Baking Partners: Pumpkin Cupcakes

O.k, so I have joined a baking group that sends out monthly challenges. This month the challenge was to make either cupcakes or muffins using pumpkin…. Well as soon as I read that, I typed pumpkin cupcakes into Google, found this recipe and checked to see if we had the ingredients. We did… kind of! I had store-bought cream cheese frosting and no bricks of cream cheese, so I just made these even more simple and used that! My family looked at me like I was crazy, but after they were done; they all had one and really seemed to enjoy them! Looks like this baking group is going to be a hit in this house!

(great idea to get all ingredients out before you start mixing everything just in-case you are missing an ingredient!)

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 18.5-ounce box yellow cake mix (plus the ingredients called for in the package directions)
• 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
• 1  15-ounce can pumpkin puree
• 2  8 oz. bars cream cheese, at room temperature
• 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 24 pieces candy corn

DIRECTIONS:

Heat oven to 350’

Line two 12-cup muffin tins with paper liners; prepare the cake mix as directed but with the following change: Add the pumpkin pie spice and substitute the can of pumpkin puree for the water called for in the package directions.

Sure looks like pumpkin, & it smells soooooo delicious!

Divide the batter among the prepared muffin tins and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean, 18 to 22 minutes. Let cool.

Meanwhile, using an electric mixer beat the cream cheese and sugar until creamy. Spread on the cupcakes and top each with a piece of candy corn. (Or you can cheat as I did and use a tub of cream cheese frosting; I just added a little orange gel food coloring to make it pumpkinier and used various sprinkles I had in the cupboard to make them festive!)

(final product along with 2 of the boys enjoying them!)

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All enthusiastic bloggers interested in baking are welcome, please email Swathi Iyer at favoriterecipes12@gmail.com, or click the little icon over on the right side of my blog!