Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

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I step outside Monday morning with my morning coffee.  I had actually gotten dressed that morning before the kids were awake: SUCCESS.  But when I stepped outside in my jean shorts and t-shirt, I ran right back inside to grab my jeans and hoodie because y’all….. get this…. it was 59 degrees.  In August.  In Georgia.  I mean, can it get more heaven than that?!  I may be a Georgia girl, but man do I love my cold weather! I spent a full winter in South Bend, Indiana where it literally snowed every day from November to April.  So I know a harsh winter when I see one.  And Georgia, you’ve got nothin’.  But I digress.  So here I am in jeans and a hoodie, sipping my hot lukewarm coffee, in August.  Dream weather.  Suddenly, I got this hankerin’ need to make something pumpkin.  Yep, I definitely be that white girl in boots sippin’ on a pumpkin spice latte.  No shame.   I loved pumpkin before it was trendy, ok?

Anyways, I happen to have in my possession the best pumpkin bread recipe known to man.  Passed down from generation to generation.  It was a MUST HAVE on our Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner table.  This was my aunt’s specialty.  Yes, I was lucky enough to grow up just miles from ALL my aunts, uncles, and cousins.  So our holiday gatherings were 30 plus people, and let me just say, the food was “slap yo mama” good.  No joke.  My dad was the ONLY Northerner who married into our Southern family.  Everyone else has been cooking biscuits and gravy from birth.  So I don’t kid when I talk about my family’s Southern cooking.  It’s really something.  Like no-one-ate-the-whole-day-leading-up-to-it- something.

I’ve had some REALLY good pumpkin bread (um, Starbucks anyone???) and some really bad pumpkin bread.  It has a tendency to really dry out if you’re not careful.  This recipe is super easy and super fool proof.  Mix dry ingredients, mix wet ingredients, combine together and voila! Pumpkin bread… or muffins… or cupcakes.  Did I say versatile too?

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Pumpkin Bread


INGREDIENTS:

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups of sugar

2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. nutmeg

dash of ground cloves

1 tsp. salt

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2/3 cup vegetable oil

1 can of pumpkin or 2 cups of cooked pumpkin

3 eggs

PREPARATION:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix all dry ingredients together.  Add wet ingredients.  Stir just until combined.

FOR BREAD:

Pour into 2- 9×5 greased loaf pans.  Sprinkle sugar/cinnamon mixture on top– or pecans or pumpkin seeds (the possibilities are endless!).  Bake @ 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes.  Cool in pans for 10 minutes, then remove to cooling racks.

FOR MUFFINS OR CUPCAKES:

Line 2-12 ct. muffin tins with paper liners.  Fill cups about 2/3 full.  Bang on counter a few times to level batter.  For muffins: top with cinnamon/sugar or nuts or seeds.  Bake @ 350 degrees for 17-19 minutes.  Until tops are springy.  Cool in pans for a few minutes, then move to cooling racks.  For cupcakes: Cool completely before frosting.


I almost forgot about the best part…. the frosting! I have a love affair with cinnamon.  My husband hates cinnamon.  Sad day.  I’ve tried just normal cream cheese frosting on pumpkin cupcakes, and it’s good.  Really good.  But this cinnamon cream cheese frosting… it’s to die for.  It just brings out the soft spiciness of the cakes, just giving an even stronger Fall flavor.  And that’s what we’re going for.  Yes.  In August.  Don’t judge.

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See those cinnamon specks^  YESSSSS.

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting


INGREDIENTS:

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup vegetable shortening

1/4 cup butter, softened

2 lbs. powdered sugar

1/8 cup of milk

1 tsp. cinnamon

dash of ground cloves

PREPARATION:

Mix the cream cheese, shortening, and butter with a mixer until fluffy.  Add powdered sugar, little by little.  Add milk (if it’s too thick, add more; too thin, add more powdered sugar).  Add the cinnamon and cloves and beat until fluffy and smooth.  Top with chopped pecans.

You can either slather it on or pipe it on.  I personally love piping cupcakes more than almost anything in this world.  I used a 1M nozzle and did a rose design.  I hope to do a video tutorial on this sometime soon.

And there’s a little taste of Fall heaven in your mouth.  Enjoy!

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