Today, I got basically the best present ever. (I think my husband was trying to hint that I should bake more.)

Naturally, I had it home less than 8 hours before I decided to make some tasty treats, and went for pumpkin spice cupcakes with maple cream cheese frosting.

Hit the jump for the recipe and more pictures!

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting (originally from here, altered a bit and sized down)

For the cupcakes:

1 1/2 cups plus 1 tbsp flour, sifted before measuring

3/4 tbsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp kosher salt

1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cups sugar

1 egg, beaten until frothy

7.5 oz pumpkin puree

1/2 tsp vanilla

3/4 c milk

Method:



In a medium bowl whisk together all dry ingredients except for sugar. In a large bowl, beat butter for 30 seconds. Add sugar and beat until fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla, beat. Add pumpkin and beat until combined. Add flour mixture and milk in alternating amounts, beating after each and ending with the flour. Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full (I much prefer using an ice cream scoop for this) and bake for 22-25 minutes at 375 degrees.

For the frosting:

1 8oz packages of cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/2-1 tsp maple syrup

1/4 tsp vanilla

pinch kosher salt

2 cups powdered sugar

Method:

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and butter until combined and fluffy. Add everything else and beat until well combined.

Putting it all together:

Cool the cupcakes completely on a wire rack, then frost liberally.

Note: this frosting is a bit soft, so any kind of elaborate piping is probably out of the question. I was a bit concerned it was going to slide off my cupcakes, haha. But it’s delicious!

I found some of the Cake Mate Cupcake Gems and sprinkled those on for a little fancy touch.

These are absolutely marvelous with a latte or a icy, tall glass of milk.