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These moist, never-fail, easy pumpkin cupcakes are loaded with autumn flavor and topped with delicious vanilla bean buttercream and crunchy candied pecans.
Need a crazy delicious, no-fail, one-bowl, no-mixer dessert for a Fall get together? If your answer is yes, these super easy pumpkin cupcakes have your name on them!
A never-fail recipe!
What do I mean by never-fail? Do you remember Mary Poppins? Did you ever hear the way she described herself? The infamous nanny was having a conversation with the Bank's children. They had just met Mary Poppins and asked her to describe herself. Without hesitation, with a brisk British accent, she replied "Me? Well, I'm practically perfect in every way!" That's exactly what I mean when I say these cupcakes are never-fail. They parade out of the oven, "perfect in every way"! They're always moist, tender, full of flavor and have beautiful domed tops.
A simple recipe that can be dressed up or down...
I should know. I've made these easy pumpkin cupcakes at least 8 times already this fall. I keep going back to them as the cupcakes themselves take less than 10 minutes to throw together in a bowl. Whisk together eggs, pumpkin puree, oil and sugar. Sprinkle the dry ingredients over the top and stir just until all the flour disappears. That's it - except, of course, doling out the batter into a pan, popping it in the oven and waiting for the heavenly autumn-spice aroma to waft through the house!
You can enjoy them on their own, finish them off with a dusting of powdered sugar OR you can whip up the incredibly delicious Vanilla Bean Buttercream. You'll need an electric mixer for good results with the buttercream. The ingredients are simple; butter, powdered sugar, vanilla beans (or vanilla bean paste) and a splash of half and half.
I took the deliciousness one step farther and added a sprinkle of my Easy Candied Pecans. Scott took one bite and rolled his eyes, "This combination is unbelievable!" was all he could say. And he was quite happy to comply when I asked, during the photo shoot, for a picture of the inside of a cupcake as it meant he could have another bite (and of course finish off the cupcake once we were done).
Café Tips for making these Easy Pumpkin Cupcakes
- Look for canned pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling. Pumpkin puree is simply pureed pumpkin. Pumpkin pie filling is pumpkin puree with added sugar and spices.
- A large ice cream scoop with a trigger handle works well for effortlessly and neatly doling out the cupcake batter.
- Plain white cupcake liners are great for baking the cupcakes. When the cupcakes are cooled I slip them in a colorful paper for serving. It seems that if you use pretty papers to bake with, they loose most of their color in the oven.
- Honestly, I get a little nervous every time I have to decorate cupcakes. I've found a pretty easy technique though to make decently good looking cupcakes. I don't make cupcakes that often so I practice the technique a few times on the top of a flat bottom glass before I actually pipe the cupcakes themselves. It helps to get a rhythm going.
- I used a Wilton 2D tip for piping these cupcakes. This is my little technique. I start with a quarter size "plop" of icing in the center, then circle around the "plop" with my icing. I then work my way back to the center, covering over the "plop". That might sound a little confusing so I had Scott take a few pictures to demonstrate what I do. See the image below.
- I used vanilla bean paste for my Vanilla Bean Buttercream. Vanilla bean paste comes in a tube or a jar and has zillions of the delicious vanilla bean seeds in every teaspoon. I find it's usually more economical than vanilla beans and so handy! A jar of this stuff lasts forever!
- If you choose to make a batch of the Easy Candied Pecans to top your Easy Pumpkin Cupcakes, you will have more than you need for the 12 cupcakes. Don't worry, there are lots of other uses for the delicious pecans; as an ice cream topping, on salads, soups, as a cocktail nibble...
These moist, never-fail, easy pumpkin cupcakes are loaded with autumn flavor and topped with delicious vanilla bean buttercream and crunchy candied pecans.
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
- ½ cup sunflower oil or other mild flavored oil
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ recipe Best Ever Buttercream* see notes
- 1 recipe Candied Pecans** see notes
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Preheat oven to 350˚F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with cupcake liners.
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Place eggs in a medium size bowl and whisk well. Add pumpkin, oil, sugar and vanilla. Whisk until smooth and well combined.
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Sprinkle flour and remaining ingredients over the top of the pumpkin mixture. Whisk again, just until all dry ingredients are incorporated.
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Divide batter evenly in the prepared pan. Bake for 20-22 minutes or until tops of cupcakes are slightly firm when lightly touched or when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
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Cool for 10 minutes in the pan then carefully transfer to a cooling rack. Cool completely before icing.
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Spread Best Ever Vanilla Buttercream on top of cupcakes or use a pastry bag fitted with a piping tip. I used a 1M tip for my cupcakes. See Café Tips above in post.
Nutritional information is for the cupcakes. See Buttercream post and Easy Candied Pecan post for their nutritional information.
Recipe Adapted from Yammie's Noshery
See Café Tips above for extra tips on making these cupcakes.
* For the Best Ever Buttercream, substitute 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste or the scraped seeds from 1 vanilla bean pod (for the whole recipe). Here’s a great article on how to scrape the seeds from The Kitchen.
** You won’t use all the candied pecans, but they’re wonderful on salads, desserts, soup, etc.
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