Pumpkin Cupcakes (Reduced Sugar)
By America's Test KitchenPublished on April 18, 2020
Time
45 minutes, plus 1⅙ hours cooling
Yield
Makes 12 cupcakes
Sugar
12 grams (down from 22)
Ingredients
Cupcakes
⅓ cup plus ¼ cup (3 ounces/85 grams) Sucanat 1 cup (5 ounces/142 grams) all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon baking powder ½ teaspoon baking soda ½ teaspoon salt ⅛ teaspoon ground allspice ⅛ teaspoon ground ginger ¾ cup canned unsweetened pumpkin puree ½ cup vegetable oil 2 large eggsHoney Cream Cheese Frosting
12 ounces (340 grams) cream cheese, softened8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces and softened2 teaspoons vanilla extract ⅛ teaspoon salt 6 tablespoons honeyBefore You Begin
You will only use half of the frosting for this recipe. Do not substitute low-fat cream cheese here or the frosting will have a soupy consistency. If the frosting becomes too soft to work with, refrigerate it until firm. We prefer the flavor of Honey Cream Cheese Frosting on these cupcakes; however, Easy Vanilla Frosting will also work well. You can skip grinding the Sucanat in step 1; however, the cupcakes will have a speckled appearance. You can learn more about Sucanat in this article.
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 12-cup muffin tin with paper or foil liners. Working in 2 batches, grind Sucanat in spice grinder until fine and powdery, about 1 minute.
- Whisk flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, salt, allspice, and ginger together in large bowl. In separate bowl, whisk Sucanat, pumpkin puree, oil, and eggs until smooth. Using rubber spatula, stir Sucanat mixture into flour mixture until combined.
- Portion batter evenly into prepared muffin tin. Bake cupcakes until toothpick inserted in center comes out with few crumbs attached, 15 to 20 minutes, rotating muffin tin halfway through baking.
- Let cupcakes cool in tin for 10 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and let cool completely, about 1 hour. (Unfrosted cupcakes can be stored at room temperature for up to 3 days.)
- Meanwhile, using stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment, whip cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and salt on medium-high speed until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes.
- Reduce mixer speed to medium-low, add honey, and whip until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Increase speed to medium-high and whip frosting until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Spread half of frosting evenly over cupcakes and serve. (Remaining frosting can be stored in airtight container and refrigerated for up to 5 days.)
for the cupcakes
for the honey cream cheese frosting
Time
45 minutes, plus 1⅙ hours coolingYield
Makes 12 cupcakesSugar
12 grams (down from 22)Ingredients
Cupcakes
Honey Cream Cheese Frosting
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Cupcakes
Honey Cream Cheese Frosting
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Cupcakes
Honey Cream Cheese Frosting
Test Kitchen Techniques
Why This Recipe Works
Many pumpkin-flavored desserts fall into the same traps: They’re overly sweet and so heavily seasoned with pumpkin pie spice that the pumpkin flavor is completely hidden. To avoid the same mistakes, we started with unsweetened pumpkin puree, avoiding cans of overly sweet preseasoned pumpkin pie filling. This allowed us to completely control the sweetness level and the spices that went into our cake. Cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger are the go-to seasonings for anything pumpkin-flavored, but we wanted to keep the profile more simple and streamlined. We found that 1 teaspoon of cinnamon was plenty, while small amounts of allspice and ginger added the right background flavor. With the pumpkin and spice flavorings nailed down, we turned our attention to the texture of our cupcakes. Perfect pumpkin cupcakes should be moist and velvety, but our cakes were ending up damp and leaden. To help open the crumb and make the cake more tender, we used 1 teaspoon of baking powder and ½ teaspoon of baking soda. Achieving the right moisture level was a matter of finding the right combination of oil and eggs. Too much of either (or both) would weigh the cupcakes down further, but with too little the cakes would be dry and overly crumbly. We finally settled on a combination of two eggs and ½ cup of vegetable oil for cupcakes that were tender, fine-crumbed, and perfectly moist.
Before You Begin
You will only use half of the frosting for this recipe. Do not substitute low-fat cream cheese here or the frosting will have a soupy consistency. If the frosting becomes too soft to work with, refrigerate it until firm. We prefer the flavor of Honey Cream Cheese Frosting on these cupcakes; however, Easy Vanilla Frosting will also work well. You can skip grinding the Sucanat in step 1; however, the cupcakes will have a speckled appearance. You can learn more about Sucanat in this article.
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 12-cup muffin tin with paper or foil liners. Working in 2 batches, grind Sucanat in spice grinder until fine and powdery, about 1 minute.
- Whisk flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, salt, allspice, and ginger together in large bowl. In separate bowl, whisk Sucanat, pumpkin puree, oil, and eggs until smooth. Using rubber spatula, stir Sucanat mixture into flour mixture until combined.
- Portion batter evenly into prepared muffin tin. Bake cupcakes until toothpick inserted in center comes out with few crumbs attached, 15 to 20 minutes, rotating muffin tin halfway through baking.
- Let cupcakes cool in tin for 10 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and let cool completely, about 1 hour. (Unfrosted cupcakes can be stored at room temperature for up to 3 days.)
- Meanwhile, using stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment, whip cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and salt on medium-high speed until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes.
- Reduce mixer speed to medium-low, add honey, and whip until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Increase speed to medium-high and whip frosting until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Spread half of frosting evenly over cupcakes and serve. (Remaining frosting can be stored in airtight container and refrigerated for up to 5 days.)
for the cupcakes
for the honey cream cheese frosting
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