Pumpkin Spice Latte Cupcakes

Yes, I’ll admit it, these were inspired by everyone’s favorite fall beverage at Starbucks- the Pumpkin Spice Latte.   I’m not a huge fan of flavored coffee, I prefer a nice bold cup of joe with just hint of cream, but I love a sweet treat to go with it.  When fall arrives, I can’t wait to make my first batch of pumpkin muffins, but this time I thought I’d try a new recipe, Pumpkin Spice Latte Cupcakes! (yummy)

Pumpkin Spice Latte Cupcakes

The ingredients that really make this recipe are the pumpkin, the espresso coffee (both brewed and powder) and the spices.

Start by Pre-heating the oven to 350 degrees.

This is a great recipe to make in the morning and just use any leftover coffee you may have. If you don’t have any coffee brewed, you’ll want to go ahead and get some going b/c you’ll need it to be cooled for the recipe (to speed up the cooling you can put 1/2 cup in the freezer for awhile, just don’t forget about it.)

Also, place a metal bowl in your freezer while you prepare the cupcake batter so it will be well chilled when you are ready to make the frosting.

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Pumpkin Spice Latte Cupcake Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups all purpose white flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground nutmeg
2 Tbsp espresso powder (instant coffee NOT brewed)
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup of sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup brewed and cooled expresso coffee
1/4 cup coconut oil (liquid) – I use coconut oil in most of my recipes, you can sub canola oil or softened butter
2 eggs
2 Tbsp Whole Milk

Whisk together the dry ingredients in one bowl and then the wet ingredients in another.  Combine both together and mix just until combined.

Line a muffin tin with paper muffin cups or if you don’t have any available you can grease the tin with butter or oil. Fill each of the muffin cups about 3/4 full with the cupcake batter.

Place the cupcakes in the oven to bake for twenty minutes and then remove promptly and cool. While the cupcakes are baking and cooling you can pull together the frosting.

Frosting Ingredients:

2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 stick of butter (I prefer unsalted, but you can use either)
2 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp cinnamon

In the chilled metal bowl, beat 1 1/2 cups of the heavy whipping cream until stiff peaks form (approx 1-2 minutes). Put the whip cream back into the fridge.  In another bowl, cream together on low the butter, vanilla, cinnamon and remaining 1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream.  Slowly add in the powdered sugar in small amounts.  Once you’ve added all the powdered sugar, turn the mixer to high and beat until you have achieved a good frosting consistency.  Remove the whipped cream from the fridge and fold it into the frosting just until combined.

Once the cupcakes are cool, you can frost with a frosting bag and decorator tip or you can just spread the frosting on with a spatula. Once frosted, I gave one out to test to both my kids and my husband.  I knew I had a hit on my hands when the all came back looking for “just one more.”

Looking for other fall inspired recipes?

Pumpkin Recipes Round Up

3 Ingredient Pumpkin Cookies

Let us know in the comments if your pumpkin spice latte cupcakes were a hit!