Pumpkin Cupcakes

 

 When you receive an invitation to a Halloween party, what's the first thing that comes to mind? You'd usually think "What costume shall I wear?", am I correct? But when my friends, Casey and Chris invited me to their "I Put a Spell on You" Party, the first thing I thought wasn't "what shall I wear?" but rather  "What shall I BRING?" hehehehe Here's how the actual conversation went:
Me: So... If I happen to be baking something for a Halloween party, what do you think might be a good something?"
Casey: "Something orange and black? Like an orange cake or cupcakes with chocolate icing?" 
Me: "How about Pumpkin Cupcakes and maybe orange cream cheese icing?"  
Casey: "Oh my GOD that is the best thing I've ever heard in my life. CLASSIC Joey Quaile shenanigans!!!!
 LOL She always cracks me up. And I'm so thrilled with how the cupcakes turned out! I used Martha Stewart's cupcake recipe and added a few little simple decorations. Don't they look cute? They were really simple to make too, and they made exactly 2 dozen cupcakes, which is exactly how many decorations I had. Perfect!
Even if you're not going to a Halloween party, you should still give this recipe a try. If you love anything pumpkin as much as I do, I PROMISE you'll love them! SERIOUS yum.
 Thank you Casey and Chris for inviting me to your party! Hopefully everyone will love the cupcakes as much as I do! 


2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin puree
Orange Cream Cheese Icing, if desired


 Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners; set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice; set aside.
 In a large bowl, whisk together, brown sugar, granulated sugar, butter, and eggs. Add dry ingredients, and whisk until smooth. Whisk in pumpkin puree.
 Divide batter evenly among liners, filling each about halfway. Bake until tops spring back when touched, and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes, rotating pans once if needed. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely.

Tips:
Not a fan of Orange Cream Cheese icing? Are you feeling ok? Use regular cream cheese icing! Not a fan of regular cream cheese icing? Maybe you should lie down, something is definitely not right. Use regular butter cream! Use any kind of frosting you like!
Instead of measuring out each different kind of spice, I just threw in a couple teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice blend. I had it handy and it was just easier. Just sayin!