Blue Ribbon Group Pumpkin Cupcakes
Super Easy. Super Delicious.
Pumpkin is something I love year-round and around the clock! It can be a cool rainy day or a random Sunday afternoon. Now with October, Halloween, and pumpkin season just around the corner, it’s 100% the perfect time to whip up these Pumpkin Cupcakes.
I made sure the recipe would be super easy…and based it around 3/4 cup pumpkin puree, as that is what I had left over in the fridge. I incorporated Greek yogurt because I always seem to have that around, and I thought it would work well with the pumpkin. Did it ever! The cupcakes baked up SO tender. My niece Kinga (a sweet but tough critic) proclaimed them to have the “perfect density and texture,” and I have to agree!
The cupcakes don’t really need a frosting, but to use up some coconut I had on hand, I decided to do a coconut cream cheese frosting as a finishing touch.
Running low on both time and butter (I know, the latter is sacrilegious for me, honestly), I made up a shortcut version. There are just four ingredients: coconut, cream cheese, powdered sugar, and honey. It’s rich but not overly sweet and not overpowering to the star of the show…the cupcake itself. It also makes the perfect amount for 12 cupcakes.
If you like pumpkin, don’t miss trying this recipe for the best pumpkin cupcakes!
-Cyndi
Pumpkin Cupcakes
3/4 cup pumpkin puree, room temperature
1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt, room temperature
1/4 cup butter, room temperature
2 eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (or cinnamon, all spice, or nutmeg)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place cupcake liners (paper baking cups) into the 12 openings of a cupcake (muffin) tin. In a large bowl, combine the wet ingredients (pumpkin, yogurt, butter, and eggs); set aside. In a medium bowl, combine the dry ingredients (flour, sugars, salt, baking soda, baking powder, salt, baking soda, powder, and pumpkin pie spice). Add the flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture and stir until well combined (batter will be thick). Spoon into the 12 lined cups, dividing the batter evenly. Bake 20-25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool and frost as desired. Makes 12 cupcakes.
-Recipe from The Blue Ribbon Group
Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting (Shortcut)
1 cup shredded coconut, divided
4 oz light cream cheese
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 teaspoons honey
Toast 1/4 cup coconut (in thin layer on baking sheet) in 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes or until edges brown; set aside for topping. Mix remaining 3/4 cup coconut with cream cheese, powdered sugar and honey. Spread on cooled cupcakes. Sprinkle with toasted coconut.
