Pumpkin Cupcakes with Nutella Cream Cheese Frosting

Yep, another cake recipe! I finally broke out the canned pumpkin and the first thing I wanted to do was make pumpkin cupcakes with Nutella cream cheese frosting. I entered these decorated ones in our work Halloween baking contest today and didn’t win the prize (booo!), but our lab came home with the most important trophy – we won for best group costume! We dressed up as the characters from Glee and did a skit with a few song and dance numbers that my labmate and I choreographed – so fun! Anyone want to guess who I was? I’ll try to remember to snag a picture tomorrow to post. I just love Halloween!

These cupcakes were quite tasty. Since pumpkin puree is so watery, I removed some of the liquid by simmering it on the stove for a bit so the flavor would be more concentrated, much like I did with these pumpkin pie truffles. I originally piped the frosting on the cupcakes, but the Nutella flavor was overwhelming the pumpkin, so I removed most of it and frosted them by hand instead with a thinner layer. This is a really yummy flavor combo. Hope you’re all having fun getting ready for Halloween!

p.s. Erica won my Keys to Good Cooking book giveaway – congrats!

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Nutella Cream Cheese Frosting
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

Pumpkin Cupcakes:
1 15-ounce can pure pumpkin puree
2 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup buttermilk

Nutella Cream Cheese Frosting:
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup Nutella
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Directions:
To make the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 350˚F. Place pumpkin puree in a small nonstick pan and simmer over medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes or until reduced to 1 cup. Cool completely.

Meanwhile, mix together flour, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, baking soda, baking powder, and salt and sift the mixture into a large bowl. Beat butter and sugar with a mixer in a large bowl until creamed. Add in eggs, vanilla extract, and cooled pumpkin puree, and mix until smooth. Slowly mix in half the sifted flour mixture until smooth. Mix in the buttermilk and then the remaining flour mixture. Line 16 cups of two standard cupcake pans with liners and evenly spoon cupcake batter into the liners, filling cups 3/4 full. Bake cupcakes at 350˚F for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick in the center comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes in the pan and then transfer cupcakes to a cooling rack. Cool for 20 minutes or until cupcakes are room temperature.

To make the frosting, add the cream cheese, Nutella, and vanilla extract to a large bowl and beat with a mixer until smooth. Slowly mix in the powdered sugar, scraping down sides of the bowl, as needed, until the frosting is smooth. Frost cooled cupcakes. Makes 16 cupcakes.

Nutrition: 322 calories, 13.4g fat, 1.2g fiber, 3.9g protein per cupcake
Cost: $0.44 per cupcake

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