Chocolate Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting

These cupcakes were what we took to CF clinic yesterday.  It's fall and I wanted to take something with pumpkin.  Also, it had to be something I haven't made for the clinic team before.   I looked through some of my cookbooks - no luck.  Then I googled various key words and stumbled across this recipe at i am baker.  They looked so pretty in their cute little cupcake liners and the name sounded so delicious and unique.  So, I printed the recipe and went on over to amazon to order some of those cute cupcake liners she had!  I hope you try them and please take a look at i am baker's blog because you'll find lots of yummy treats to make. 

I know, I'm not a professional cake decorator.
Trust me - they do taste awesome.

Chocolate Pumpkin Cupcakes

Ingredients -

1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
2/3 c cocoa
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c vanilla yogurt
1 c canned pumpkin
2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 c softened butter
1/2 c brown sugar
1 1/2 c granulated sugar
4 large eggs

Directions -

1. Preheat oven to 325.  Prepare cupcake pans with your fun and festive liners.
2. In a mixer, beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Add in eggs, one at a time, until fully incorporated. 
3. In a medium bowl, sift the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together; set aside.
4. In a small bowl, stir yogurt, pumpkin, and vanilla extract together.
5. Reduce mixer speed to low and alternately beat in the flour and yogurt mixtures in thirds, starting and ending with flour.
6. Bake for 18-25 minutes, depending on your oven.  Remove once toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, or center springs back when touched.
7. Let cool completely before frosting. (recipe below)

Yield - 30 cupcakes
Calories per cupcake - 132  (5.7g fat)

Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting
from My Kitchen Addiction

Ingredients -

1 stick butter
1/4 c shortening
1/3 c dark brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3 c powdered sugar
3 T half and half  ( I used 2% milk)

Directions -

1. In a large mixer, combine butter and shortening until light and fluffy (use whisk attachment if you have one). 
2. Add cinnamon and brown sugar until well combined.
3. Gradually add powdered sugar 1/2 c at a time. 
4. Alternately add the half and half, whipping the frosting on med.-high speed after each addition, until desired consistency is reached.

Yield - frosted 21 cupcakes (roughly 2 T per cupcake)
Calories per serving - 138 (again, for 2 T frosting per cupcake)
Calories per frosted cupcake - 270

mmm....happy I had extra!

My food critic approves!