Pumpkin Cupcakes with Maple Frosting

You know what I love most about this season?
Actually, that's not a very fair question because I love far too many things...cold weather, warm clothes, up-ing my coffee/tea intake, halloween...

I could go on, but I'll stop there.  I do love pumpkins though.  I love that at this time of year you can find pumpkin incorporated into so many different foods, not just pumpkin pies, people!  I'm talking pumpkin muffins, pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin curry soup, pumpkin ravioli, pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin beer, and so much more!  Funny thing is, I truly don't grow tired of pumpkin either; it's just too good.

Enjoying the season at the pumpkin patch

 My first pumpkin baking endeavor of the season was pumpkin cupcakes (of course) with maple frosting.  The recipe is courtesy of Ina Garten aka The Barefoot Contessa as a feature in House Beautiful.  I had some help from my lovely friends Nichole and Andi on this one :)

Doubled the original recipe, the more cupcakes the better (~20 cupcakes)

Pumpkin Cupcakes
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp group nutmeg
4 eggs, at room temp.
16 ounces canned pumpkin puree
1 cup sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
Maple Frosting (below)
1 cup chopped toffee candy (Heath bar)

Maple Frosting (This is doubled too, but had frosting left over)
12 ounces cream cheese, room temp.
6 tbsp unsalted butter, room temp.
1/2 tsp Boyajian Natural Maple Flavor **
2 tsp vanilla extract
4 cups confectioners sugar

**I didn't have this maple extract so I used all natural, pure maple syrup.  I used a little over 2 tablespoons until it tasted right.  Frosting wasn't overly maple-y either.  Use as much or as little as you feel necessary. 

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350F
• In a bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg.
• In a larger bowl, whisk together eggs, pumpkin puree, sugar, brown sugar, and vegetable oil.
• Add flour mixture to egg mixture and combine.
• Divide batter into tins containing cupcake liners
• Bake for 20-25 min.
• Frosting:
• Mix cream cheese and butter until smooth
• Stir in maple flavoring (or syrup) and vanilla extract
• Add confectioners sugar and mix until smooth
•  Frost cupcakes
• Sprinkle tops with chopped toffee pieces

Ina Garten definitely did something right with these cupcakes because they are absolutely delicious!  It's funny because I actually completely forgot that I purchased a pumpkin cupcake with maple frosting from Crushcakes when I was in Santa Barbara.  Now, I'm not saying that cupcake was bad, but these were definitely better.

So when you're ready to get into the season with a little pumpkin treat, do yourself a favor and make these cupcakes :)

And don't worry, more pumpkin-inspired recipes and treats coming soon!

So tell me, what's your favorite seasonal eat?