Happy October! Can you believe it is October?
This week my co-worker walked into my office with a photo copy of a recipe and says, “You have to make these.” Of course i had to try this recipe. WOW! If it wasn’t for my co-worker i would have never made them. They were delicious. As you know i am not a pumpkin pie fan so i have been looking for other pumpkin recipes and this is a keeper. This recipe is from House Beautiful Magazine and originally a Ina Gartner Recipe. I guess Ina feels the same way as I do and not a big fan of pumpkin pie so she looks for alternatives. Here is another great pumpkin alternative to pie. If you didn’t see my pumpkin bread that is another recipe that was delicious.
Can you believe this picture was taken with my iphone 4? I guess the phone takes better pictures than i thought. How is your phone camera?
Also, i am still looking for other good pumpkin alternatives. Anyone have any they want to share? What about pumpkin soup?
Enjoy!
Pumpkin Cupcakes with Maple Frosting
Yield: 10 cupcakes
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Ingredients:
Cupcakes
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup canned pumpkin purée (8 ounces), not pie filling
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1/2 cup vegetable oil
Maple Frosting
6 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
3 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 tsp Boyajian Natural Maple Flavor
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
1/2 cup coarsely chopped Heath bars, for serving (2 1.4-ounce bars)
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Brush or spray the top of 10 muffin tins with vegetable oil and line them with 10 paper liners.
Into a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. In a larger bowl, whisk together the eggs, pumpkin purée, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vegetable oil. Add the flour mixture and stir until combined.
Divide the batter among the prepared tins (I use a level 2 1/4-inch ice cream scoop) and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Set aside to cool completely.
Maple Frosting
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the cream cheese and butter on low speed until smooth. Stir in the maple flavoring and vanilla extract. With the mixer still on low, slowly add the confectioners’ sugar and mix until smooth.
Spread the cupcakes with the Maple Frosting and sprinkle with the chopped toffee bits.
Adapted from: House Beautiful Magazine
Privet and Holly says
October 1, 2010 at 5:53 amMy taste buds are
tingling just thinking
of eating this lovely
looking cupcake…..
You had me at pumpkin,
but throw in cream cheese
and maple and you have
a tri-fecta!!! I get HB,
but I don’t remember this
recipe. Have.to.make!
Have a great weekend.
xx Suzanne
Lisa says
October 1, 2010 at 6:05 amThis sounds mouthwatering delishhhh!!! I too am a pumpkin addict.. anything that has pumpkin in it and I’m IN! Going to give these a try!
(Love your new look by the way)
Lisa
Carrie says
October 1, 2010 at 9:39 amFor a second I thought that the Heath bars were bacon pieces…not a bad idea actually.
Splendid Willow says
October 3, 2010 at 9:09 pmWhen can I come over and sample this?!! (:
Happy new week to you!
ox, Mon
Maddie says
October 4, 2010 at 6:28 amI’ve never seen this the pumpkin-maple combination before, but now that you mention it…they seem made for each other! I love pumpkin muffins, so I can’t see why adding frosting on top would be a bad thing at all. 🙂
Mia says
October 4, 2010 at 8:58 amLooks really delicious!
Holly says
October 5, 2010 at 12:24 amOh, these look YUMMERS!!
I think this is a good time of year to TRY THAT!! ;D Thanks for sharing!
ithaca says
October 6, 2010 at 8:16 amcould you tell me whether I need ti cook the pumkin before or not or just puree it down to a mash ) ?
Delishhh replied: — October 6th, 2010 @ 9:32 am
If you are using raw pumpkin and now puree pumpkin from a can you have to cook it.
There are three ways to prepare fresh pumpkin to be used in recipes:
1. Baked Fresh Pumpkin – Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Cut the pumpkin in half and clean out the seeds and stringy stuff. Cover a baking sheet with tin foil. Brush a little melted butter on the cut edges of the pumpkin. Place the sides cut side down on the cookie sheet. Cook for around an hour or until the pumpkin is soft. Cool. Remove the pumpkin skin. Cut into pieces and blend or put through a food processor until the mixture is smooth like canned pumpkin.
2. Boiled Fresh Pumpkin – Remove the seeds and strings. Peel and cut the pumpkin into chunks. Put pumpkin chunks in a large pan. Cover with water. Bring to a light boil. Cook until tender. Cool. As with the baked method, blend or food process the pumpkin until smooth.
3. Microwaved Fresh Pumpkin – Clean seeds and strings out of pumpkin. Cube with rind on. Place chunks in a microwave safe bowl and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Cook on medium until soft. Check every 5 minutes as microwave times vary. Once chunks are cool, peel off the rind. Blend or food process until smooth just as in the other methods.
If the pumpkin puree looks runny, there are two ways to thicken it up.
How To Thicken Up Fresh Pumpkin Puree
1. Put the pumpkin puree in a saucepan and cook over medium heat. Cook until it reaches the consistency desired. This just takes some of the water out of the fresh pumpkin.
2. Line a strainer with cheesecloth or coffee filters. Place the strainer in a big bowl. Pour the fresh pumpkin in the strainer. Leave this in the refrigerator over night. The excess liquid will drain off and can be rinsed away the next morning leaving you with thicker pumpkin.
I hope this helps!
Melanie Piano says
October 7, 2010 at 11:08 amYummy! Tasty! Delicious! Indulging! Tempting! Mouth-watering! I just want to have cup cakes like yours! I should try to make this one by tomorrow. Sorry for my husband I should be on a diet right now. Lol. Thanks for the scrumptious recipe.
Rose Plated says
October 15, 2010 at 10:56 amThis is indeed a mouthwatering recipe. I can’t wait to try this and eat with my kids. They will surely love your recipe. Thanks for sharing this yummy and delicious recipe.