Well hello there! It’s been pretty quiet on the blog these past few weeks, but I’m back from my big Japan trip and have finally gotten over the jet lag (which was so much worse coming back!). I can’t wait to share some pictures and travel tips here, but am still going through the hundreds of photos I took. In the meantime, I wanted to make sure everyone knew about the existence of these amazing pumpkin cupcakes smothered in maple cream cheese frosting. This isn’t one of my own recipes and I hadn’t even intended to post them, but they turned out so well that I decided they were meant to be shared.
I’ve mentioned The Great British Baking Show on OSK before, but my obsession has become even more intense in the past month. I’ve been scouring the internet for old episodes, and was ecstatic when they added a recent season to Netflix. If you haven’t seen it, you must check it out. Think Top Chef but with adorable, less competitive English people instead. I’m astounded by the beautiful and inventive things they make, and am continually inspired to bake more often. These cupcakes came about after a recent Great British Baking Show marathon. In the mood for something autumnal, I decided to make something brimming with fall flavors. These pumpkin cupcakes were highly rated, required few ingredients, and looked simple to make. I was sold.
I did fiddle with the original recipe a bit by lowering the amount of sugar in the frosting and adding a splash of vanilla. Everything else is exactly the same, yielding 12 perfect little cupcakes that are the essence of fall. Incredibly light and moist, the cupcakes themselves almost taste like a muffin rather than a dense cupcake. The maple frosting places them right back into dessert territory, but I like to think of these as a bit lighter than your average dessert. With warming spices like cinnamon, nutmeg and clove, the result is like pumpkin pie in cupcake form. I promise you will love these!
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon allspice
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter, softened
- ½ cup white sugar
- ½ cup canned pumpkin puree
- 1.5 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 eggs
- For the frosting:
- 8 ounces cream cheese
- 2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
- 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1.5 cups powdered sugar
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper cupcake liners.
- In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, nutmeg, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl with a handheld mixer (or in your KitchenAid mixer) beat the softened butter and sugar together until fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Add in the pumpkin puree and vanilla, and then slowly beat in the eggs one at a time. Once everything is combined, stir in the dry ingredients from the other bowl.
- Using a spoon or an ice cream scoop, fill each cup of the muffin tin about ¾ high with the mixture. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown and a toothpick in the center of the cupcake comes out clean. Let the cupcakes completely cool on a wire rack.
- In the meantime, prepare the frosting. Beat the cream cheese, butter, maple syrup and vanilla together until smooth, and then slowly add in the powdered sugar until thoroughly combined.
- After the cupcakes have cooled completely, spread the frosting onto each cupcake.
Recipe slightly adapted from this Food Network recipe.
Can’t wait to see pics from your trip! You must be exhausted and to bake these amazing cupcakes already…wow! Cupcakes and pumpkin in the same sentence…omg! 😉
Thanks, Donna! I agree – anything with pumpkin and cupcakes in the same sentence is bound to be good 🙂
i can’t wait to hear more about your trip to Japan! i’ve never been, but it’s definitely on my bucket list.
and we just got netflix, and i have yet to stumble upon the british baking show – but now i must. these pumpkin cupcakes look to be in a league of their own! and i love the idea of the maple cream cheese frosting. xo
Amanda, I am positive that you would love the Great British Baking Show! They’ve even done some gf challenges before. Enjoy your new Netflix subscription…it’s the best!
Hooray! So happy you’ve recovered from your jet lag and are back in the kitchen and sharing with us 😀 ! I missed most of the most recent season of the GBBS, but am excited to hear it’s on Netflix. Which reminds me to restart our account that we turn off during Summer. I love that show! And like you, I am inspired each time I watch. You know I’m all about pumpkin right now, so especially drooling over these little sweet cuppies. The maple cream cheese frosting sounds divine and is such a perfect pairing. Looking forward to hearing about Japan and all the fun you had there! Have a beautiful weekend, Julia!
Traci, I’m so glad you like GBBO! Isn’t it so fun? And I know you’re loving all things pumpkin right now, just like me 🙂 I’m making my first pumpkin pie tomorrow (usually my mom makes it!) so fingers crossed it turns out well. I hope you are having a beautiful autumn up in the PNW!
Wow, I’m completely mesmerized by the image of the maple cream cheese frosting 🙂 how gorgeous are these…
Welcome back Julia! What a trip you must have had… worth the jet lag, right? I can relate completely…when my husband and I returned from Hong Kong, I was living in Toronto at the time and had to report straight away to my law job — I felt like I was crawling out of my skin… the slightest sounds or even hand motions freaked me out; strange stuff but happily it all falls back into place. And look how well you bounced back 🙂 I’ve really got to get on the whole cooking/baking show thing – they’re so much fun and informative; I’m glad you decided to share this one. I can see why it was highly rated :D. Enjoy the sunshine Julia – have a beautiful Friday.
Thanks, Kelly! These were pretty photogenic cupcakes to begin with, so it was fun to photograph them (though I’m really struggling with the 5pm sunset now!). That is so cool that you have been to Hong Kong, which is on my bucket list. I can only imagine going straight back to work…my poor husband had to do the same! And I think you would love this baking show – let me know if you end up watching it!
These look great! We plan to find out for ourselves next weekend when we host a themed dinner party we’re calling Tweaks on Thanksgiving.
I hope you and your guests enjoy them! I have a feeling you will – you really can’t go wrong with the combination of pumpkin and cream cheese frosting. I’m excited to hear about the dinner!
I have not made anything pumpkin yet this year but these cupcakes are really inspiring me, Julia. I’m a big Netflix user – I just started binge watching Walking Dead – which is awesome and scary – but I need a bit of a break from Zombies – so will be checking out GBBS – cause you definitely need balance in life – zombies vs baking
Making anything pumpkin-related when it is still warm out is definitely a strange feeling, so I can see why you haven’t yet! It finally got a tiny bit cooler here in SF last week, so I seized the opportunity to bake these. I hope you enjoy them! Isn’t Netflix the best? I haven’t seen Walking Dead, but I’ve heard great things. I just finished Broadchurch and loved that. And yes, I can see the need to balance out the zombies with some light-hearted baking!
I want to hear all about Japan!! I’ve never experienced extreme jet lag but I imagine that i is not fun at all! I’m glad you are back to the blog though because these pumpkin muffins look amazing and I love the sound of that maple frosting 🙂
Thanks Izzy! The maple frosting is pretty great, and would be delicious on a ton of other things too. Extreme jet lag is pretty horrible, but the trip made it so worth it!
Glad you had fun in Japan! I spent time there years ago and it was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. These cupcakes look wonderful.
Thanks, Jennifer! Japan was one of the best trips I’ve ever taken – I miss it already!
A trip to Japan. Wow! I’ve always wanted to go there but am so afraid I won’t find anything vegetarian to eat! I’m a fussy fussy eater. 🙁
I love GBB and it just finished a few weeks ago right? We have one in Holland too. I am amazed at how they are able to finish such complex tasks in time!
Your cupcakes look divine. I’ve never seen such fluffy cupcakes. 🙂
Hi Rakhee! It’s definitely harder to find vegetarian food in Japan, but I will be writing a post soon with some recommendations. And thank you for your sweet comment about my cupcakes 🙂
Oh wow, you went to Japan? Amazing, I have always wanted to go and I have a few friends over there… but timing never is right. I hope you share photos, because I bet they are beautiful! Speaking of beautiful – these cupcakes are tres chic! LOVING the fall flavors! Pumpkin cupcakes sound delicious on their own, but with that maple cream cheese frosting? Gah! Gimme! Pinned! Cheers and thanks for sharing the YUM!
Hi Cheyanne! I will definitely be sharing some photos of Japan soon! It was such a special trip. And thank you for the sweet compliment on the cupcakes 🙂 I think you’ll love them!
I made these last week and they received rave reviews from friends and family. Everyone was pleasantly surprised by the muffin-like texture and taste, complemented so well by the sweet frosting. Thanks for the recipe, Julia!
I’m so glad to hear it, Rachel! I love the muffin-like texture too. It doesn’t feel as decadent as your typical cupcake!