I was browsing magazines hoping for inspiration, seeing as my son's Thanksgiving feast at school was only two days away, and yes I volunteered to bring one too many dishes. So I needed a dessert, but there were stipulations. It had to be child-friendly and it had to be "pumpkin" flavored. Seeing as I personally hate pumpkin pie, the first person who came to mind was Ina Garten. I knew her view on pumpkin pie was the same as mine; she was not a fan. Plus, I could not picture a group of four and five year old preschoolers actually wanting a traditional pie as their "special" dessert. Needless to say, pumpkin pie was never a contender.
I knew immediately that an individual dessert was the best way to go with these toddlers. And after looking through Ina's recipes on food network, I discovered pumpkin cupcakes from another source. Well let's just say the original recipe I tried from this "source" was less than impressive. I wondered if they had even tasted them. No flavor!
So I went back to the Internet and started the search for pumpkin cupcakes again. Now that I had an idea of what would make pumpkin cupcakes great, I knew exactly what I was looking for. Eventually after a lot of googling and a lot of reading (aka frustration), I discovered the following recipe by who else but Ina Garten in House Beautiful. And this one, well let's just say, I had people staking claims on them. On that note, here is my unsolicited advice, make sure you have enough cupcakes to go around or there is a distinct possibility fighting may ensue over these little treats. Yes, I said it. They are that GOOD!
Cupcakes:
Yields: 10-12 cupcakes (or 20-24 the amount for miniature muffins )
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon fresh ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup canned pumpkin purée (8 ounces), not pie filling
**(not pie filling according to dear Ina BUT I beg to differ. I used the traditional can of Libby's pumpkin puree in the orange-ish colored can. I believe pumpkin pie makers use this seeing as it is placed in every nook and cranny in the store during Thanksgiving time. I fully argue that the extra sugar and spice and let's just say everything nice was PERFECT and NEEDED! I think the extra flavor cannot be subtracted.)**
**(not pie filling according to dear Ina BUT I beg to differ. I used the traditional can of Libby's pumpkin puree in the orange-ish colored can. I believe pumpkin pie makers use this seeing as it is placed in every nook and cranny in the store during Thanksgiving time. I fully argue that the extra sugar and spice and let's just say everything nice was PERFECT and NEEDED! I think the extra flavor cannot be subtracted.)**
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup coarsely chopped Heath bars (can buy pre-chopped or "bits" in a package next to the chocolate chips at the grocery. And yes, I used the already chopped bars. It was one less step via the food processor.)
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Brush or spray the top of 10 muffin tins with vegetable oil and line them with 10-12 paper liners.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg.
3. In a larger bowl, whisk together the eggs, pumpkin purée, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vegetable oil.
4. Add the flour mixture and stir until combined.
5. Divide the batter among the prepared tins and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
6.Set aside to cool completely on wire rack. Once room temperature remove from tin and finish cooling on wire rack.
7. Now prepare maple frosting while cupcakes finish cooling.
Maple Frosting
Ingredients:
6 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 teaspoon Maple Syrup
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
Directions:
1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the cream cheese and butter on low speed until smooth.
2. Stir in the maple syrup and vanilla extract.
3. With the mixer still on low, slowly add the confectioners' sugar and mix until smooth.
4. Using a pastry bag pipe (or using a gallon Ziploc bag with tip cut) pipe the icing onto the cupcakes using a #74 tip once cupcakes are thoroughly cooled.
5. Sprinkle cupcakes with chopped Heath bar to garnish and then serve.
(Adapted from Ina Garten)
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