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gingerbread cupcakes with pumpkin frosting on rack
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Gingerbread Cupcakes with Pumpkin Frosting

These delicious gingerbread cupcakes are topped with a creamy pumpkin frosting.
Prep Time25 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Total Time45 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: cupcakes, gingerbread, pumpkin
Servings: 12 cupcakes
Author: Lori Lange

Ingredients

GINGERBREAD CUPCAKES:

  • 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • ½ cup granulated white sugar
  • ½ cup molasses
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • 1¼ cups all purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon Dutch process cocoa powder
  • 1 tablespoon ground ginger
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon ground allspice
  • ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ cup hot milk

PUMPKIN FROSTING:

  • 8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
  • ¼ cup unsweetened pumpkin puree
  • ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3½ cups powdered sugar (more, if you prefer to pipe on the frosting instead of spreading)

Instructions

PREPARE THE CUPCAKES:

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin tins with cupcake liners. Spray the cupcake liners lightly with nonstick spray.
  • In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to combine the butter and sugar. Add the molasses and the egg and egg yolk.
  • In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, cloves and salt. In a small bowl, dissolve the baking soda in the hot milk. Add the flour mixture to the butter/sugar mixture and stir until just combined. Stir in the hot milk mixture. Pour the batter evenly into the cupcake papers.
  • Bake for 20 minutes or until slightly springy to the touch. Allow to cool a few minutes in the pan and remove to a rack to cool.

PREPARE THE FROSTING:

  • In a large bowl, use an electric hand mixer to combine the frosting ingredients. Spread onto cooled cupcakes, or pipe on with a piping bag and a tip.

Notes

  • *To make things even easier, purchase a boxed gingerbread mix, prepare the cupcakes and frost w/ the homemade pumpkin frosting (these cupcakes will be better than the boxed mix though!)
  • *If your frosting is too thin, add more powdered sugar. If it's too thick, add more pumpkin puree.

Nutrition

Serving: 1cupcake | Calories: 384kcal | Carbohydrates: 66g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 64mg | Sodium: 219mg | Potassium: 287mg | Sugar: 54g | Vitamin A: 1245IU | Vitamin C: 0.2mg | Calcium: 70mg | Iron: 1.7mg