In college I must have been on every crazy diet imaginable. I was 19, obsessed with not gaining freshman weight and highly insecure (naturally.) I was such a pain to be around because I always had different diet rules. My sweet Mom was very patient trying to accommodate all my rules every time I came home. And I tell you it was torture to be in that house full of amazing food and only be able to eat 3 cubes of cheese and a piece of lettuce.
Around the holidays, I remember hearing a rumor from the other food-obsessed freshman that pumpkin pie was actually not that bad for you. As long as you skipped the crust it was supposed to be “OK” our crazy diet (I cannot believe I was once that person.) So, I’d go around eating the inside out of the pie and leaving the crust behind. (I promise I would never do such a thing now.) Thankfully, I am over that stupid phase and I live strongly by my motto of eating lots of pie and the crust and also bacon.
That eating-only-the-inside-of-the-pie thing actually did a number on me though. I have become obsessed with that gooey custardy center of the pumpkin pie. Now don’t get me wrong, I love a good crust, but the moment I saw a recipe for a cupcake that was all custard-y goodness, I pretty much made it right away.
This is an amazing recipe. It is fast to throw together, the ingredients are basic, and the result is pretty fail proof. I also have to admit that I ate THREE of these the afternoon I made them. Then, since I was planning on taking them to book club, I made another batch. And then I took these pictures….
The pictures would look better with another bite taken out right? You know….just to show the texture….and stuff….Oops…. :)
Notes about the Recipe:
If you have silicone baking cups this is the time to use them. If not, evenly spray the inside of your cupcake liners with cooking spray. This will make the cupcakes come out nice and easily. If you don’t do this you may end up scraping the delicious filling out of the liner with a spoon.
Don’t be alarmed that these babies sink a bit after coming out of the oven. A dollop of fresh whipped cream fits perfectly into the sunken center!
- ⅔ cup all purpose flour
- ¼ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1 15-oz can pumpkin puree
- ½ cup sugar
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¾ cup half and half
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper or silicone liners. *If using paper liners, evenly coat them with cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and pumpkin pie spice.
- In a large bowl, whisk together pumpkin puree, sugar, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla and half and half until well combined.
- Add in dry ingredients and whisk until no streaks of flour remain and batter is smooth.
- Distribute batter evenly in the muffin tin. (they should be about ¾ of the way full.)
- Bake for 20 minutes. Cool cupcakes in pan. (They will sink as they are cooling.)
- Chill cupcakes before serving. Top with lightly sweetened whipped cream.
Grubarazzi says
mouth….watering…
Kelly | Eat Yourself Skinny says
How cute are these!! I love your cupcake liners too, so festive :) Wonderful recipe!
Kimberly says
I love it! Last year I made pumpkin pie filling but baked them in little ramekins to the same effect. I served them with ginger cookies. Yummm…Will have to try your cupcakes this year. :)
Sarah Catherine says
These look delicious and festive. I’m with ya on the diet thing. I used to go crazy with different diets, but in the end if you enjoy food as much as I do you’ve gotta eat!
Erin @ The Spiffy Cookie says
Good greif those look like the most moist and wonderful pumpkin cupcakes I’ve ever seen! Buzzed and stumbled :-)
Tina says
Oh no you didn’t-you got pie in my cupcakes! What a great combination, they look awesome. I will have to make a small batch due to their addictive nature…buzz buzz!
Mz.kYLee says
These look delicious! I can’t wait to try them! :)
Sandra says
It would have been a challenge to stop and three. These are over the top delicious.
Amalia says
These look to die for! And the cupcake liners are so cute I love them! I’ma have to try these out :)
Dee at Deelicious Sweets says
Yum, these look so awesome! I want one of these right now! I loved your photos.
Stephanie @ Eat. Drink. Love. says
These look so tasty! I kind of like that they sunk in a bit, it makes them look more like little pies!
Erin says
Oh yes!! Please, I will take 3 of them! Well maybe I should have a couple more because my 6 year old is obsessed with pumpkin pie and I will be required to share with him!
jensfreshandfabulous.com says
So cute!
Curry and Comfort says
These cupcakes look fabulous!! I love your pictures too. Congrats on your Foodbuzz Nomination! I wish we could all win… but your blog is fantastic (that’s not good for me LOL!). I’m just happy to be nominated with such outstanding blogs as yours. :) Well, you’ve got a new follower because I am learning to bake so who else can teach me better than the baker chick! :) Buzzed you too! ~ Ramona
Georgia | The Comfort of Cooking says
Audra, these pumpkin pie cupcakes are so cute and creative! They just might have to make an appearance for Thanksgiving, I think. I always love mini cakes and pies. Thanks for sharing! Looking forward to sending you my guest post soon. :)
S.V. says
I love pumpkin pie and I couldn’t imagine ever not eating the crust lol. I could probably eat 5 of these at once. YUM
Cake says
Yum! I love the center of pumpkin pie!
warmvanillasugar says
These look fabulous!
Averie @ Love Veggies and Yoga says
These look amazing! I just saw them on Foodgawker. I pinned them to my pinterest pumpkin board to spread the pumpkin love on these…delish!!! And major congrats on your Fbuzz nomination!
Ali says
These look amazingly delicious. never seen pumpkin cupcakes this good, got me drooling.
Blake Will says
Love these! Kids ate them in a cpl bites lol … added some orange icing (cream cheese, powdered sugar, little bit of the leftover evap milk). Thanks!!!
Anonymous says
looks heavenly!!! I can smell the pumpkin through my computer ;)
Naomi says
Do you know what I can substitute for half-and-half?
Audra says
@naomi- I think milk or half and half would be just fine :)
Anonymous says
hi , i will be making these today . i would like to know if you can substitute the half &&half for milk ? does the half &&half give the cake some type of desired consistency ? i would appreciate feedback asap :)
Audra says
I haven’t made them wih milk before but I imagine it would be Ok. But if you use low fat milk the consistency of the cupcakes would probably be significantly different. I hope they turn out well!
Emily says
do you think a cream cheese frosting would be okay for these?
Audra says
@Emily- I think whipped cream is better for the texture of these because it’s not like cake and actually like the texture of pumpkin pie. Anything heavier may be too much.:)
Meta Musings says
wow! these look sooo amazing!!
Averie @ Love Veggies and Yoga says
These look so moist, rich, and awesome.
Repinned on Pinterest!
And congrats on your FoodBuzz award…you deserve it! :)
Sheri says
Oh, I love this!! I think it might make it onto the table for our Thanksgiving buffet, although I will definitely make them ahead of time too! I love anything and everything pumpkin!
svenoblivion says
Did a post on these! Thank you!
http://svenoblivion.wordpress.com/2011/11/17/pumpkin-pie-cupcakes/
– s
arthi says
Audra – did you make your own whipped cream for these? If so, how did you make it? :)
Audra says
@Arthi- Here is how to make fresh whipped cream:
First- put your bowl and beaters in the freezer for about 10 minutes. (It works best when very cold.)
Then pour a cup of heavy whipping cream into the bowl and mix until the cream is thick and smooth- don’t over mix!
Then add in about 1/4 cup of powdered sugar and you’re all set!
Enjoy! :D
Anonymous says
what if i donnt have baking soda but i have baking powder ?
Audra says
It’s generally not a great idea to swap baking powder for baking soda, it might be ok, but I’ve never made that substitution so I’m not sure. Good luck!
Singlegirlinseattle says
Thanks Baker Chick! These were the first thing i’ve ever made that didn’t come out of a box and they were a hit! I just started a new blog – Single Girl in Seattle – and featured your recipe because it came out so darn good! Your blog is awesome and I will definately be checking it out for new recipes in the future – thanks!
http://singlegirlinseattlewa.blogspot.com/
Courtney says
These were a big hit at my parents house, so I’m making them again but for my church christmas party! I have two questions,does it matter if I use pumpkin pie filling? and the tops were a bit hard, is there anyway to avoid that?
Anyways, thanks so much for your amazing recipe! I tell everyone where I get it and there super good, I love everything pumpkin :-D
Take care,
Courtney
Karen J says
Do you think it makes a difference if I use light brown sugar instead of dark brown sugar? And cami use milk instead of 1/2 and 1/2?
Audra says
Hey Karen! I think that any brown sugar will work. Whole milk should be fine, but no less fat than that. (at least from my experience in making them!)
Audra says
I really don’t recommend pumpkin pie filling. It’s much better to add the spices in yourself. I’m not sure about the hard tops…it’s been almost a year since I made these! :)
Melissah says
These are great! For those of you that need a dairy-free option or don’t have half-and-half on hand, I made these with coconut milk (canned, from Trader Joes) and they turned out perfectly. Yum!
Kerry Phouthavong says
made these last night using almond extract instead of vanilla extract
Hinda Schwartz says
I used crushed graham crackes with melted butter, baked them for 15 min at 350 then added filling and baked for another 20 min
Lindsey Wright says
These are amazing. I ate 3 of them. One just to taste them, and then two more with butter pecan ice cream (I didn’t have whipped cream). I also used self-rising flour and half and half because that’s what I had in my kitchen. They were just as delicious as the picture makes them look. I will definitely be making these again in the near future! Thanks for the recipe! :)
Rbick76 says
I want to make jumbo cupcakes? would this recipe work?
Karen says
Do I have to spray the liners with cooking spray? Because when I made them with cooking spray they came out looking wet!
Audra says
Hey Karen! For me- spraying very lightly was the only way they would come out. Try a batch not spraying- maybe your liners are different than mine! :)
Laurie Kellert says
I L O V E these cupcakes!!!
Andrea says
Top these with homemade Egg nog whipped cream (replace about 1/2 of the whipping cream with egg nog in your favorite homemade whipped cream recipe) and these make a delicious addition to any fall meal! I did two batches for a family gathering, one with plain whipped cream and 1 with Egg nog whipped cream and none of the Egg nog batch was left!!
Monisa S. says
These are the BEST EVER!! Just like having mini pumpkin pies.. SO good my 8 year old son requested these for his bday party instead of his favorite character cupcakes….