Pumpkin Cupcakes + Peanut Butter Frosting

Moist and tender Pumpkin Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting. A tantalizing combination of salty and sweet! 

When I close my eyes and try to dream up the perfect cupcake, two things come to mind.

Pumpkin and Peanut Butter.

Why?

Pumpkin cupcakes are so moist with earthy depth and a touch of spice. While peanut butter frosting… is there anything better?

The nutty sweetness of peanut butter frosting is perfected by a good dose of salt, making it the salty-sweet creamy dreamy end-all of frostings. In my opinion, of course.

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting might just be my best cupcakes ever. I’m not kidding.

I know, I know. This is not the most obvious flavor combination, but I promise you, it works!

For bonus points, using melted butter and pumpkin puree as the liquids in the batter, means there’s no need to mix the wet and dry ingredients in separate bowls. You can actually use the same bowl through the entire baking process for easy clean up.

See? I knew you would like these.

Another endearing quality of these Pumpkin Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting is that because they are so moist, they have a longer shelf-life, so to speak, than other cupcakes. I covered several of them in plastic let them sit on the counter for 5 days last week. And you know what? They didn’t dry out like most cupcakes.

Pretty impressive.

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting are perfect for your Halloween party this year, and would also make a wonderful alternative treat for pumpkin pie haters on Thanksgiving!

Pumpkin + Peanut Butter is a sure deal.

Try them… You’ll see!

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Pumpkin Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting

Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes minutes

Moist and tender Pumpkin Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting. A tantalizing combination of salty and sweet!

Servings: 30 cupcakes

Ingredients

US Customary - Metric

For the Pumpkin Cupcakes:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter melted (2 sticks)
• 4 large eggs
• 21 ounces pumpkin puree not pie filling

For the Peanut Butter Frosting:

• 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter softened
• 1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter
• 5 cups powdered sugar more as needed
• 4 tablespoons milk more as needed
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 teaspoon salt

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line your muffin tins with 24-30 paper liners, depending on the size. (Some "standard" sized muffin tins are larger than others.)
• In a bowl of your electric mixer, combine the flour, sugars, spices, baking powder and soda, and salt. Mix well. Then turn the mixer on low and slowly add the melted butter, eggs and pumpkin puree. Scrape the bowl and beat again until the batter is totally smooth.
• Using a 1/3-cup scoop, fill the paper liners about 2/3 full. Then bake for 18-22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the middle of a cupcake comes out clean. Cool in the muffin tins for at least 10 minutes.
• Flip the pumpkin cupcakes out of the muffin tins, and allow them to cool to room temperature before making the frosting.

For the Peanut Butter Frosting:

• Place the softened butter in a clean mixing bowl and beat until light and fluffy. Add the peanut butter and beat again. Scrape the bowl, then beat on low while adding the powdered sugar, milk, vanilla and salt. If the frosting is too thin, add a little more powdered sugar. If it is too thick, add another tablespoon of milk.
• Scoop the frosting into a large piping bag with a large tip and pipe the frosting onto the cooled pumpkin cupcakes. To garnish, sprinkle with pumpkin pie spice, chocolate sprinkles, or top with a pumpkin candy.

Nutrition

Serving: 1cupcake, Calories: 391kcal, Carbohydrates: 45g, Protein: 5g, Fat: 23g, Saturated Fat: 11g, Cholesterol: 63mg, Sodium: 247mg, Potassium: 173mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 35g, Vitamin A: 3595IU, Vitamin C: 0.9mg, Calcium: 35mg, Iron: 1.1mg

Course: Cupcakes, Dessert

Cuisine: American

Author: Sommer Collier

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