Mini pumpkin spice cupcakes with maple cream cheese frosting are a delicious fall sweet treat the whole family will enjoy. Made from scratch, still easy!
Prep Time 20 minutesminutes
Cook Time 15 minutesminutes
Total Time 35 minutesminutes
Serving Size 16
Ingredients
Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes
¾cuppumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
¼cupunsalted butter, melted
¼cupgranulated sugar
3tablespoonspure maple syrup
1large egg
¾cupall purpose flour
1½teaspoonspumpkin pie spice
½teaspoonground cinnamon
½teaspoonbaking soda
¼teaspoonsalt
Maple Cream Cheese Frosting (makes enough for 2 batches of mini cupcakes)
4ouncescream cheese
1tablespoonbutter, softened
¼teaspoonvanilla
2tablespoonspure maple syrup
pinchground cinnamon
2cupspowdered sugar
¼cupchopped pecans, toasted(optional for garnish)
Instructions
For the Cupcakes
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease or line 16-20 mini cupcake cups (see notes). Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together pumpkin puree, melted butter, sugar, maple syrup and egg until well blended.
Sprinkle in flour, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. Stir until just combined with no white streaks remaining.
Using a kitchen scoop or spoon, transfer to cupcake pans (wells should be about ¾ full). Tap bottoms gently on kitchen counter to spread out evenly.
Bake for 13-17 minutes (see notes) or until cupcakes spring back slightly when pressed lightly.
Allow to cool in pan for about 5 minutes, then transfer to cooling rack.
For the Frosting
Mix the cream cheese until smooth. Add the butter, vanilla, maple syrup and cinnamon on high speed in the bowl of your stand mixer (a hand-held mixer works for this job too).
On low setting, add the powdered sugar, one cup at a time, scraping down the bowl between each addition to make sure it's incorporated evenly.
Once the cupcakes have cooled completely, pipe or spread the frosting on top.
Optional- Sprinkle each cupcake top with toasted pecans.
Notes
The vintage Bake-Rite mini cupcake pans I used measure 2" wide by 1" deep. This recipe makes 16. Bake for 15-17 minutes.
Most mini cupcake pans sold today measure 1½" wide by ¾" deep. This recipe will make more cupcakes (about 20), with less baking time (13-15 minutes).
Use canned pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling.
The cupcake batter is thick, but don't over mix. Also, gently tap your cupcake pans on the counter after filling to remove air bubbles before baking (I didn't with my first batch and there were some holes.)
The frosting recipe is enough for a double batch of cupcakes (or spread it on something else!). If it's too soft, refrigerate for about 30 minutes before frosting cupcakes.
These cupcakes can be frozen up to 3 months in an airtight container and thawed to enjoy later.