I can’t believe Halloween is tomorrow! Feels like it just snuck up on us. I couldn’t let this fun holiday pass without making some Halloween cupcakes! Plus, I had these super cute cupcake liners, sprinkles, and picks that I had to get some use out of, right? ;)
One of my favorite fall dessert combinations is pumpkin and chocolate, they are just a match made in heaven. So when I came across this recipe I knew I had to give it a shot. I decided to make two different kinds of frostings for a little variety: Maple Buttercream Frosting and Chocolate Buttercream Frosting. These cupcakes just taste and look like the season to me.
So put on the Halloween playlist below the recipe and bake some of these lovelies for your trick or treaters! But if you decide to be selfish and keep them for yourself, I won’t judge!
Happy Halloween! :)
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Maple & Chocolate Buttercream Frostings -
(Recipes adapted from: here & here)
These cupcakes are light, fluffy, and super moist. The warm flavors of the pumpkin, cloves, ginger, and pumpkin pie spice pair perfectly with the sweetness of the chocolate chips.
Both frostings are a great compliment to these cupcakes. With the maple frosting, I left out the cream cheese and just added a whole stick of butter instead. It turned out just as good, very creamy, and fluffy. The maple flavor didn't come through as much as I was hoping but I'm pretty sure that's because I didn't have any maple extract and had to rely solely on the syrup. But it was still really delish! Very much the taste of fall. Though a little on the sweet side, I will say.
The chocolate frosting is my go to recipe. It's basically an adaption of Hershey's one bowl buttercream. Over the years I just started doing it this way and liked it better than the original. But feel free to use your favorite chocolate frosting recipe. It’s so good on these cupcakes! As I said before, chocolate and pumpkin are just meant to be. And while the maple rocked, I think I like them better with this frosting. It's rich, creamy, chocolaty, and fluffy.
I was going to go more elaborate on the decorations. I was very ambitious and had planned to make these cute white chocolate spider webs & chocolate spiders for the top. But alas, it was not to be. It looked so easy but mine were either turning out too big or too weird. Probably because I was trying to use a piping bag and tip instead of a squeeze bottle. So I got frustrated, threw the first batch in the garbage, made them again, got even more frustrated, threw the second batch in the garbage... and settled on sprinkles, candy corn, and little candy pumpkins for garnish lol.
In spite of that, I still think they turned out pretty cute & festive! Hope these cupcakes make your Halloween even more delish!
Cupcakes -
Ingredients:
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
¾ cup firmly packed brown sugar
¼ cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
pinch of ground cloves
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups canned pumpkin
1 cup mini chocolate chips
candy corn, candy pumpkins, and sprinkles for garnish (optional)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line muffin pans with paper liners.
In a large mixing bowl using an electric mixer, beat butter at medium speed until creamy. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ground ginger, and cloves. Set aside.
Gradually add both sugars to mixing bowl, beating well. .Add eggs one at a time, beating well and scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Gradually add flour mixture, beating just to combine. Add vanilla and pumpkin beating until blended.
Stir in chocolate chips. Divide batter between muffin cups. (You should get approximately 18.) Bake for 18 to 20 minutes and let cool.
Maple Buttercream Frosting -
Ingredients:
3 ounces cream cheese, softened
4 tablespoons butter, softened
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon maple extract
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
4 cups confectioners' sugar
Directions:
Cream together the cream cheese and butter until fluffy. Add the syrup, extract, pumpkin spice and sugar. Mix on low for a minute and then on high until creamy. NOTE: If your frosting is too thick you may add water but only a teaspoon at a time. This recipe is only for 12 cupcakes. Double recipe if needed.
Chocolate Buttercream Frosting -
Ingredients:
1 stick butter
3-4 tbsp. cocoa powder
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1-2 tbsp. heavy cream or half & half
Directions:
In a medium bowl beat butter till light & fluffy. Add in cocoa and beat till incorporated. On low speed, beat in powdered sugar, one cup at a time. Add in vanilla and heavy cream and beat 2-3 minutes till fluffy.
Pipe or spread chocolate & maple frostings onto cooled cupcakes. Decorate as desired.
Halloween Playlist -
(Source)
What is Halloween (or any holiday for that matter) without some awesome tunes? I wasn’t sure if I was going to make another Halloween playlist this year. I was pretty proud of the one I made last year (which you can listen to here) and I thought I might be just repeating a lot of the same songs. But I started to think of and find so many good ones! Thus, volume two, if you will, for your Halloween pleasure!
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