Pumpkin Cupcakes and Apple Pie Cupcakes with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

Nathan and I went up to a house warming last weekend and I brought some cupcakes. I actually made two flavors, Pumpkin and Apple Pie cupcakes to go with the fall season. It was a really fun time and most of the cupcakes were eaten (hooray!). Nathan and I even dressed up in a "couples" costume as a hanging chad and the slutty pumpkin from How I Met Your Mother (which is a hilarious show!).


Both cupcakes use the same base. I'm listing the pumpkin recipe below with notes for what to change for the Apple Pie at the bottom.

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves
pinch ground nutmeg
2 large eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup whipped cream cheese
2 tsp granulated sugar

Directions

Mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices in one bowl.
In a second bowl, mix together eggs, sugar, pumpkin and oil. In small batches, mix the flour mixture into the wet mixture.

In a small bowl, mix together the cream cheese and the sugar.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Line a muffin tin and fill 3/4 full with batter. Place about a tsp of cream cheese mixture on top of each cupcake. Bake about 17 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool completely and frost with maple cream cheese frosting.

you can see the dollop of cream cheese in the middle of the pumpkin cupcake

In order to make this an Apple Pie Cupcake, add 1/2 cup flour and substitute 3/4 cup milk for pumpkin puree. Omit cream cheese step and add a slice of apple if desired. Batter will be thinner than for the pumpkin cupcakes.

Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

1/2 Cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/4 Cup whipped cream cheese
1/4 Cup Pure Maple Syrup (I'm not talking Aunt Jemima, I'm talking actual maple syrup)
about 4 Cups powdered confectioners sugar

Directions

Cream together the butter, cream cheese, and maple syrup until smooth. Slowly beat in powdered sugar until a good frosting consistency that will retain its shape.  

For the apple pie cupcakes, I spread a thin layer of frosting over the top and then piped a donut of frosting. I then put a spoonful of commercial apple pie filling (from a can) in the center of the donut. It's super easy and looks really pretty!