best way to store leftover cupcakes; do so in an airtight container to retain moisture. Apply frosting or glaze once the cupcakes are completely cooled, but only to those you are eating then and there. Leave it off of those that you may not eat immediately. It is best to store that separately for the best texture.

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes

Now if you wanted to make mini pumpkin muffins / cupcakes the timing would decrease to about 8-9 minutes vs. 16-18. Not a huge difference but the size is quite different.

• 2 c all purpose flour
• Ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoons ground nutmeg
• Ground cloves
• Baking powder
• Baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• Vegetable oil
• Sugar
• 1/2 c brown sugar
• 2 eggs at room temperature are best if possible
• Vanilla extract
• 3/4 c pumpkin
• 1/3 c milk

Now these don’t have the typical soft and creamy insides, or a pie crust. It is a cake version with the same flavors essentially. I mean you could get a bit closer by scooping out a bit of the middle and making the insides to our Pumpkin Pie Sheet Cake without the crust. Spoon that into the center as a filled cupcake of sorts.

Cupcakes with Canned Pumpkin

We have a lot of dessert pumpkin recipes on our site, pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting is great too. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prep a cupcake pan with liners.  Set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together the flour, sugars, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, baking powder baking soda, and salt. 

• Add in the oil, eggs, vanilla, pumpkin puree, and milk.  Mix thoroughly – stopping the mixer, scraping the side and mix again. 
  • or make batter from our easy Pumpkin Bundt Cake with Cake Mix semi-homemade style
• Divide the batter amongst the cupcake liners, filling each cavity about 3/4 of the way full. 
• Bake in the preheated oven for 16-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean
  • BETTER way to check is to touch gently in the middle, when it springs back pull pan out, scoop cupcakes out of hot pan and on to a cooling rack.
• Allow to cool completely before decorating. 
• You can make our vanilla frosting below with a stand mixer.
• Combine the softened unsalted butter, salt, vanilla and about half of the powdered sugar.  Mix on low speed for about a minute and then bump up the speed to medium for another minute.
  • could add a bit of pumpkin pie spice for added seasonal pumpkin flavor
• Add in the remaining powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons worth of the milk. 

Mix on low for a minute and then on medium for an additional 2 minutes.  The frosting should be light and fluffy.  Transfer the frosting to a piping bag fitted with a large star tip, or freezer bag with corner snipped off to pipe out.  Pipe a large dollop of frosting on each cupcake when they are cooled. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Cupcakes Cream Cheese Filling

You could make our cream cheese mousse and fill the center of these too if you wanted them to be creamy inside and on the top too. It is lighter than frosting you would buy in a tub at the store so it isn’t so sweet. As is without all of that they are still delicious with a cup of coffee I tell you.