These Pumpkin Halloween Cupcakes are the ultimate Halloween treat! This recipe is for moist pumpkin cupcakes swirled with a delicious brown sugar cream cheese frosting, you have to try them!
This recipe is perfect for the spooky season, naturally orange cupcakes filled with warm pumpkin spices and topped with a fluffy frosting. The only October cupcake recipe you need to make!
If you love pumpkin recipes, then look at this recipe for Black Velvet Chocolate Cupcakes decorated with the cutest mini pumpkins and this fall recipe for Pumpkin Bread with Cream Cheese Frosting.
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Ingredients
You will need the simple ingredients below to make these pumpkin spice cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. Remember always to use fresh, room temperature ingredients when baking.
- Sunflower oil
- Extra-large eggs
- Granulated white sugar
- Self-raising flour
- Ground cinnamon
- Ground ginger
- Ground nutmeg
- Salt
- Vanilla extract
- Greek yogurt
- Pumpkin puree
- Muscovado sugar
- Powdered sugar
- Unsalted butter
- Cream cheese
Sunflower oil – for this recipe I recommend using sunflower oil, but you can also use any other neutral-tasting vegetable oil.
Extra-large eggs – for this recipe I have used extra-large eggs. These eggs weigh about 64 grams out of their shell. If you don’t have extra large eggs, rather weigh the eggs you do have and then work out if more eggs need to be added.
Pumpkin puree – for this recipe you can use homemade or store-bought canned pumpkin puree. I made my own by steaming a bag of pumpkin pieces in the microwave and then pureeing them in a food processor.
Ground spices – I have chosen to use a combination of ground cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg for this recipe. You can do the same or add your favorite spice combination or use ready-mixed pumpkin pie spice.
Muscovado sugar - for this recipe I used muscovado sugar for its deep flavor but you can use light brown sugar or brown sugar instead.
See the printable recipe card below for quantities.
Instructions
Follow the instructions below to make this recipe for homemade Halloween cupcakes. First, you will be making the pumpkin cupcakes and then the brown sugar and cinnamon cream cheese frosting.
Instructions for pumpkin cupcakes
STEP 1: Beat eggs, sugar, and oil. Add the oil, eggs, and sugar to a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until combined, about 2-3 minutes.
STEP 2: Add dry ingredients. Sift together the salt, flour, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. Add the flour mixture to the egg and sugar mixture. Beat at low speed until just combined.
STEP 3: Add vanilla, yogurt, and pumpkin. In a large jug mix the wet ingredients together - the yogurt, pumpkin purée, and vanilla. Slowly pour this pumpkin mixture into the cupcake batter with the mixer's motor running at low speed. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix again, making sure it is lump-free.
STEP 4: Bake. Fill the 24 cupcake cases with the pumpkin cupcake batter, being sure to overfill the cases. Two-thirds of the way up is enough. Bake in a preheated oven at 180C (350F) for about 12 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean. Allow the cupcakes to cool completely before decorating.
Instructions for frosting
STEP 1: Beat butter and brown sugar. In a bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, add the softened butter, and muscovado sugar. Beat at medium speed until the butter has colored and some of the sugar has dissolved.
STEP 2: Add the icing sugar. Add the icing sugar and cinnamon to the butter and brown sugar mixture and beat at medium speed until combined. The mixture should look like fine breadcrumbs.
STEP 3: Add the cream cheese. Add the room temperature cubed cream cheese to the icing sugar mixture and beat again until combined. Scrap down the sides of the bowl and mix again at high speed until light and fluffy. This can take up to 5 minutes.
STEP 4: Decorate. Fill a prepared piping bag with the frosting and pipe a swirl of frosting on top of the cupcakes. Decorate with edible fondant pumpkins and Halloween decorations. Enjoy!
Hint: To avoid lumpy cream cheese frosting make sure you are using room-temperature butter and cream cheese. If the cream cheese is cold when added, expect lumps of cream cheese that you cannot beat away.
Equipment
For this recipe, you will need x2 12-hole muffin tin or cupcake pans, 24x paper liners, a disposable piping bag, a piping nozzle, and an electric mixer.
I prefer using a stand mixer or electric hand mixer to make the buttercream frosting as they help ensure a fluffy frosting that is perfect for decorating.
Storage
Cupcakes cool quickly so try to frost them the same day they are baked. This helps prevent them from drying out. If you don’t have time to decorate the cupcakes the same day as baking them, store them in an airtight container or cover the cupcake trays in plastic wrap until the next day.
Once the cupcakes are frosted keep them in an airtight container at room temperature for about 3 days out of direct sunlight. If the weather is particularly hot, choose to store them in the fridge and bring them to room temperature before eating them. They will keep in the fridge for about 4 days.
To freeze the cupcakes, individually wrap each cupcake in plastic wrap and then place them in a freezer-safe airtight plastic container. Freeze for about one month. Bring to room temperature before eating them.
Top tips
- Always use room temperature ingredients, this is especially important for the butter and cream cheese in the frosting recipe.
- Use an oven thermometer to test the true temperature of your oven before baking.
- Never overfill your cupcake papers.
- Cool the cupcakes on wire racks before decorating, otherwise, the frosting will melt.
- Use just whipped frosting when decorating, otherwise, beat the frosting again. It must be light and fluffy before piping.
FAQ
If you can’t find pumpkin puree use homemade pumpkin puree instead. Do this by either boing or microwaving chopped pumpkin until tender. Then using a food processor to mash it. If it has a lot of liquid, use a kitchen towel to remove some of the moisture.
If your frosting is lumpy it is because you didn’t use room temperature butter and cream cheese. In order to have a fluffy smooth frosting these ingredients must both be at room temperature.
If you don’t have self-raising flour, use a combination of all-purpose flour and baking powder. For this recipe use 290grams of flour and one tablespoon of baking powder.
If your cupcakes have a strange shape, baked over the edge of the liners or sunken – this could be that you overfilled your cupcake liners or that your oven was set at the wrong temperature.
The combination of brown sugar frosting, warm spices, and pumpkin make these easy Halloween cupcakes just too delicious! I hope you give this pumpkin cupcake recipe a try for your next Halloween party and if you do - please leave a star rating and comment below, your feedback means so much!
I would love for you to get in touch on social media @with_love_kitty and send through photos of your Halloween cupcakes!
Happy Baking
With Love,
Kitty
📖 Recipe
Pumpkin Halloween Cupcakes
Equipment
- 2x 12-hole cupcake pans
Ingredients
Pumpkin Cupcakes
- 120 ml sunflower oil
- 3 extra-large eggs
- 250 grams granulated white sugar
- 270 grams self-raising flour
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 160 grams Greek yoghurt
- 130 grams pumpkin puree
Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting
- 80 grams muscovado sugar
- 100 grams unsalted butter
- 500 grams icing sugar
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 250 grams cream cheese
Instructions
Pumpkin Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) and line two 12-hole cupcake pans with cupcake papers.
- Add the oil, eggs, and sugar to a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until combined, about 2-3 minutes.
- Sift together the salt, flour, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. Add the flour mixture to the egg and sugar mixture. Beat at low speed until just combined.
- In a jug mix together the yogurt, pumpkin purée, and vanilla. Slowly pour this pumpkin mixture into the cupcake batter with the mixer's motor running at low speed. Once added, scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix again, making sure it is lump-free.
- Fill the cupcake cases with the cupcake batter and bake for about 12 to 15 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean. Allow the cupcakes to cool completely before decorating.
Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting
- In a bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, add the softened butter, and light brown sugar. Beat at medium speed until the butter has colored and some of the sugar has dissolved.
- Add the icing sugar and cinnamon to the butter and brown sugar mixture and beat at medium speed until combined. The mixture should look like fine breadcrumbs.
- Add the room-temperature cubed cream cheese to the icing sugar mixture and beat again until combined. Scrap down the sides of the bowl and mix again at high speed until light and fluffy. This can take up to 5 minutes.
- Fill a prepared piping bag with the frosting and pipe a swirl of frosting on top of the cupcakes. Decorate with a dusting of cinnamon and edible fondant pumpkins or other Halloween decorations. Enjoy!
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