I think fall should be renamed The Pumpkin Season. Pinterest has blown up with all things pumpkin and you can’t walk into a store without seeing Pumpkin everything. I can’t complain–I love fall and haven’t run into a pumpkin that I didn’t like. My favorites? Pumpkin beer and…these cupcakes.
When I tasted this batch, I was talking on the phone with my great friend Jenna from the Gleeful Gourmand. “I think I should go,” she said. “You’re making me a little uncomfortable.” These cupcakes, friends, they may put you into a sugar coma. They may need to be eaten in private so you don’t need to worry about the sounds you make when you eat them.
The first time I tried a Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake, it was in Greensboro, North Carolina at a little yogurt and bake shop called Maxie B’s. (If you are anywhere nearby, you MUST visit this shop. Amazing stuff.) I found a pumpkin cake recipe and decided to try my own, adding chocolate chips, plus cinnamon and other pumpkin pie spices. Over the years, this has become a cake that people ask for, and I make it in either cupcake or cake form at least three times a year. Beware: once you start, you won’t want to stop.
- 1 (15 ounce) can solid pack pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie filling)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 4 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 8-oz block cream cheese (room temp)
- 1 stick butter (room temp)
- 3 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar, plus more if needed for consistency
- 4-5 T milk
- semi-sweet chocolate chips or bar, shaved or chopped finely
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease pan or prepare baking cups for cupcakes.
- Mix the pumpkin, oil, eggs, sugar, and vanilla. Beat until well combined.
- In a separate bowl, mix dry ingredients. Add to the wet ingredients, beat until well incorporated. Add chocolate chips and stir in by hand.
- Bake for 20-30 minutes until toothpick comes out clean. Cupcakes take about 20 minutes and make 28 (using 1/4 cup batter/baking cup). Two round cakes take about 30 minutes.
- While the cake is baking, cream the butter and cream cheese. Add the vanilla and confectioners sugar, beating until mixed well and smooth. Use milk as needed to give a consistency that is firm enough to stay in place.
- *I haven't played with the recipe to check, but I think you could get away with 1 1/2 total cups sugar rather than 2 cups. These are intensely rich.
- *This recipe makes great cupcakes, but my favorite is a two-layer round cake so that you get more of the frosting.
Thanks to Imperial Sugar for sponsoring the Blog Elevated conference and providing the confectioner’s and brown sugar for this recipe! I love using sugar based here in Texas from a company older than Texas itself. (True story!)
I hope you enjoy these cupcakes and that they becomes a staple of your cake-baking!
For the next 12 weeks on Wednesdays (barring disaster or large kitchen fire), you will get a treat. Literally. I will be linking up with Brenda at Meal Planning Magic for her 12 Weeks of Christmas Treats. While I scramble to make 12 different weeks’ worth of treats, you just show up, visit the other blogs linked up below, and have a Merry Christmas. Despite being Christmas themed, we are still in September, and I am making a fall treat, which is so good, you could make it for ANY holiday. Enjoy! And check out the other bloggers below!